The Duel They Moved a Rotation For

A duel nobody could seat, a door opened seven years late, one home run in a whole career, and a broken bat that changed what catchers wear.

This Day in the Old Ball Game comic strip for September 6: four panels depicting Smoky Joe Wood beating Walter Johnson 1 to 0 at Fenway Park with the overflow crowd roped off on the outfield grass in 1912; Carlos Paula trotting out to left field at Griffith Stadium to integrate the Washington Senators in 1954; Emil Verban hitting the only home run of his 2,911 plate appearances off Johnny Vander Meer at Cincinnati in 1948; and Steve Yeager taking a shard of Bill Russell's shattered bat in the throat in San Diego in 1976, the injury that produced the catcher's mask throat flap.

Ed. 09.06.26

The Duel They Moved a Rotation For (1912)

Walter Johnson had run off 16 straight wins that summer, an American League record. Then Smoky Joe Wood started a streak of his own, and fans demanded Johnson be the one to stop him. Boston moved Wood up a day so it could happen. Fenway could not seat the crowd, so they roped off the outfield and let people stand on the grass. Boston's only run landed in that roped-off crowd. Wood won 1 to 0. Nine days later he tied Johnson at 16 and never got past him.

The Card Topps Printed Too Soon (1954)

Everyone expected Angel Scull to integrate the Washington Senators. Topps put him in its 1954 set at card 204. Scull never played a major league game. It was Carlos Paula, a Cuban outfielder his manager had dismissed as a rumor, who trotted out to left field at Griffith Stadium on this day, making Washington the 12th of 16 clubs to integrate. He doubled and singled in the opener. Only 4,865 people were there.

One Home Run, Start to Finish (1948)

Emil Verban was a three-time All-Star second baseman. He also came to the plate 2,911 times and cleared a fence exactly once. It came at Cincinnati off Johnny Vander Meer, the only man ever to throw no-hitters in back-to-back starts. It tied the game. The Cubs lost anyway. In 1975 Cubs fans in Washington named a society after him, the patron saint of competence without glory. Reagan, Scalia and Bill Murray joined.

The Bat That Changed the Mask (1976)

Steve Yeager was kneeling in the on-deck circle in San Diego when Bill Russell's bat shattered and sent a shard into his throat. Surgeons took the wood out that night. It had missed his artery. He was back behind the plate in under three weeks, and then he and Dodgers trainer Bill Buhler built a plastic flap to hang off the bottom of a catcher's mask. Look at any catcher or umpire in any ballpark tonight. That is Steve Yeager's worst afternoon, still doing its job.

carlos-paulasmoky-joe-wood

The Duel They Moved a Rotation For