Oh how I’m out of luck
I failed in a certain
undertaking again, which
means no more that under-
taking.
I went to the Ball game
at the Yankee Stadium
this afternoon.
Met Shapiro Zichlinsky
& Friedman in the evening
who spent the remainder
of the eve, at my home.
—————–
Matt’s Notes
Papa really seems out of sorts in this entry — his handwriting looks messy and hurried, he mistakenly wrote his friend Shapiro’s name when he meant to write his friend Zichlinsky’s, and he fails to mention that the Yankees played a double-header at the Stadium, the second game of which ended in a rare tie on account of rain.
I can only assume that Papa’s agitation was due to the “certain undertaking” he failed in that day, though I’m afraid to imagine what he was talking about. Did he place a bet on the second Yankee game, only to see it get rained out? Did he try to pick up a woman? Get turned away while scoring some prohibition hooch? His evasive and embarrassed language makes me think he must have tried something sexual, something sinful, Something That Dare Not Speak Its Name. Of course, someone of Papa’s moral character would have been ashamed to admit to jaywalking, so maybe he was just up to Something That Preferred To Speak Its Name in a Quiet Voice.
Did he talk about whatever he had tried when he had his friends over that night? Or did he save his semi-confession for his diary, preferring to discuss safer subjects like Zionism, the upcoming Democratic Convention, or the home run he saw Babe Ruth hit against the Red Sox earlier in the afternoon?
——————
The Red Sox, by the way, were not much of a draw in 1924. They were on their way to a seventh-place finish (an improvement over 1923, when they finished eight and last as they would in 1925). The Yankees were much stronger, though they would end the season in second place behind the Washington Senators, who would go on to beat the New York Giants in the World Series (the Giants and Yankees had met in the previous three Series, by the way).
Here are how the Red Sox and Yankees lineups looked that day:
Game 1
Yankees
Johnson, 2b
Witt, cf
Ruth, rf
Hendrick, lf
Pipp, 1b
Schang, c
Dugan, 3b
Scott, ss
Shawkey, p
Red Sox
Flagstead, cf
Wambsganss, 2b
Veach, lf
Todt, 1b
Boone, rf
Clark, 3b
O’Neill, c
Lee, ss
Quinn, p
Collins
Ross, p
Heving
Game 2
Yankees
Johnson, 2b
Witt, cf
Ruth, rf
Hendrick, lf
Pipp, 1b
Hofmann, c
Dugan, 3b
Scott, ss
Pennock, p
Red Sox
Flagstead, cf
Wambsganss, 2b
Veach, lf
Collins, 1b
Boone, rf
Ezzell, 3b
O’Neill, c
Lee, ss
Ferguson, p
————-
References
- “YANKEES WIN FIRST, TIE RED SOX IN 2D; Balk Enables Champions to Even Count, 3-3, in Fifth Before Rain Stops Game.” The New York Times, June 22, 1924.
- The 1924 Red Sox from baseball-reference.com
- The 1924 Yankees from baseball-reference.com
Image Source: “Babe Ruth crossing the plate after making his first home run of the season today,” April 21, 1924. Library of Congress # LC-USZ62-97945. No known restrictions on publication.