The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1954-09-10
Page The KEY WEST CITIZEN Friday TO- 1854
Odds With Tribe
10 Cop pennon,f
BY BEN PHLEcAR
Associated Press Sports writer

The time has come to start meas
uring the flag pole in the Cleve
land Municipal Stadium for thu
1854 American League pennant.
1t may be a few days too soor
to enlarge the press box for the
world series, or begin printing pro
grams. But with a 512 game lead
and only IA games left the Indians
certainly are justified in showing
some signs of optimism.
Among other things, history is on
their side. No American League
team ever blew so large a lead
this late in the season. Much big.
ger margins have been shaved,
but never erased completely.
Collapses in the National League
are different matter. Brooklyn
In 1851, Pittsburgh in 1888 and
New York in 1884 are the most re.
cent examples. It was the Pirates
VINO built a press box that went
unused. The "a Giants lost six Of
their last seven games and were
passed by st. Louis after leading
by 71s lengths on Labor Day.
But in the American League a
o1a-game margin in mid-Septem-
Der has been like money in the
bank.
The Indians saw the folding
green stuff come closer yesterday
with 5-4 Gift" victory over Phil
adelphia with the second-place
New York Yankees bowed 10 to
Baltimore on Joe Coleman's bril-
liant one-hitter.
The magic number for the In
dams now is 10. Any combination
OF 10 Cleveland victories and
Yankee defeats will clinch the pen
nant. The earliest possible date is
Tuesday.
While the Indians were tidying
up their affairs in the American
League the New York Giants
wasted a chance to gain a more
comfortable lead in the National
The Giants broke even in a
doubleheader with the seventh
place Chicago Cubs and were
lucky to get the split. It took two
late rallies climaxed by a squeeze
bunt with two out and the bases
loaded in the ninth by Hank
Thompson to pull out the first
game rs. They never had a chance
in the second game, getting only
five hits while losing 80. Clyde
Mccullough drove in two of the
runs, one with a homer.
The runner-up Milwaukee Braves
weren't scheduled. They trail New
York by four games and have IS
left. The Giants have 16 to play
and Brooklyn, 514 behind, has is.
It will take a combination of IA
New York victories and Milwau-
kee defeats for the Giants to clinch
the flag.
Brooklyn came out of a pro-
longed slump with a 1O-1 victory
over st. Louis yesterday in the
only other National League action.
Washington beat Chicago 20 and
Boston defeated Detroit 80 in the
American.
The winning Cleveland run
scored in the 18th inning against
the Athletics when Ed Burtschy
walked Hal Naragon with the
bases loaded. Cleveland had come
from behind with two runs in the
eighth and one in the ninth to send
the game into extra innings.
The victory was No. 100 for
Cleveland, the most won by any
American League team since the
1916 Red Sox.
Coleman's bid for q no-hitter
over the Yankees was ruined by a
bad bounce single by Enos Slaugh-
ter in the eighth inning. The ball
was hit to second baseman Bobby
Young but it bounced high over his
head just when he went to field it.
Nobody else came close to getting
a hit off the 32-year-old right
handler.
TIE Chicago-Washington game
was the fastest Of the season, last
ing only 80 minutes. Each TEN got
only three hits but two of the
Washington blows off Harry Dorish
were home runs, by Roy Sievers
and Jim Lemon. Chuck Stobbs was
the winner.
BoSton's victory over Detroit
was another well-pitched game as
Willard Nixon scattered four sim
giles. Ted Williams, at bat four
times, was held hitless for the Sec
ond straight game.