Editor’s note: Tournament games are played with Strat-o-Matic cards and dice. Three-man pitching rotations will be used for starting pitchers. Injuries are in-game only during this single elimination event.
The Cincinnati Reds punched the first ticket to the championship game of the 1938 Tournament.
Cincinnati’s 4-2 victory over the St. Louis Browns advanced the Reds to face the winner of the Philadelphia A’s at Boston Red Sox contest for the title.
Bucky Walters (1-0) went the distance on the mound for the Reds allowing six hits with five walks and two strikeouts.
The bottom of the sixth proved to be the difference for the Reds as they broke a 2-2 tie with two runs against Browns starter Oral Hildebrand.
With one out, Frank McCormick and Ernie Lombardi got the rally underway with back-to-back singles.
Harry Craft knocked in the initial tally with a single. After Lew Riggs walked, Billy Myers reached on a fielder’s choice as he beat out a double play attempt by the Browns as Lombardi scored the second run.
Myers gave the Reds an early advantage with a RBI single in the second inning. A sacrifice fly by Riggs in the fourth put the Reds up 2-0.
St. Louis tied it in the top of the sixth as Harlond Clift led off the frame with a solo homer. Billy Sullivan drove in the second run with a single to make it 2-2.
Hildebrand (0-1) worked seven innings giving up eight hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. Ed Cole tossed a perfect eighth with a strikeout.
1938 Tournament
Semifinals
(4) Cincinnati Reds 4, (7) St. Louis Browns 2
(8) Philadelphia A’s at (2) Boston Red Sox
Second Round Results
(4) Cincinnati Reds 5, (1) New York Yankees 4
(7) St. Louis Browns 5, (6) St. Louis Cardinals 4 (10 innings)
(8) Philadelphia A’s 8, (4) Detroit Tigers 7 (10 innings)
(2) Boston Red Sox 8, (6) Chicago White Sox 0
First Round Results
(1) New York Yankees 4, (8) Philadelphia Phillies 2 (22 innings)
(4) Cincinnati Reds 3, (5) Washington Senators 1
(6) St. Louis Cardinals 4, (3) Cleveland Indians 3 (10 innings)
(7) St. Louis Browns 10, (2) Pittsburgh Pirates 0
(8) Philadelphia A’s 3, (1) Chicago Cubs 0
(4) Detroit Tigers 5, (5) Boston Bees 1
(6) Chicago White Sox 6, (3) New York Giants 0
(2) Boston Red Sox 6, (7) Brooklyn Dodgers 3