By the end of April, Hack, who always started slow, was doing so again. Yet this time it was worse than usual. In 11 games, Hack hit .250 with zero home runs and one RBI. An inauspicious beginning for one expected to challenge the Babe's records.

Hack didn't clout a home run until May 2. Then it was a three-run shot for his team's only runs in an 8-3 loss to the Cardinals. The next day Hack belted two doubles. On May 4, he powered another home run and two RBIs. But this kind of output was more the exception than rule. In one three-game stretch, he failed to squeak out any hits.

Hack wasn't the only Cub unable to find his stroke. By mid-May, rumors swirled that Hornsby was going to bench both Hack and catcher Gabby Hartnett for their featherweight hitting. Yet Hornsby was no terror at the plate himself, registering a feeble .192 average at this point. Meanwhile, the Cubs had dropped to fourth place in the standings. Pressure mounted -- on the team, on Hack, on Hornsby.

English tells a story that reflects the mood that year. "One time we were playing in New York, I'll never forget this. It was all quiet, and somebody set a firecracker off in the stands -- sounded like a gun -- and Hornsby, geez, I could see him jerk up. I thought, 'My God, did somebody shoot Hornsby?'"

On May 16, Hack knocked in two runs with three hits, including a double. Then his slump returned, as he banged out only two hits in 18 at bats through the end of May.

On the last day of May, Hornsby finally benched Wilson. It was the turning point, on the downward side, of his career, and marked the separation between his glory and his tragedy. Six weeks into the season, he was hitting .257 with two homers and 13 RBIs.

The benching sapped Hack's confidence. Hack's belief in himself came from his ability to swing and hit for distance. One problem was that Hornsby rarely gave batters the swing sign on 3-0 or 3-1 pitches. Hornsby preferred they take the walk and get on base. If asked, Hornsby would likely argue that a good hitter will hit no matter what, and that it is wrong to blame the manager for performance at the plate.

On the other hand, McCarthy let Hack swing away, and this seemed to work for the fireplug slugger. Now, with Hack unable to swing at "cripple" pitches -- the kind that pitchers put over the plate to even out the count -- it follows that his home run and RBI totals would decline.

Hack later recalled: "It just seemed that every time that situation came along, the pitcher would give me one that I thought I could have socked, and I had to take it. And that didn't help my temper or my confidence any."

One day, a frustrated Hack leapt from the dugout and challenged the entire Cincinnati Reds team to a fight. (He never did like the Reds.) The umpires and his teammates pulled him back. Perhaps that was the only way the benched Wilson felt he could get back on the field.

Consider where Hack was a year ago on June 4, 1930 -- then, he had 17 home runs and was hitting .341. On June 4, 1931, he had three home runs and a .266 average.

» NEXT