Editor’s note: The 1940s Diamond Gems Tournament games are being played with Strat-o-Matic cards and dice. Injuries will only be used during the game when they occur. For this tournament, the rules include a three-man pitching rotation using the best lineups available.
The 1940 Cincinnati Reds opened the 1940s Diamond Gems Tournament with a 5-2 road victory over the 1948 Boston Braves.
Bucky Walters went the distance on the mound to earn the win for the Reds despite allowing 13 hits as the Braves stranded 14 base runners in the affair. Walters walked three and fanned two in his complete game effort.
Ival Goodman got the scoring underway in the top of the first with a run-scoring single off Braves starter Johnny Sain. Billy Myers added a RBI ground out in the second to make it 2-0.
Boston was finally able to put a run on the scoreboard in the bottom of the seventh as Sain smacked a triple to begin the frame. Sain scored on a single by Eddie Stanky.
Unfortunately for Sain and the Braves, the Reds answered with three runs in the top of the eighth to build a 5-1 advantage.
Frank McCormick and Harry Craft both knocked in runs with a single to end the day for Sain, who allowed 10 hits with two walks and a pair of strikeouts.
With just one out, Ernie White took over for Sain and Mike McCormick reached on an error that produced Cincinnati’s final tally that would be charged to the Braves starter.
Boston’s Mike McCormick had a pinch-hit sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth for the last run for the Braves. Nels Potter worked a scoreless ninth for the Braves.
1940s Diamond Gems Tournament
First Round Schedule
1940 Cincinnati Reds 5, 1948 Boston Braves 2
1946 St. Louis Cardinals at 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers
1940 Detroit Tigers at 1948 Cleveland Indians
1941 New York Yankees at 1946 Boston Red Sox