April 16, 1940 (Payoff Pitch Replay)

And we are off and running with the 1940 season, using Payoff Pitch for a complete replay of the season where my beloved Cincinnati Reds won their first World Series since the infamous 1919 Series!  I'm still thinking/working through how to present results, but I'm thinking I will make daily (in game terms) posts with these pictures of all the box scores - I love this screen in Digital Diamond Baseball to display all the day's action. I will then choose a "Game of the Day" to recap and rundown the day's best performers.  I'll also likely be doing "weekly" (again, in game terms) type posts to update standings, league leaders, etc.  Digital Diamond is a big help in that regard as well, as it has a very cool feature with league leaders, MVP candidates, etc - I can't recommend the software highly enough as a board game companion tool!  And with that...take a look at the full scoreboard above for all of today's score and then scroll down to see what I deemed to be the Game of the Day.

Game of the Day - St. Louis Browns vs. Detroit Tigers

4-16-1940 (Day Game): 1940-Browns (0-1) vs. 1940-Tigers (1-0) 

                      1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10   R  H  E
1940-Browns           0  0  0  0  1  0  1  0  0  0   2  7  0
1940-Tigers           1  0  1  0  0  0  0  0  0  1   3  8  0

Hank Greenberg (DET)

It is fitting that the 1940 replay began with Hank Greenberg as Player of the Game, as 1940 was an MVP season for Hammerin' Hank as he led the Tigers to a World Series appearance.  Greenberg wasn't the only star today for the Tigers, as fellow legend Charlie Gehringer hit a home run in the bottom of the 1st to kick things off.  The Tigers scored again in the 3rd inning to grab a 2-0 lead and appeared to be cruising behind the steady hand of starter Bobo Newsom.  The Browns, however, managed to get a run back in the 5th inning and then in the top of the 7th, third baseman Harlond Clift hit a solo homer to tie the game.  The game went into extra innings tied 2-all before Greenberg came to the plate with two on and one out and Hank did not disappoint, getting the walkoff hit to seal the opening day victory.  On the day, Greenberg finished 2-5 with two RBI.

Both pitchers were incredible today - Newsom pitched nine innings and allowed only two runs while striking out eight (and walking only one hitter).  Slick Coffman for the Browns pitched 9.1 innings but took the tough extra-inning loss.

The complete boxscore for this instant classic is below.

DDBB Player of the Game: H. Greenberg
Tiger Stadium, Detroit
1940-Browns                  AB   R   H RBI  BB  SO   AVE

R. Radcliff (RF)              5   0   2   0   0   0  .400
A. Strange (SS)               5   0   1   0   0   0  .200
G. McQuinn (1B)               4   0   0   0   0   1  .000
J. Gallagher (LF)             3   0   0   0   1   3  .000
W. Judnich (CF)               4   0   1   0   0   1  .250
H. Clift (3B)                 4   2   2   1   0   1  .500
D. Heffner (2B)               4   0   0   0   0   1  .000
B. Swift (C)                  4   0   1   1   0   0  .250
S. Coffman (P)                4   0   0   0   0   1  .000
                             37   2   7   2   1   8  .189
1 for 6 with runners in scoring position.

2B: R. Radcliff[1], H. Clift[1]
HR: H. Clift[1]
RBI: H. Clift[1], B. Swift[1]
DP: 1
LOB: 6

1940-Tigers                  AB   R   H RBI  BB  SO   AVE
B. McCosky (CF)               5   1   2   0   0   0  .400
B. Campbell (RF)              4   1   0   0   1   0  .000
C. Gehringer (2B)             5   1   2   1   0   0  .400
H. Greenberg (LF)             5   0   2   2   0   0  .400
R. York (1B)                  3   0   0   0   1   1  .000
P. Higgins (3B)               3   0   0   0   0   0  .000
D. Bartell (SS)               2   0   0   0   2   0  .000
B. Tebbetts (C)               4   0   1   0   0   0  .250
B. Newsom (P)                 3   0   1   0   0   0  .333
 E. Averill (PH9)             1   0   0   0   0   0  .000
 B. Thomas (P10)              0   0   0   0   0   0  .000
                             35   3   8   3   4   1  .229
2 for 8 with runners in scoring position.

2B: B. McCosky[1], H. Greenberg(2)[2]
HR: C. Gehringer[1]
RBI: C. Gehringer[1], H. Greenberg(2)[2]
HBP:  P. Higgins[1]
GIDP:  C. Gehringer[1]
LOB: 7

1940-Browns                   IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR   ERA
S. Coffman (L, 0-1)          9.1   8   3   3   4   1   1  2.89
                             9.1   8   3   3   4   1   1  2.89
Game Score: S. Coffman (58)
Pitches Thrown: S. Coffman (139)

1940-Tigers                   IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR   ERA
B. Newsom                    9.0   6   2   2   1   8   1  2.00
B. Thomas (W, 1-0)           1.0   1   0   0   0   0   0  0.00
                            10.0   7   2   2   1   8   1  1.80
Game Score: B. Newsom (76)
Pitches Thrown: B. Newsom (101)

Today's Best


Bob Feller (CLE)

1. Bob Feller, Cleveland Indians (9 IP, 2 H, shutout, 9 K, 3 BB) - April 16, 1940 is arguably the most famous opening day start in baseball history, as on that actual date Bob Feller kicked off the season by tossing a no-hitter.  That performance wasn't duplicated to start this replay...but it was damn close.  Feller tossed a complete game shutout, giving up only two hits and fanning nine.  He was awesome.

2. Red Rolfe, New York Yankees (4-5, HR, 3 RBI) - Red Rolfe led the Yankees offense in a 9-7 victory over the Philadelphia Athletics.

3. Pep Young, Pittsburgh Pirates (2-3, 5 RBI, R, triple, 3 BB) - The Pirates demolished the Cardinals 15-3 and Pep Young was a key reason why, getting on base five times and driving in five runs on his own.

4. Hank Greenberg (2-5, 2 RBI, double) - See above for the full description, but Hank's walkoff hit capped off the day's best game.