Evening star., 1948-10-10
.Tribe0uttoE
Series Today;
Nips Braves, II
Record 81 1877 Crowd
Sees Steve Gromek
Hundcuff Boston
By Burton Howkins
Stor Stoff Correspondent

CLEVELAND, Oct. O. The
Cleveland Indians will be seek
ing to write f1nis to the gruelling
1948 baseball season tomorrow
when they face the Boston
Braves in the fifth and what
may prove to be final game OF
the World Series.
The Tribe forged to a commando
ing 81 game lead today with a g
to-1 conquest of the pitifully punch-
less Braves as 81 ,S97 partisan fans
the largest World Series crowd in
history-watched Steve Gromek con.
tinue to embarrass the Boston bat
ting order. The National League
champions have accounted for only
one run in their last 26 innings.
Cleveland's victory placed the
Indians in position to capture the
world championship tomorrow and
they, will dispatch Bob Feller to the
mound. Boston will counter with
Nelson Potter, a right-hander who
was fired in mid-season by the Phil
adelphia Athletics manager, Con-
ME Mack, for alleged malingering.
Crowd Slightly Under Record.
Today's vast crowd, although
slightly under the major league
record 82,781 which saw Cleveland
Philadelphia doubleheader on June
20 in Municipal Stadium here was
the largest ever for a one-game
program as we'll as a new Series
mark. The old series attendance
record was 74,065 set in Yankee
Stadium last year.
Gromek, who compiled a credit
able, but undistinguished record Of
nine wins and three defeats dur
ing the regular season, scattered
seven Boston hits. His mound foe,
towering Johnny Sain, permitted
the Indians only five hits, but the
fourth Of these-Larry Doby's
mighty home run in the third inn.
ing with none aboard-was the pay
off blow.
Boston's only run-and its third
run of the series-was the personal
accomplishment of Mary Rickert.
The Braves lefthelder, playing in
the Series by grace of special per-
mission granted by the Indians and
Baseball Commissioner A. B. Chand-
ler, walloped seventh-inning home
run into the rightfield stands to pre-
vent Cleveland notching a second
successive shutout.
| Rickart ipoporfoI fro,,o AE;lx,,o,,Le1
as replacement for Outielder JEFF
Heath, who fractured an ankle on
september 20, was the only Brave
to get beyond second base as Gro
mex nearly matched Sain's f1awless
control. tsromek walked only one.
Sain, a 10 victor over the Indians
in the first game of the Series,
walked none-just as he did in the
opener.
Indians Get Early Start.
Clevelands mammoth Municipal
Stadium was rocked by the fans
throaty roar in the first inning when
Cleveland clipped Sain for two of
its hits and 10 lead.
| Dale Mitchell, the Indians lead
off batter, greeted Sain with a sharp
| single to center in the first inning
and romped to second when Dolby
grounded to First Baseman Earl
Torgeson.
Into that situation stepped Lou
Boudreau to slash a vicious double
down the rightfeld line, scoring
Mitchell. Boudreau, a notoriously
slow runner, attempted to stretch
the hit but was out on a close
play at third when Shortstop Alvin
Dark relayed the throw from Tommy
Holmes to Third Baseman Bob
Elliott.
The umpire who made that de-
cision, Bill Stewart of the National
League (thus made his third close
call of the series against the Indians
and Boudreau didn't relish it. He
stuck his face within inches of
Stewards and protested heatedly
that he had beaten the relay.
Decisive Homer Hit 410 Feet.
Umpire Bill Summers finally came
over and shooed Boudreau back
to the bench, but the decision ad.
ded greatly to Stewards unpopular-
ity with Cleveland's bowling fans.
With two out and none on in
the third inning, Dolby, the only
Negro ever to represent the Ameri-
can League in World Series COM
petition, came through with what
developed to be the big blow of the
game.
The fast, left-handed hitting
Dolby connected solidly with a Sain
delivery and the Indians promptly
were boosted into a 20 advantage
(See SERIES, Page A-4J