Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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Philadelphia Athletics at New York Yankees, Yankee Stadium, New York, NY
July 6, 1947

Introduction

My series of random games next takes us back to the post-war 1940s. Specifically to the American League on July 6, 1947. The American League had just been integrated the previous day as Larry Doby had pinch hit for the Cleveland Indians in their loss to the Chicago White Sox. Doby made his first start (and got his first hit and first RBI) in the second game of the Indians - White Sox doubleheader on July 6th.

But I select my games randomly, so today's game isn't in Chicago. It's in New York City where the (still all-white) Philadelphia A's battled the (still all-white) New York Yankees in a doubleheader.

The Yankees entered play on July 6th in a familiar position historically, first place - although it had been four years since the Yankees won an American League pennant (5 of the 8 AL teams won a pennant in the five seasons between 1944 and 1948) - with a record of 45-26. The A's also had a winning record - 36-34 - something they hadn't finished a regular season with since 1933.

The Yankees' starting pitcher for the game was Randy Gumpert. Gumpert had originally broken in as with the A's in the mid-1930s. After serving three years with the Coast Guard, Gumpert had a breakthrough 1946 season, in which he went 11-3 with a 2.31 ERA. His 1947 season had been something of a mixed bag to date, as he entered play with a 2-0 record and a 5.14 ERA.

Gumpert's pitching opponent was Carl Scheib. The 20-year-old Scheib was in his fourth major-league season. Scheib made his major-league debut in 1943 at the age of 16, making him the youngest player in American League history. Scheib entered play with a record of 3-1 and a 2.39 ERA.

First Inning

Gumbert's day did not start out so well against his former teammates, as he walked the first two batters of the game, Eddie Joost and Barney McCoskey (actually neither Joost nor McCosky had been teammates of Gumpert's). But Gumpert stiffened up and got the next three batters on an infield pop-up, a fly out, and a strikeout.

Carl Scheib also let the first two batters reach base, but more dramatically so. Snuffy Stirnweiss tripled to right field and Tommy Henrich beat out a ground ball to first base (on which Stirnweiss held third base). Scheib struck out Johnny Lindell for the first out. But the similarities to the top of the first inning ended there. Joe DiMaggio hit a home run to left field and the Yankees led 3-0.

But the Yankees weren't done there. George McQuinn singled to center field. Billy Johnson doubled to right field, McQuinn stopping at third base. And Yogi Berra singled to right field, scoring both McQuinn and Johnson.

Scheib got the next two batters. But the Yankees had a 5-0 lead after one inning.

Second Inning

Staked to a 5-0 lead, Randy Gumpert did his best to hold it. Pete Suder drew a one-out walk, but he was quickly eliminated when Hank Majeski hit into an around-the-horn inning-ending double play.

The Yankees had sent nine men to the plate in the first inning. So, Snuffy Stirnweiss led off the second inning just as he'd led off the first. This time, Scheib retired him. But Tommy Henrich got his second hit in as many innings. And when Johnny Lindell beat out an infield single, it was - to quote the Yankees catcher - "deja vu all over again"; the Yankees had two runners on, one batter out, and Joe DiMaggio coming up to bat.

Scheib got DiMaggio to fly out to center field for the second out of the inning. But he couldn't get George McQuinn, who got his second single in as many innings, this one driving in Henrich. Scheib got Johnson on a fly out for the third out but the Yankees lead was 6-0.

Third Inning

The top of the third inning was vaguely reminiscent of the top of the second inning, a one-out walk being the only baserunner.

The first two innings had not gone well for Carl Scheib. And the third inning didn't go any better. Yogi Berra led off with a home run to right field to push the Yankees' lead to 7-0.

Scheib got the next two batters. But a two-out single by Stirnweiss was followed by Tommy Henrich's third hit in as many innings - this one an RBI double - and the Yankees' lead was 8-0.

Fourth Inning

The fourth inning started out promising for the A's - but was it too little, too late?

• Ferris Fain walked
• Sam Chapman singled Fain to third base.
• Buddy Rosar grounded to Stirnweiss, who bobbled the ball, Fain scoring and Rosar reaching first base safely.
• Pete Suder hit into a 4-6-3 double play, with Chapman moving to third base.
• Hank Majeski singled to center field, scoring Chapman.
• Pinch hitter Don Richmond doubled, Majeski taking third base.
• Eddie Joost flew to left field, stranding two runners in scoring position and ending the inning.

The Yankees still led 8-2.

The bottom of the fourth inning saw a new pitcher for the A's, Jesse Flores. Flores started much better than Scheib, working around a one-out walk to McQuinn to work a scoreless inning.

Fifth - Sixth Innings

But the A's couldn't build on the momentum of the fourth inning as Gumpert retired them 1-2-3. At least Flores matched Gumpert. And so, the score remained 8-2 through five innings.

The A's started strong in the sixth inning with a walk to Chapman and a single by Rosar. Pete Suder flew out for the first out. But Hank Majeski beat out an infield hit to load the bases and end Randy Gumpert's game.

Gumpert was relieved by Joe Page, probably the premier relief ace of the era. Page would end up leading the American League in saves twice - with 17 here in 1947 and with 27 in 1949, which were a major-league single-season record at the time (20 years before the save became an official statistic).

Here on July 6, 1947, Page struck out pinch hitter Dick Adams and Eddie Joost to end the A's threat.

The bottom of the sixth saw the third A's pitcher of the game, Russ Christopher. He got two quick outs but DiMaggio and McQuinn singled. But Christopher got Johnson to ground out and the inning was over.

Seventh - Eighth Innings

Joe Page picked up right where he left off in the sixth inning. In the seventh and eighth innings combined, Page faced seven batters striking out five of them (a two-out walk to Fain in the seventh inning was the only blemish on his record).

Meanwhile, Russ Christopher actually faced one fewer batter than Page, pitching back-to-back 1-2-3 innings, although with only one strikeout over the two innings.

Ninth Inning

And so the game moved to the ninth inning with the Yankees leading 8-2. And that's how it would end as Page worked around his second two-out walk of the game, striking out Eddie Joost for his eighth strikeout in 3-2/3 innings of work and getting Elmer Valo to fly to right field for the final out.

Game Summary

This win was the Yankees' seventh consecutive win. They won the nightcap of this doubleheader. They then won their next eleven games after that, bringing this win streak up to 19 games total. From there, they coasted to an easy pennant finishing with a record of 97-57 and a 12-game final advantage. The A's, meanwhile, ended the regular season exactly where they had entered play on July 6th: two games over .500 (78-76).

As measured by Player won-lost records (net pWins), the star of this game was Joe DiMaggio, although it was largely a team effort. Interestingly, the player who earned the official "win" for this game - Randy Gumpert - ended up with the fewest net pWins on the Yankees. True, he left the game with a lead, but he also left the game with the bases loaded, having allowed 12 baserunners while recording only 16 outs. Joe Page earned his save but this was a game that was won by the batters more than the pitchers.

Details of the game are shown below. First, I show Player won-lost records for all of the players who participated in the game. Baseball Player won-lost records are constructed so that the players on the winning team earn two pWins and one pLoss in the game while the players on the losing team earn one pWin and two pLosses. I also show expected wins and losses, eWins and eLosses, which are context-neutral. Full play by play details of the game are shown below the won-lost tables. My Player won-lost records are described in more detail in this article and throughout my website.

Retrosheet Box Score and Play-by-Play