The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-12-19
AMERICAN LOOP. LOST PRESTIGE. BUT MADE MONEY
Attendance FlOpped in Na= tiOnaI League; One Sui=
 eide, Several 'Beaned'
BY GEORGE KIRKSEY United Press Staff Correspondentl

BY GEORGE KIRKSEY
 United Press Staff Correspondent)
 New York, Dec. 19 (UP9 = The downfall of the New York Yankees overshadowed all other events in the baseball world during 1940.
 The mighty Yankees, after win- ming four straight worlds champion ships for an an-time record, yielded the American League pennant to the Detroit Tigers, a patchwork team of misfits, castoffs and veter- ans who went to the post 10-1 shots. With the decline of the Tanks, the American Leagues superiority went into eclipse. The National League made a clean sweep of all nter-League competition by win ming the world series and teh two all-star games.
 Moses The Manager
 Bill McKechnie, canny Scot leader of the Cincinnati Reds, was the Moses who led the National League out of the wilderness. He piloted the National League all-stars to 2-1 victory in the Finnish relief game at Tampa, Fla, in March, repeated by leading the all-stars to a 40 Shutout in the midsummer game at St. Louis and then led his own Reds to a world series triumph over the Tigers.
 The Reds coming back from a four straight humiliation by the Yankees in the 1889 world series, wrested the world title from the Tigers in a dramatic, tensely fought seven-game series. Paul Derringer, who was ingloriously pounded out of the box in the opening game, out dueled Buck Newsom to win the seventh and deciding game, 2-1.
 Three times during the series the Reds had to come from behind to deadlock the count before they fin- ally emerged victorious to give the National League its first worlds championship since the St. Louis Cardinals Gas House Gang annex ed the title in 1884.
 It was pitchers series. Bucky Walters and Paul Derringer each won two games for the Reds while Buck Newsom won pair for the Tigers and just failed to win third one which would have meant the golden bauble for his team. After hurling the Tigers to smashing triumph in the opening game at Cincinnati, NewSom was reused from his bed early in the morning to be told his elderly father had died, victim of a heart attack. The elder Newsom was overjoyed a few hours earlier when, for the first time, he saw his son pitch in ma jor league game. Big Buck returned to action and won teh fifth game.
 The series produced two story book heroes. Jimmy Wilson, 40- year old Reds coach who caught six games, and Jimmy Ripple, Dodgers castoff who was bought from Mon- treal by the Reds late in August. Wilson took over the second string catching job on the Reds after Will lard Hershberger, Cincinnati catch CT, committed suicide in Boston ] August 3. Wilson was showed in the first-string catching assignment when Ernie Lombardi failed to re- cover from a sprained ankle re- ceived a few days before the sea- son ended.
 Ripple came through with some timely hitting which Sparked the Reds attack. His slashing double of the right field wall in the final game drove in the tying run and then he scored the winning run on Billy Myers long fly to center. Although the American League lost many of its laurels, the junior I circuit had the greatest financial year in history. The close pennant race which wasn't decided until two days before the season ended pro- duced a record-breaking year in at tendance. A total of 5,433,7 791 spec tators paid their way into American League parks, surpassing the 193e total by 1,163,189 and the record year of 1884 by 1.078,352.
 The National League failed to have its usual dog -eat-dog race and the attendance slumped over 300,00C to figure below 5000 900. The Chi , cago Cubs showed the biggest de- , cline, dropping some 100000 to a total of 600,000. Every club in the , league showed decline except the Pittsburgh Pirates who gained about l50000 and skyrocketed up to 550,- . 900 for the year.
 The American League race was a
 thriller all the way, with five clubs l having shot at the pennant. The , Tanks started the season as 7-20 betting favorites, shortest in base ball history, but began to skid al- most immediately. They lost IA of , their first 20 games and plopped into the cellar. They battled their way back up the ladder and for an hour or so on September Il were actually in first place. They beat the Indians, 3-1, with Bob Teller on the mound in the first game of a doubleheader to take over the lead but dropped the second game and went back into third place.
 At one time or another the In- dians, Tigers and Red Sox were on top, and the White Sox, although never in first place, were only four 1 games from the peak on Sept IS.
 The collapse of the Tanks was attributed to a variety of reasons. Joe DiMaggio injured his foot in an exhibition game two days before the seasoned opened and didn't get into action until May T. The Tanks, with DiMaggio and Jake Powell (who fractured his skull, both right handed hitters, out of the lineup, showed a vita. weakness against southpawS early in the year, losing to such mediocre moundsmen as Chubby Dean, Hal Newhouser and