IN THE NEWS: In Detroit, the Red Sox pound 14 hits in beating the Tigers, 129. Shortstop Joe Cronin is 4-for-5 and hits for the cycle, the 5th cycle in Sox history. Cronin cycled in 1929, not the first player to cycle twice, but the first to do it a decade apart. His 8th inning homer, off Archie McKain, follows a Doc Cramer triple and ices it for the Sox. Boston also gets homers from Dom DiMaggio and catcher Jimmie Foxx, his 23rd. Ted Williams, pinch hitting in the 4th, draws a walk. Jack Wilson beats Tom Seats, with both pitching in relief.
IN THE NEWS: With Ernie Lombardi hurt, Reds C Willard Hershberger is hitting .309 after taking over. However, depressed in recent weeks, Hershberger commits suicide by slashing his throat in Boston's Copley Plaza Hotel. Hershberger blamed himself for calling wrong pitches in the July 31st 54 10-inning loss to New York. Leading 41, Bucky Walters retired the first two batters in the 9th and had two strikes on each of the next four batters. But Harry Danning and Burgess Whitehead each homered with a man on. Hershberger's father also committed suicide, in 1928.
IN THE NEWS: Jimmie Foxx, who started as a catcher in 1925, is behind the plate for the Red Sox to catch a 73 win for long-time teammate Lefty Grove. Foxx cracks his 24th home run to start the Sox on an 8-game skein in which they will hit 20 homers.
In Boston, the two teams dedicate the game in memory of Willard Hershberger, then Frank McCormick drives in six runs to lead the Reds to a 129 win over the Braves after Bucky Walters loses the opener, his 3rd straight defeat.
IN THE NEWS: In twin bill nitecap in St. Louis, the Browns John Whitehead pitches a 6-inning rain-shortened no-hitter against the Tigers, winning 40. An ankle injury will sideline him and this will be Silent John's only 1940 victory.
IN THE NEWS: Rookie Sid Hudson one-hits the A's on his way to a 17-win season for the hapless Senators. It's his 2nd 1-hit shutout this year. Hudson pitched for Sanford (Class D Florida) last year and was 244.
IN THE NEWS: A crowd of 53,997, an National League record for a night game, watches the Dodgers beat the Giants 84 on Mel Ott Night at the Polo Grounds. Only Chicago and Boston are without lights in the NL. New York's large turnout is due to its being Mel Ott Night.
IN THE NEWS: At Fenway, 27-year-old Tiny Bonham makes his ML debut for the Yankees and loses, 41, to Fritz Ostermueller. Tiny, brought up to replace the sore-armed Lefty Gomez, will still end the season at 93, complete 10 games, and toss three shut outs. His ERA will be 1.90.
IN THE NEWS: Steve Sundra posts his first win of the year for the Yankees. The Yankees, at 51-51, seem certain to be out of the running for their 5th straight championship. However, they will go 3715 the rest of the way and actually make the top for a few hours on September 11th. The Yanks will ultimately finish 3rd, losing three straight to the Browns September 15-16.
IN THE NEWS: Cleveland and Detroit, deadlocked for 1st place (6444), square off. In the initial pitching duel between the two aces, Bob Feller tops Hal Newhouser, 85, to become the majors' first 20-game winner.
IN THE NEWS: Chicago ace Claude Passeau tosses a five-hitter and doesn't allow a runner past first after the first inning as he beats the Reds, 10. Paul Derringer takes the loss.
Dodger SS Pee Wee Reese fractures his heel bone sliding into 2B and is out for the season.
IN THE NEWS: Jimmie Foxx smashes two homers to help the Red Sox beat the Senators. The two round trippers move him ahead of Lou Gehrig on the all time list with a total of 495.
IN THE NEWS: Stan Hack's 4th hit of the game, a 2-out single in the 13th, gives the Cubs a 65 win over the Pirates. Claude Passeau, the last of five Cub pitchers, is the winner. Veteran Danny MacFayden takes the loss for the Bucs.
Jimmie Foxx homers in his 5th straight game as the Red Sox outslug the Senators, 129. Foxx's feat sets a club record.
IN THE NEWS: The Sunday New York Daily News publishes a shocking article written by its sports editor, Jimmy Powers, suggesting that the 5th place Yankees, had been hit by a "mass polio epidemic." Powers charges that Lou Gehrig's "infantile paralysis" had infected the other Yankees, accounting for the team's uncharacteristic reversal of form. The article immediately causes a sensation among readers and fans. At Gehrig's request, Milton Eisenberg, a Brooklyn attorney, brings suit for $1 million against Powers and newspaper charging that Gehrig's reputation and credit had been hurt and that the article had caused him considerable mental anguish. Other angry Yankees, including Bill Dickey, also file suit against the News, causing the newspaper to issue a public apology on September 26, The three and a half column story appears under the headline "OUR APOLOGIES TO LOU GEHRIG AND THE YANKEES." In his apology, Powers admits he had no business getting 'snarled up in medical controversy," stating "Gehrig has no communicable disease and was not suffering from the mysterious polio germ that supposedly played havoc with the Yankee ball club." Lou is a personal hero, Powers adds. "Hurting his feelings was far from my mind.'
IN THE NEWS: At Fenway, LF Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox pitches the last two innings in a 121 loss to the Detroit Tigers and Tommy Bridges. Williams allows three hits and one run scores when 3B Charlie Gelbert juggles a DP grounder. On three pitches Williams strikes out Tiger slugger Rudy York, who had driven in five Detroit runs. Joe Glenn, who caught Babe Ruth's last pitching appearance in 1933, is Williams' catcher. Pitcher Jim Bagby plays the OF for the Sox.
The Dodgers split a pair in Pittsburgh, losing the opener, 43 before winning, 81. In the nitecap, Joe Gallagher hits a double and homer in the same inning.
IN THE NEWS: Lefty Tom George, who started in pro ball in 1907, returns to the mound for York (Interstate League) at age 54, and wins 32. He had been inactive for five years.
In the 2nd game of a twinbill, the Red Sox explode for 11 runs in the 6th inning. Jimmie Foxx hits his 3rd grand slam of the year in the inning, connecting off the Browns Emil Bildilli. The game is called after seven innings, with the Sox ahead 173.
IN THE NEWS: Bucky Walters pitches the first-place Reds to a 32 win over the lowly Phillies. Bucky wins his 18th, driving in two runs with a homer and single. Ancient40 in DecemberSyl Johnson then holds the Reds to three hits to win the nitecap, 61.
Bob Feller rescues Mel Harder in the 7th and the Indians top the Senators, 43. Hal Trosky's two-run homer off Dutch Leonard is the big blow for the Tribe. Cleveland leads the idle Tigers by three games.
IN THE NEWS: Homestead Grays (Negro League) P Ray Brown earns his 27th consecutive victory over a 2-year span when he shuts out the Baltimore Elite Giants 50 on a 3-hitter. The win raises his record to 12-0 for the season.
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