Despite having reached such highs in his profession, it began to look like Gehringer was wasting his career in Detroit. Here it was, 1934, and he had never experienced a pennant race.
As the Tigers prepared to play the Yankees, Gehringer had been the most consistent bat all season. Goslin and Walker both faded following their torrid pace out of the gate, while Gehringer was starting to heat up. He had batted second for much of April, but was moved to the cleanup slot after Goslin and Greenberg failed to come through.
On May 17, Detroit faced the nondescript slants of southpaw Russ Van Atta. Manager Joe McCarthy’s Yankees, winners of nine of their last ten games, had built a nice 4½-game cushion in the standings. New York quickly jumped to a 4–1 lead, but Detroit tied the score with three runs in the fourth, an inning in which Cochrane spiked Van Atta on a hard slide into first base, forcing the pitcher from the game. Frank Doljack led off the next frame with a double over the head of Ruth in left field, and Goslin’s single drove him home with what proved to be the winning run. Tommy Bridges, meanwhile, was good but not great. Although he gave up ten hits and walked five in a complete-game effort, only four New Yorkers crossed the plate. Gehringer was the star of the day, going 4-for-4 with a double, while driving in one run and scoring one.
The following afternoon, the Yankees scored five runs in the third inning to take a 5–2 lead, but could not hold on. Goslin’s fourth-inning double evened the score. Gehringer banged out two doubles in three official trips to the plate (he also walked twice), drove in a pair of runs and scored another, with Detroit prevailing in a 10–8 slugfest. “It was a knock-down-and-drag-out affair,” wrote Charles P. Ward, “which the Tigers won because they kept getting up every time they were knocked down, and going right back to drop the fellows who did the knocking.”7 The two victories guaranteed the Yankees would lose a series for the first time all year. Detroit dropped the third game, but Gehringer went 3-for-3 with another base on balls.
It was an extraordinary display of hitting by the Tigers’ second baseman. In 13 plate appearances, he went 9-for-10 with three walks to raise his batting average to .390. Most importantly, Detroit took two of three from New York and was now in second place, only four games behind.
One of the Tigers’ most improved areas in 1934 was their fielding. Bud Shaver wrote in the Detroit Times, “About half of the games which the Tigers have won this season were won at Lakeland, Fla., before the Tigers ever took the field in an actual contest. And those games must be marked down to the credit of Mickey Cochrane, because he had the foresight and energy to correct some obvious fielding faults in the Tigers.”8
Cochrane was still not satisfied with his outfield situation, however, and tried to swing a couple of deals to improve things. Dangling Frank Doljack, the Tigers’ skipper inquired about the Indians’ Dick Porter. Porter, 32, was a solid bat, a four-time .300 hitter with Cleveland, including a .350 campaign in 1930.
The Tribe expressed interested in the trade, which seems surprising. Even though Doljack was six years younger than Porter and hit .386 one year in the minors, he had not proven he could hit every day at the big league level. Cochrane, however, wanted to be rid of the docile Doljack, who rarely hustled and was so often late for practice that he had picked up the nickname “Last Man.” He was invariably the final player to hop on the train for an overnight trip, which irked Cochrane no end. The Indians complicated the negotiations, however, when they demanded that the Tigers include Harry Davis. Davis, 25, had been Detroit’s regular first baseman as a rookie in 1932, but lost his job when Greenberg arrived the next season. By 1934, Davis found himself back in the minor leagues, at Toledo, where the Tigers wanted to retain him in the event that Greenberg did not develop as expected. Detroit backed out of the deal, and Doljack remained a Tiger.
Cochrane also tried to get Sam West from the St. Louis Browns, again using Doljack as bait. Browns skipper Rogers Hornsby, however, said thanks but no thanks. Even had Hornsby been interested, he would not have settled simply for Doljack. West, still only 28, was already a proven .300 hitter who would retire with a career .299 batting average over 14 seasons, including four All-Star Game appearances. Not giving up, the Tigers tendered Doljack to Chicago for veteran Mule Haas, but White Sox manager Lew Fonseca also wanted pitcher Chief Hogsett, which ended the discussion. Perhaps out of desperation, Cochrane signed George Wilson, a 21-year-old former halfback out of St. Mary’s College of California. Nicknamed “Icehouse,” the six-foot, 180-pound specimen saw action in only one game in 1934 before being sent down to the minors, where he was never heard from again.
