World War II Chronicle: May 12, 1942
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The front page reports that the Giants pulled off a triple play against the Pirates — the first such feat since the war began. Looking at triple plays throughout the years (I’ve witnessed one — an unassisted triple play against the Cardinals by Rafael Furcal 20 years ago) one stands out as the most complicated: On a May 22, 1946 game against the Yankees, Detroit’s Dick Wakefield hits a fielder’s choice to first baseman Nick Etten, who throws to catcher Bill Dickey, then to third baseman Snuffy Stirnweiss to nail Eddie Mayo after being caught between third and home. Stirnweiss throws to second baseman Joe Gordon, who tosses it to shortstop Phil Rizzuto and back to Gordon to get Jimmy Outlaw who tried making it from first to third. Gordon sends it to Etten before Rizutto gets Wakefield at second for the final out.
For those of you scoring along at home that’s FC3/TP 3-2-5*-4-6-4*-3-6*.
But speaking of rare triple plays, the Yankees were on the receiving end of a triple killing in 2017 and they scored. It’s possible when the bases are loaded. Todd Frazier grounds into a double play, catching Didi Gregorius in a rundown between second and third. Meanwhile Matt Holiday comes home before Gregorius is called out for leaving the basepath…
Sports section begins on page 11, featuring a column by Grantland Rice. The upcoming heavyweight title fight between Billy Conn and Joe Louis has been postponed after Conn broke his hand fighting with his father-in-law (see page 12). “Greenfield” Jimmy Smith was a former major league ball player who was better known for his mouth than his bat. During the 1919 World Series Cincinnati made Smith a base coach and his job was to get in Chicago second baseman Eddie Collins’ head. It worked, because soon the players were scrapping, but to what degree we don’t know as several White Sox players had been paid to throw the Series.
Smith really liked Conn until he realized the famous boxer was in love with his teenage daughter. The old man was a rumbler, both during his career and after, and did all he could to keep Conn from marrying his daughter. He was successful for a while, but the two secretly tied the knot where Smith couldn’t stop them. He was fightin’ mad over the couple’s choice for names for his grandson. “Champion or no champion,” Smith said, “I’ll punch hell out of that fellow and he’d probably be the first one to say I could do it. I hope he wins, but I want him to stay away from my family.”
Kind of like triple plays in baseball, the chance of a fight breaking out at your baby’s christening ceremony is very low.
But it is possible.
Smith took the first swing then Conn countered with a left to the head, which broke the boxer’s hand and cost him a fortune in lost revenue. After the family pulled them apart the old cuss walked away without a scratch.
Now, every father with a daughter has their strategy for how best to set the tone when meeting the new boyfriend. The old cleaning-the-shotgun trick is so cliche that it probably only worked once, and that was long ago. So you’ve got to hand it to Smith: how many of us would get in the face of the daughter’s boyfriend if he gave up being Light Heavyweight champion of the world to fight Joe Louis, and then almost beat him?
Maybe Billy Conn was a real nice guy, but dad said “she’s too young for you” and meant it. Right or wrong, Jimmy Smith, you had the guts to call your shot, then took a swing at the champ and came out on top.
Evening star. (Washington, D.C.), 12 May 1942. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1942-05-12/ed-1/