The other Washington team - the Senators, Nats, Griffs - entered September eight games below .500 and 25 and a half games out of first. September 1st found them in Detroit at Navin Field. It was the second game of a series that had begun with a 12-4 shellacking of the Nets in a contest had been tied going into the bottom of the fourth.
Wes Ferrell toed the rubber for the Nats. Ferrell was 12-15 on the season. He had come to the Nats on June 11th from the Red Sox, together with his brother Rick, in exchange for Ben Chapman and Bobo Newsom. Ferrell was 3-6 with a 7.61 ERA with the Sox. It was a different story with the Nats. By July 7th, he was on the AL All Star squad together with his brother.
In his "This Morning" column in The Washington Post published this date, Povich opined
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| Navin Field |
Wes Ferrell toed the rubber for the Nats. Ferrell was 12-15 on the season. He had come to the Nats on June 11th from the Red Sox, together with his brother Rick, in exchange for Ben Chapman and Bobo Newsom. Ferrell was 3-6 with a 7.61 ERA with the Sox. It was a different story with the Nats. By July 7th, he was on the AL All Star squad together with his brother.
Opposing Ferrell for the second-place Tigers was Pat McLaughlin. The 27 year old rookie, just recalled from Indianapolis, had last pitched for the Bengals on May 10th and sported a 6.75 ERA.
According to the Detroit Free Press, pitching was the story of the game.
Charlie Gehringer was a force in the middle of the Tigers' lineup with a 1.042 OPS. After his two out double, the first inning was a bit of an adventure for Ferrell. Hank Greenberg and Rudy York walked to load the bases. Given his seven RBI performance the day before, it's not hard to understand why York was issued a free pass.
That brought light-hitting Jo Jo White to the plate. According to the Free Press, White hit a sharp grounder to second but
Buddy Meyer, Senator second baseman, made a great stab and throw to force York out at second to end the inning. White's rap had looked like a sure single.There were no more Tiger hits until Marv Owen's weak single in the eighth which Shirley Povich thought was as "tainted as a Nazi election."
During those first seven innings Ferrell was something to watch. With Brother Rick guiding his pitches, Wes gave the Tigers a mixture of slow curves and slower curves that the Detroiters could only beat into the dirt or lift harmlessly overhead.While Ferrell was silencing the potent Tiger lineup, the Nats plated eight runs. In the first inning, McLaughlin walked lead off hitter Mel Almada. After Buddy Lewis flied out, Cecil Travis doubled Almada to third. John Stone singled them both home and scored himself after singles by Joe Kuhel and Buddy Myer. Those were all the runs the Senators would need. However, they added single tallies in the sixth and seventh innings and blew the game open with three runs in the ninth on singles by Almada, Lewis, Kuhel and Myer. Kuhel ended the day with three hits and two RBIs. Not too shabby for a player suffering from ptomaine poisoning. His gutty performance raised his average to .296 and his OPS to .786.
In his "This Morning" column in The Washington Post published this date, Povich opined
It must secretly irk Manager Bucky Harris to realize that two of his ball players are drawing more salary from [owner] Clark Griffith than he is . . . Wes Ferrell and Outfielder Al SimmonsAfter Simmons was spiked in the hand by an umpire in the first game of the Detroit series, he was sidelined until September 14th. As for Ferrell, the Free Press reported
"Next year Ferrell will win 20 ball games," said Bucky Harris . . .. And then he added: "For us." The remark indicated to his listeners that Mr. Stanley Raymond Harris will remain as the manager of the Washington Senators in 1938 and will not be replaced by any of half a dozen gentlemen whose names have been suggested.We'll see.
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