The outfield deficiencies, as well as the batting order’s constant state of flux, were not the only issues Cochrane had to deal with. He was quickly learning that the life of a big-league skipper was infinitely more stressful than that of a player. True, Cochrane had been an excellent field general in his days in Philadelphia, but Connie Mack had borne the brunt of criticism when the Athletics lost, and suffered through the most headaches as a result. Now, however, things were different for Cochrane in Detroit. When an outfielder threw to the wrong base, when a hitter failed to deliver in the clutch, or when a pitcher blew his cool on the mound, Cochrane was the one who had to answer to the press and to team management. His personality only heightened his anxiety and worry. The intense Cochrane seemed incapable of leaving losses at the ballpark. Instead, he took them to bed with him, ruminating over decisions and replaying games as he lay awake at night.
The stress had already begun to take its toll on his psyche and may have contributed to his difficulties at the dish. By the third week of May, Cochrane was floundering at .253 with only one home run and 12 runs driven in. The homer had come on May 11, in his return to Shibe Park in Philadelphia. It was one of the few highlights in what had so far been a disappointing season, statistically speaking, for the fiercely competitive man known as “Black Mike.”
Detroit was in the grip of an early heat wave. For relief, thousands flocked to Belle Isle, the oasis in the Detroit River. A sign at its bathhouse advertised: “Water 58 degrees; air 88 degrees.” Goose Goslin had also begun to heat up. He had himself a nice little 12-game hitting streak going as the Senators marched into town on May 20. Nothing to brag about, to be sure, and he was still batting only .260, but one had to start somewhere. He extended his streak to 13 when he singled off Washington’s Bobby Burke. Schoolboy Rowe failed to last the third inning; with nothing on his pitches, the Senators constantly took him deep in counts. He suffered his third loss of the season against only one victory. His earned run average was an unsightly 6.92, and he was the weakest link in the Detroit rotation.
Goslin picked up where he left off the next day, banging out three hits and scoring a run. Chief Hogsett could not protect a 5–4 lead in the top of the ninth, as the Senators tied it. In the home half of the frame, however, Gee Walker hit an infield single and went to third on a throwing error by the pitcher, Ray Prim. Gehringer and Billy Rogell were purposely passed to set up a force at any base. Alex McColl came in to pitch for Washington, and the first man to face him was Cochrane, pinch-hitting for catcher Hayworth. The Tigers’ skipper drilled one over the head of Fred Schulte in center field, as Walker danced home with the winning tally. Goslin’s streak reached 15 games when he singled the next day in a 5–2 loss.
Connie Mack’s Athletics arrived in the Motor City for three games beginning on May 23. Philadelphia was barely treading water with a record of 13 wins and 16 losses, but they took two games from the Tigers, including an 11–5 walloping in the opener. Billy Rogell went 5-for-5 in the game, raising his average to .301, but the defense was sloppy, giving up four unearned runs. Rowe was shaky in relief, and with an earned run average of 7.14, his future looked very much in doubt. The Tigers still considered sending him down to Beaumont. Cochrane felt he had given Schoolboy a fair trial; the manager was more and more of the belief that Rowe simply was not ready to compete at the highest level.
Marberry’s solid pitching helped the Tigers tak
e the second game, but the finale was an ugly display of poor fielding and undependable relief work. Tied at five after seven innings, the Athletics scored four runs in the eighth, added an insurance run in the ninth, and captured a 10–5 win.
Goslin continued his splendid hitting in the three-game series with the Red Sox at Navin Field beginning on May 26. He reached base eight times in 15 plate appearances and drove in seven runs, as the Tigers swept Boston, and his hitting streak reached 21 games. Bridges was not sharp in the opener, walking five batters and hitting another, but he went the distance for his fourth victory. One day later, Rowe pitched his best game of the season to date, keeping the ball low in the zone and going the distance for only his second victory. Although he allowed 11 hits, ten were singles, while he walked three and fanned five in a 9–2 win. The third game was a Detroit rout, as Greenberg blasted two home runs and drove in four runs.
