Evening star., 1926-10-03
Pennock Battles St. Louis,
Holding Cardinal SIuggers
to Three Hits.
GEHRIG PROVIDES PUNCH
FOR BOTH OF TALLIES
1nfeld Out, With Bases Loaded on
Passes, Brings in First; Single,
Scoring Ruth, the Other.
BY DENMAN THOMPSON.
Sports Editor of The Star.

SClCl1CS SCOISu UNGI USGl anu III d W IL
today when New York 8 Yankees earn
ed a clean-cut 2-to-1 verdict over the
! St. Louis Cardinals in the opening
game Of the 1925 series for the base
ball championship Of the world,
Flashing faultless support to sup
plement superlative pitching by Herb
Pennock. the American Leaguers' ma
chine like play proved more than their
rivals could cope with, and the initial
joust Of the annual tussle for diamond
superiority found Rogers Hornsby and
his gallant array thwarted before an
assemblage that taxed the capacity Of
the largest plant devoted to the ma
tional pastine.
Considering the size of the thronE
numbering some So 600. this tilt pro-
duced less in the way Of real enthusi-
asm than any similar contest staged
In recent years. 1t was not through
lack of apprecia ton for the deterlnin-
ed but futile, efforts of Bill Sherdel,
diminutive port slider Of the Mound
City aggregation, to match the slab
bing of his southpaw rival or that
Gothamites are deficient In civic pride
played. 1t was due to the almost
total absence OF the spectacular.
No Sensational Plays.
There were no home runs, no SEN
sational catches and no base running
to set the pulses throbbing. 1t was
! Just a hard fought pitchers duel al
most totally devoid of thrills-just a
ball game, in other words. The stage
was there with setting perfect for
drama of the tensest type, but the
actors performed with such precision
and so little verve that yawns were
! induced where cheers or jeers usually
prevail.
With such a slugsing aggregation
as that led by the mighty Babe Ruth
and their little less doughty National
League rivals on view, this throng
was gathered to pay homage at the
throne of punch and power but there
was little in evidence. All told, but
nine hits were recorded in the course
| of the pastime, the Cardinals contriv-
! ing to get but three off Pennock, while
Sherdel limited the Yankees to a
meaeer half dozen.
| There weren't even any misplays to
occasion vocal exercise by the fans,
| the lone error committed by Lester
Bell being followed quickly by side
| retiring play that rendered the bobble
impotent as a factor in the sparse
scoring. Under the circumstances no
! keen interest could be expected, and
none was displayed.
Pennock Far Better.
Pennocks margin Of superiority over
| Sherdel from a singing standpoint
was even greater than the figures in
| the box score indicate. for after the
openin round he never appeared in
real danger Of being scored on, and
with little better break in the mat
| ter of luck would have had shut.
out to his credit. Sherdel was in
| trouble on several occasions, due
principally to an unsteadiness which
was directly responsible for one of the
Yankee tallies, while the other marker
of the victors was attained in a much
more decisive manner than the lone
run gained by the Missourians.
The duel of detonations anticipated
between Babe Ruth. the monarch of
, all maulers, and Rogers Hornsby. the
| scrappy chieftain of the Cards, who
| until deposed this year, was for six
successive seasons batting king Of the
| National League, was as tame as the
game itself. Ruth did contrive to
punch one ball to an unguarded spot
and thereby pave the way for what
proved to be the winning run. after
! drawing a pass that figured in the
! registration of the other tally but it
was a mere single and therefore unin-
spring from fence buster of his
proclivities.
Crowd for Hornsby.
Rut atthat the Bambino had a
hiS tirn vi
Hornsby was unable to come through
with anything that even resembled a
safety, His popularity, enhanced by
! his devotion to duty In the face of
; his mothers death on the eve of the
series, the ace of the Cards was given
the warmest ovation accorded any
of the athletes when he first took his
turn at bat. but against the cool and
crafty Pennock he was helpless, rails
ing an easy fly after failing on three
occasions to bat the ball out of the
infield.
southworth, O'Farrell. Bell and
other batters of repute on the roster
Of the Cardii ais proved equally harm
less. Douth.t and Bottomley alone
succeeded in breaking into the hit
column. and one of the latters pair
of pokes, Notwithstanding that it
proved productive, was a somewhat
tainted tap. So far as the Yankees
were concerned. although they OBJ
tained twice as many blows as their
opponents. there were no outstanding
binglers, none OF Higgins henchmen
getting more than one. although Lou
Gehrig earned lions share of re-
ward on the offensive by being credit.
ed as responsible for both of his
teams tallies.
! When Taylor Douthit, lead-of man
! for the Cards. looped fly to right
! field at the outset of the engagement
and attained to second base as Ruth
! rather amateurishly chased the ball
! as 1t bounded off the barrier. the fans
I envisioned an attack of stable pro
! portions. Southworths best. how
ever was roller to Lazzeri that
merely moved Douthit TO third base
/ He was anchored there as Pennock
deftly handled Hornsby's bounder and
; racnd home when Bottomley sent ar
offering so far to Koenlg right tha,
/ the Shortstop could not attempt a re
| tiring throw.
! Thereafter. save for a free ticke,
/, issued TO Lester Bell in the fourth
| nary a Card got on the runway until
| round eight, when ST. Louis partisa ns
waxed hopeful as 0'Farreli led off by
Gontfnued on Page ?. Column -