One of the most famous games in baseball history was the 1908 clash between the Chicago Cubs and the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds on September 23 – the "Bonehead Merkle" game. With the score tied 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth, the Giants had Moose McCormick on third and Fred Merkle on first with two outs. Al Bridwell lined a single over 2B to score McCormick and send many of the 20,000 onto the field in delirium over a crucial win in a tight pennant race. But wait. Merkle didn't bother to touch second. Instead, with fans on the field, he set sail for the clubhouse in CF. Cubs 2B Johnny Evers screamed for the ball. However, the throw went over his head, landing near 3B coach Joe McGinnity. Joe, hip to what Evers had in mind, picked up the ball and threw it toward the grandstand. One Giant later claimed the toss went over the grandstand. The Cubs swore that one of their P, Floyd Kroh, went into the stands, retrieved the ball, and threw it to Evers. "The Crab" stepped on 2B and appealed to base umpire Hank O'Day that Merkle was forced out, ending the inning with the game still tied. Evers had precedent for his claim. Earlier that month in a game against Pittsburgh, the same situation had occurred. Without the confusion of fans on the field, Evers had gotten hold of the ball and touched the bag. The same ump, O'Day, refused to nullify the run because he had not seen whether the runner touched second. As the sole arbiter that day, he had been watching the lead runner touch home. However, O'Day told Evers he was right – if the runner on first failed to touch second, he was forced out, nullifying the winning run. Returning to the Merkle situation, plate umpire Bob Emslie consulted with O'Day. Hank said that "Merkle did not go near second base. I then called Merkle out and O'Day said the run did not count" (to quote the report Emslie submitted to League president Harry Pulliam the next day). In his report, O'Day said that "I did not ask to have the field cleared, as it was too dark to continue play." Pulliam, who had been in attendance, ruled it a tie game that was called because of darkness. Neither team was happy with the ruling. The Cubs demanded a forfeit win because the Giants lost control of the crowd so that the game could not continue. In fact, they reported to the Polo Grounds early the next day for the last game of the series to indicate their willingness to either complete the suspended game or replay it as part of a DH. On the other side, New York manager John McGraw claimed that when Kroh, a player not in the game at the time, touched the ball, it became dead (an argument that would seem to have some legitimacy). Since the Giants had five days to reply to the ruling under league rules, Pulliam didn't order the game to be replayed the afternoon of his ruling. Instead, he ordered a makeup game at the end of the season should it be necessary to decide the pennant. As it turned out, the Cubs and Giants ended the regular season with identical records. So they replayed the Merkle game on October 8. It was, in effect, a playoff game.

Fred Merkle Johnny Evers Hank O'Day Harry Pulliam Top of Page

On June 14, 1947, while the Chicago White Sox were in Boston for a weekend series, the Red Sox traded 1B Rudy York to Chicago for 1B Jake Jones. In the Sunday doubleheader the next day, Jones belted two balls over the LF wall and drove in seven runs to help sweep his old team. In the nightcap, his walk-off grand slam broke a 4-4 tie. In the Red Sox dugout, P Tex Hughson predicted Jones' game-winning blast as he walked to the plate. "He'll hit a HR on the first pitch." However, Jones nearly didn't get his grand slam. Bobby Doerr, on first when Jones delivered, ran to second, touched the bag, and headed to the clubhouse. However, Coach Del Baker waved to him, and Doerr realized that, even though the winning run had scored, the newcomer's HR was at stake. So he resumed his trip around the bases. Red Sox manager Joe Cronin said, "I guess the trade is all right for tonight, at least." When someone said that Jones had a pretty good day, Boston IF Eddie Pellagrini replied: "Pretty good day! That's a pretty good week." Considering what he had been involved with in the previous five years, it's remarkable that Jones was playing at all, much less hitting grand slams. Born near Monroe LA in 1920, Jones played in the Class C Cotton States League right out of high school. In 1940, he led the Class AA Texas League with 24 HRs at Shreveport. He also exhibited outstanding fielding ability at 1B. Detroit's Hall-of-Famer Harry Heilmann called Jones one of the greatest natural hitting prospects he had ever seen. Shreveport sold Jake to the White Sox in late August, 1941. He played in three games for Chicago that season and seven more at the beginning of 1942 before enlisting in the U.S. Navy. Selected for flight training, Jones was sent to Chapel Hill NC. The Navy baseball team there included Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, Johnny Sain, Joe Coleman, Ray Scarborough, Buddy Hassett, and Harry Craft. However, Jake played only for the post basketball team. In 1944-5, while flying off the carrier Yorktown in the Pacific, Jones earned four Air Medals, several Distinguished Flying Crosses and a Silver Star for his bravery and efficiency on combat missions. On one flight, he downed five Japanese planes. (Jones' first Air Medal citation was signed by Vice Admiral J. S. McCain, grandfather of the 2008 Republican presidential candidate, Senator John McCain III.) As a result, Jones returned to the U.S. after the war as a hero. During a week's shore leave in NYC, he appeared on Kate Smith's radio show. The famous sportswriter Grantland Rice praised the flying skill of the former ballplayer. "It was over Tokyo that three flyers ganged up on him and he got all three."

