The Phillies marched into New Yorks Polo Grounds to take on the formidable Giants, and boy did the Philly boys get a wakeup call. Ted Radclif was bounced from pillar to post in game 1 as the Giants lineup, led by Ducky Medwick and Mel Ott, clobbered the Phillies to the tune of 10 runs, while New York starter Van Mungo tossed a complete game gem, allowing just one run.
Not a team to back down from a fight, the Phils bounced back in games two and three and served the Giants up a plate of their own medicine.
In game two of the series it was 9-0 before the bleachers were even full, and despite a furious, late rally from the G-Men, Philadelphia would hold on to win this wild contest by a 13-9 score behind homers from Monty Irvin and Ray Dandridge.
Game three would be an even more lopsided affair as Phillies ace Satchel Paige earned his 2nd win on the young season while Philly bats knocked out 19 hits and 9 runs. Suttles, Wells and Campanella all had 3 hits a piece for the slugging Phillies.
The Phillies record stands at 5-1 to give them a 1 game lead on the Cardinals of St. Louis and one has to wonder if this offense assembled by Bill Veeck might produce a season for the ages.
Game 4 Box Score
Spoiler
Code:
Philadelphia Phillies at New York Giants
April 5, 1944
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Phillies (PHI) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 1
Giants (NYG) 4 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 x 10 15 1
PHILADELPHIA ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
Monte Irvin (CF) 5 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 .176
Lorenzo Davis (2B) 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .438
Ray Dandridge (3B) 4 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 .412
Luke Easter (1B) 3 2 1 0 0 1 1 0 .533
Roy Campanella (C) 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .214
Josh Gibson (RF) 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 .118
George Suttles (LF) 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 .294
Willie Wells (SS) 4 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 .333
Ted Radcliff (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Dick Barrett (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Ron Northey (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333
Ray Scarborough (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Johnny Wyrostek (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Si Johnson (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000
TOTALS 33 6 4 1 0 1 11 0
2B: Luke Easter (2), Ray Dandridge 2 (3), Willie Wells (1)
GDP: Josh Gibson
DP: Luke Easter 2, Lorenzo Davis 2, Willie Wells 2
E: Josh Gibson
PHILADELPHIA ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
Ted Radcliff 1.1 11 2 0 10 9 2 61 60.75
Dick Barrett 2.2 2 1 0 0 0 2 34 0.00
Ray Scarborough 2.0 2 0 0 0 0 2 24 0.00
Si Johnson 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 2 22 0.00
TOTALS 8.0 15 3 0 10 9 8 141
NEW YORK ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
Dick Bartell (2B) 5 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 .471
Sid Gordon (3B) 5 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .250
Joe Medwick (RF) 5 3 0 2 0 2 0 0 .529
Mel Ott (LF) 3 1 2 2 0 1 1 0 .364
Ernie Lombardi (C) 3 1 1 1 0 2 1 0 .222
Babe Young (CF) 4 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 .267
Red Kress (1B) 4 1 0 1 0 0 3 0 .200
Billy Jurges (SS) 4 3 0 0 0 3 1 0 .444
Van Mungo (P) 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 .000
TOTALS 37 15 3 10 0 9 8 0
2B: Mel Ott (3), Red Kress (1), Ernie Lombardi (2)
3B: Joe Medwick (1)
GDP: Ernie Lombardi, Sid Gordon
DP: Dick Bartell, Red Kress, Sid Gordon
E: Sid Gordon
NEW YORK ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
Van Mungo 9.0 6 4 0 1 1 11 144 1.00
TOTALS 9.0 6 4 0 1 1 11 144
WP: Van Mungo (1-0)
LP: Ted Radcliff (0-1)
Temperature: 51F
Wind: Calm
Attendance: 56,000
Time: 2:56
Game 5 Box Score
Spoiler
Code:
Philadelphia Phillies at New York Giants
April 6, 1944
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Phillies (PHI) 0 3 0 6 0 0 4 0 0 13 22 0
Giants (NYG) 0 0 0 2 0 0 5 1 1 9 12 1
PHILADELPHIA ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
Monte Irvin (CF) 5 3 1 2 1 4 0 1 .273
Willie Wells (SS) 6 1 0 1 0 0 3 0 .286
Ray Dandridge (3B) 5 3 1 2 1 1 0 0 .455
Josh Gibson (C) 5 3 0 1 0 2 1 0 .227
Joe Antolick (P) 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
Luke Easter (1B) 5 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 .550
George Suttles (LF) 6 1 0 1 0 1 2 1 .261
Dick Seay (2B) 5 2 1 3 0 2 1 2 .400
Ron Northey (RF) 4 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 .571
Schoolboy Rowe (P) 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 .500
Johnny Wyrostek (P) 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500
Al Gerheauser (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Andy Karl (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