Goslin homered again on May 29 in St. Louis. Walker and Gehringer also hit four-baggers, but Tigers pitchers had no answer for Browns rookie Ray Pepper, who went 5-for-5 with two homers and five RBI in a St. Louis win. Detroit swept a doubleheader the following day, but the Browns ended the series by bludgeoning the Tigers, 11–3.
From there, it was on to Comiskey Park, where Black Mike’s men totally dominated the White Sox in a three-game sweep played in scorching heat. Goslin went 8-for-13 with two home runs and six runs scored, as Detroit outscored the Sox, 26–3, in the series. Rowe, in “splendid form,” pitched a 3–1, complete-game victory in the opener on June 1, his third win of the year.9 Chicago’s Al Simmons spoiled the shutout with a ninth-inning solo homer. “It was Rowe’s day,” wrote Charles P. Ward, “and when it is Rowe’s day he is a very hard man to beat. And that goes whether he is pitching at a Sunday school picnic … or in a championship game in a big league park.”10
The next day the Tigers put on a clinic. “The spry Detroit Tigers,” reported the Chicago Tribune, “were just a bit heartless yesterday in the business of pushing over our poor last-place White Sox. One run would have served their purposes, but the wicked Detroiters were most glutinous. They won, 12–0.”11 Rogell drove in five runs, and Marberry won his seventh game. In the finale, Goslin, Cochrane, Gehringer, and Greenberg all homered, as the Tigers breezed to an 11–2 win, with Bridges notching his sixth victory. “Another brutal plastering from the skilled Detroit Tigers,” wrote Ed Burns.12
The Tigers then travelled back home for a doubleheader against Cleveland on June 5. Detroit had clawed its way back to within a half-game of league-leading New York, and was just percentage points in front of the Indians. Charles P. Ward gave this assessment of the team: “[The Tigers] have become convinced that the warriors who wear the Detroit uniform are as good as any others and better than some who have been rated their peers…. That might sound a bit cocky, but it must be admitted that the Tigers are cocky now.”13
In the first game, Goslin went 2-for-3 with two RBI and three runs scored as Detroit slaughtered the Tribe, 20–2. Wrote Sam Greene, “The folks who packed the grandstand pavilions and sun seats will be talking a long time about the afternoon’s thrills with principal emphasis on the feats of Leon Allen Goslin.”14
In the second contest, Goslin went hitless in his first three at-bats before launching his sixth homer of the year in the eighth inning, extending his hitting streak to 30 games. Chief Hogsett, though, could not hold a two-run ninth-inning lead, and the Tigers lost a 5–4 heartbreaker. Nevertheless, Boston trounced the Yankees, 8–3, which put the Tigers in a virtual tie for first place. It was the first time in a decade that Detroit held the top position in the month of June.15 More than 23,000 fans came out to see the game, the largest weekday crowd at Navin Field in years.
Goslin was finally held hitless the next day, but he played a vital role in the game’s outcome. The only Detroit scoring came in the sixth. Goslin drew a one-out walk and quickly stole second. Gee Walker also drew a base on balls, and Gehringer singled Goslin home, with Walker taking third. When Billy Rogell forced Gehringer at second, Walker raced home with the second tally of the inning. Cleveland pitchers Bob Weiland and Mel Harder combined to one-hit the Tigers. Schoolboy Rowe, however, pitched brilliantly in the 2–1 win. He went the distance, giving up only one run, fanning seven and walking none for his fourth win of the campaign. Coupled with the Yankees’ 15–3 drubbing at the hands of the Red Sox, Detroit was now sitting alone atop the American League.
Goslin’s renaissance was a big factor in the Tigers’ offense rediscovering its mojo. In his 30-game hitting streak, he compiled a .376 average, raising his season’s mark to .324. “Goslin has become the barometer of Detroit’s base ball temperature. ‘As Goslin goes, so go the Tigers’ has been true since the start of the season.”16 He was still 60 points behind Gehringer, however, who continued to annihilate American League pitching. Detroit then began what promised to be a grueling four-city, 15-game East Coast swing, beginning in Boston on June 12.
Chapter Five
“Get that fellow out of my sight in a hurry”
While the Motor City baked, a cool, brisk, east wind bore down on Fenway Park, and rain had threatened all morning. The Tigers were on a roll, but so were the Red Sox. Boston was expected to be a contender, mostly because of the acquisition of Lefty Grove. Because of lingering arm problems, however, Grove did not make his first start until May 19, and currently had only two wins and a bloated 6.52 earned run average. Boston’s record stood at a pedestrian 24–24, although they had won nine of their last 13.