Jake Jones

Jake returned to the White Sox for the 1946 season. Although he had returned unscathed from WWII, he didn't have such luck on the diamond. He fractured his left wrist and elbow when Detroit's Eddie Lake ran into his outstretched arm during a play at 1B. Surgery and a long period of physical therapy got Jones in shape to play in 1947 and set the stage for his impressive debut with the Red Sox.

Unfortunately, Jake's first day with Boston gave a misleading view of his production. "Streaky as they come, Jones was capable of carrying the team when his bat was hot, but when it wasn't it could be freezing." He hit only .237 combined for the two Sox teams in 1947. However, he drove in 96 runs and clouted 19 HRs. Jake also developed a strong friendship with Ted Williams because of their common interest in fishing and flying.

When Cronin took over as GM in 1948, he hired Joe McCarthy as manager. Joe moved OF Stan Spence to 1B and platooned him with Jones. However, when neither provided the clout needed from the position, McCarthy turned to Billy Goodman. Jones hit .200 and 1 HR in only 105 ABs. After the season, the Red Sox released him, and he finished his baseball career with AAA Louisville and AA San Antonio in 1949 before retiring to his 400-acre cotton farm in his hometown.

Reference: "Ace: The Jake Jones Story," Dick Thompson, The National Pastime: A Review of Baseball History (SABR)
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Do you believe in curses? The most famous is the Curse of the Bambino. But you may not have heard of the Curse of the Colonel. The Hanshin Tigers of Osaka, Japan, named for the Hanshin Electric Railway Co., began play in the Japanese baseball league in 1936. The Tigers won four titles before the establishment of the two league system in 1950. Since the league was split into the Central and Pacific Leagues, Hanshin has won the Central League pennant five times (1962, 1964, 1985, 2003, 2005). The Tigers won their only Japan Series title in 1985. Afterwards, celebrating fans gathered on the Ebisubashi Bridge over the Dotonbori River. In a ritual followed every time an Osaka team wins a sports championship, the fans chanted the names of the Tiger players. As each name was called, a fan resembling that player and wearing his jersey jumped from the bridge. However, no Oriental looked like the team's U.S. MVP, Randy Bass, who clouted 54 HRs that season. So the fans seized a Colonel Sanders statue from in front of a local KFC, dressed it in Bass's jersey, and threw it into the river. Some revelers, realizing what they had done, apologized to the store manager and promised to return the statue. However, when they searched the river the next day, the Colonel was nowhere to be found. Periodically since that time, divers were sent down and the river dredged in attempts to recover the statue, to no avail. Hanshin has not won the Japan Series since. Fans became convinced that the team would not win the championship again until the statue is recovered. Bass, who had signed with Hanshin in 1983 after playing for the Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals and the Montreal Expos, was not bothered by any jinx. He won four straight league batting titles and two consecutive triple crowns. He returns to Japan yearly for commercials, golf tournaments, autograph signings, and other such promotions A new development in the Curse of Colonel Sanders saga has just occurred. On March 9-10, 2009, workers cleaning the river bed found the parts of the statue and reassembled it. Bass, now a state senator in Oklahoma, proclaimed: "Now that they've found the Colonel, the curse is over, and it’s time to put your money on the Tigers." Brief video on the Curse of Colonel Sanders Video on the Recovery of the Statue

Colonel Sanders Statue in Hanshin Randy Bass holding the Japan Series MVP Trophy in 1985 Colonel Sanders statue recovered Top of Page