TOTALS 45 22 5 13 2 11 7 4
2B: Luke Easter (3), Josh Gibson (1), Ron Northey (1), Johnny Wyrostek (1), Willie Wells (2), Schoolboy Rowe (1)
HR: Ray Dandridge (2), Monte Irvin (2)
GDP: Josh Gibson
CS: Monte Irvin, George Suttles
PHILADELPHIA ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
Schoolboy Rowe 7.0 7 1 1 7 7 4 104 9.00
Al Gerheauser 0.2 3 1 0 1 1 0 20 3.38
Andy Karl 1.1 2 0 0 1 1 0 22 6.75
TOTALS 9.0 12 2 1 9 9 4 146
NEW YORK ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
Dick Bartell (2B) 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .364
Sid Gordon (3B) 5 2 0 1 1 3 0 0 .308
Joe Medwick (RF) 4 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 .476
Mel Ott (LF) 5 2 0 1 0 1 1 0 .375
Ernie Lombardi (C) 4 2 0 2 0 1 1 0 .273
Babe Young (CF) 5 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 .300
Red Kress (SS) 4 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 .211
Morrie Arnovich (1B) 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .083
Cliff Melton (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Red Webb (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000
Ken Trinkle (P) 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1.000
Gus Mancuso (P) 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .667
Hoyt Wilhelm (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
TOTALS 39 12 2 9 1 9 4 0
2B: Mel Ott (4), Ernie Lombardi (3), Babe Young (1)
HR: Sid Gordon (1)
HBP: Ernie Lombardi
DP: Dick Bartell, Red Kress, Ernie Lombardi, Morrie Arnovich
E: Sid Gordon
NEW YORK ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
Cliff Melton 3.2 11 3 0 9 8 3 94 9.82
Red Webb 3.0 7 0 2 4 4 3 61 12.00
Ken Trinkle 1.1 3 1 0 0 0 1 23 0.00
Hoyt Wilhelm 1.0 1 1 0 0 0 0 13 2.25
TOTALS 9.0 22 5 2 13 12 7 191
WP: Schoolboy Rowe (1-0)
LP: Cliff Melton (0-1)
SV: Andy Karl (1)
Temperature: 58F
Wind: 6 MPH (in from left)
Attendance: 41,387
Time: 3:27
Game 6 Box Score
Spoiler
Code:
Philadelphia Phillies at New York Giants
April 7, 1944
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 + R H E
Phillies (PHI) 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 2 2 9 18 0
Giants (NYG) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 6 2
PHILADELPHIA ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
Monte Irvin (CF) 5 2 1 2 0 1 2 0 .296
Lorenzo Davis (2B) 5 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .381
Ray Dandridge (3B) 4 2 2 1 1 2 1 0 .462
Luke Easter (1B) 5 2 1 1 0 0 2 0 .520
Roy Campanella (C) 6 3 0 2 1 3 2 0 .300
Josh Gibson (RF) 4 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 .231
George Suttles (LF) 5 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 .321
Willie Wells (SS) 5 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 .346
Satchel Paige (P) 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 .000
Ray Scarborough (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Ron Northey (P) 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 .625
Dick Barrett (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
TOTALS 43 18 5 9 2 8 11 1
2B: Monte Irvin (1), Willie Wells (3)
HR: Ray Dandridge (3), Roy Campanella (1)
GDP: Luke Easter
CS: George Suttles
DP: Luke Easter 2, Lorenzo Davis 2, Willie Wells 2
PHILADELPHIA ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
Satchel Paige 7.0 2 4 0 0 0 9 119 0.63
Ray Scarborough 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 1 19 0.00
Dick Barrett 1.0 3 0 0 2 2 0 24 4.91
TOTALS 9.0 6 4 0 2 2 10 162
NEW YORK ab h bb r hr bi k sb avg
Johnny Rucker (RF) 4 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 .286
Dick Bartell (2B) 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 .308
Joe Medwick (LF) 3 1 1 1 0 0 2 0 .458
Mel Ott (3B) 4 2 0 1 0 1 1 0 .400
Ernie Lombardi (C) 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 .261
Babe Young (CF) 4 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 .292
Red Kress (SS) 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 .190
Morrie Arnovich (1B) 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .063
Junior Thompson (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Gus Mancuso (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500
Ken Trinkle (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
Phil Weintraub (P) 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
Hoyt Wilhelm (P) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Mickey Witek (P) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .600
TOTALS 30 6 4 2 0 2 10 0
2B: Mel Ott (5)
3B: Joe Medwick (2), Johnny Rucker (1)
HBP: Ernie Lombardi
GDP: Mel Ott, Babe Young
DP: Dick Bartell, Red Kress, Morrie Arnovich
E: Junior Thompson 2
NEW YORK ip h bb hr r er k pit ERA
Junior Thompson 5.0 9 3 1 5 1 4 107 1.80
Ken Trinkle 3.0 5 1 1 2 2 5 48 2.45
Hoyt Wilhelm 1.0 4 1 0 2 2 2 26 5.40
TOTALS 9.0 18 5 2 9 5 11 181
WP: Satchel Paige (2-0)
LP: Junior Thompson (0-1)
Temperature: 60F
Wind: 4 MPH (in from left)
Attendance: 41,387
Time: 3:34