To open the series, Detroit sent Tommy Bridges to the mound. Not a big man, Bridges stood only 5'10" and checked in at a slight 150 pounds. Affectionately dubbed “Little Tommy,” he had pitched solidly so far in 1934, but certainly not as good as his 7–3 record would indicate. He was coming off a rocky start in Cleveland in which he had given up six earned runs, but was still credited with the complete-game win.
Bridges, a right-hander, broke into the big leagues with a bang on August 13, 1930. It was a mop-up relief appearance against the Yankees in the Bronx; the first batter he faced was Babe Ruth, who promptly popped to third. Tony Lazzeri, the great third baseman, singled to center, which brought up Lou Gehrig. Facing the third future Hall of Famer in a row, Bridges struck out Columbia Lou, then bore down and got Harry Rice, no slouch at the dish, to ground out to second base. No runs, one hit, no errors. Not a bad way to debut.
It was only later that things got tougher. Bridges, a University of Tennessee product, went through severe growing pains in 1931, his first full season with Detroit. He was frequently behind in the count and walked too many hitters (he issued 5.6 bases on balls per nine innings that season, the most in the league among starters with a minimum of 154 innings). Part of the problem was that he had fallen in love with his curve, which was often difficult to control. Of course, it was an easy curve to fall in love with, capable of dropping off the table at the last split second.1 Jimmie Dykes, the manager of the Chicago White Sox, once remarked, “It’s the best curve in the league and when he has control he’ll curve you right back to the bench.”2 Bridges had flashes of brilliance, including coming within one out of a perfect game against Washington in 1932. The consistency, however, was just not there. Then one day in 1933, his manager, Bucky Harris, who was starting to lose patience with his pitching prodigy, told Bridges to stop throwing his curve until he got ahead in the count. The youngster took the advice; he gained more confidence in his fastball and went after hitters, rather than trying to nibble the corners. As his control improved, the fastball became an even more effective weapon. Hitters knew it was coming, but there was nothing they could do about it.
As Bridges warmed up to face the Red Sox, the Tigers’ record in 1934 stood at 29–20, one game in front of New York. Keeping the hitters off balance with his curveball, Bridges pitched one of his best games of the season so far. He went the distance, issuing only one walk and two earned runs. With the 4–2 victory, Detroit was now ten games over the .500 mark and increas
ed their hold on first place to a game and a half over the idle Yankees.
The contest was not without incident, as Cochrane was reminded of the pitfalls of his profession. In the fourth inning, Billy Werber tipped a foul ball straight back onto the top of Cochrane’s head; it rebounded and landed high on top of the screen. (Although Cochrane was wearing a facemask, this was before the days when a catcher wore a batting helmet to protect his skull.) Wrote James C. O’Leary in the Boston Globe: “Cochrane was groggy for several minutes but finally was able to resume play.”3
The following afternoon featured a good old-fashioned Fenway Park slugfest. Boston looked to have it in the bag with a 15–5 lead after seven innings. But the Tigers applied the pressure, scoring two runs in the eighth. A furious comeback ensued in the ninth, but Detroit came up just short, and Boston was fortunate to get a 15–13 win. The next day’s Boston Globe described the affair as a “batting orgy.”4 Lefty Grove, who pitched in relief, got only his third victory of the season, despite giving up eight runs in less than five innings. With the Yankees’ win over the Browns in New York, the Tigers’ lead was shaved to a half-game.
“It is a little early in the race for any club to set up a claim for the pennant,” Cochrane said afterward. “It looks as if it were going to be a great race. As to our prospects, you may be sure that we will keep up the fight to the last gasp. Whoever wins this year has quite a chore to perform.”5
Rain washed out the game on June 14, a day that saw New York shut out the Browns to creep back into a tie for first. But Detroit took the Fenway finale on Friday, 11–4. Showing his stuff in front of the Ladies Day crowd, Schoolboy Rowe picked up his fourth win since rejoining the rotation. Gehringer, with six hits in the three-game series, was hitting an AL-best .415. From there, it was on to New York.
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