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| Photo Credit: Getty Images |
By Zane Miller
On Sunday,
April 22nd, 1928, the Washington Senators (now Minnesota Twins) hosted
the Boston Red Sox at Griffith Stadium on a rainy afternoon in the nation’s
capital. The previous matchup between the two opponents two days earlier saw Boston
eke out a 6-5 victory, improving to a 3-6 record as Washington dropped to 5-2.
On the
mound to battle through the wet conditions were Bump Hadley for the Senators
and Red Ruffing for the Red Sox. While the two would later end up being
teammates as part of the New York Yankees’ dynasty of the late 1930’s, to start
off the 1928 season both pitchers appeared to be headed in completely different
directions. Hadley broke onto the scene in his rookie season of 1927, taking an
impressive 2.85 ERA with 14 wins in nearly 200 innings pitched. Meanwhile,
Ruffing was still struggling to find himself in his fourth full season with the
club, his best showing to that point being a 4.39 ERA over 166 innings in 1926.
However, on this day, both would encounter trouble early on.
In the
bottom of the first inning, a bases loaded walk by Senators first baseman Joe
Judge and a two-out, two RBI single from catcher Muddy Ruel allowed Washington a
3-0 advantage. However, the Red Sox came fighting back less than an inning
later as the top of the second proved disastrous for Hadley. In his first of
what would turn out to be multiple hits, Boston catcher Fred Hofmann knocked in
an RBI double to get the Red Sox on the board. The hits just kept coming for
Hadley, who was in recovery from a bout of appendicitis during the offseason, as
his opposite pitcher in Ruffing created some of his own run support with an RBI
single to center field. After an RBI double from center fielder Ira Flagstead
and an RBI single courtesy of third baseman Buddy Myer, Hadley was removed from
the game with the Red Sox up 4-3. Left fielder Ken Williams added an insurance
run which was charged to Hadley, as Boston headed into the break with a two-run
lead.
An RBI
triple by future Hall of Famer Sam Rice cut Boston’s lead in half at the top of
the third, but the Red Sox were able to respond in their half of the inning off
of reliever Clay Van Alstyne. With two runners on and no outs, Hofmann drove in
another run with an RBI single as shortstop Billy Rogell did the same to give
the team their biggest lead of the day. When the Senators came up to bat in the
fourth inning, center fielder Sam West nabbed the game’s only home run, scoring
an inside-the-park HR into Griffith Stadium’s vast center field.
Despite giving
up his fifth earned run of the day, Ruffing would settle in for the remainder
of the contest. He got himself out of a fifth-inning jam unscathed and wouldn’t
allow another baserunner until the eighth inning, who was promptly erased on
the next at-bat. This gave Boston an opportunity to add to their advantage, as Hofmann
picked up his third hit of the game and third RBI, driving in first baseman Jack
Rothrock who also had his fourth hit of the afternoon. Holding a solid lead in
the final frame, Ruffing did his part once again as the Senators went down in
order to seal an 8-5 win for the Red Sox. Despite going through a tough first couple innings, Ruffing survived for a complete game with five earned runs, 10 hits, four walks and five strikeouts.
Both the
Red Sox and Senators would have their troubles in 1928, with Boston finishing
last in the American League standings as Washington was also unable to take a
winning record at 75-79.
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