World Series

The World Series of 1931 will be remembered for:

P: The error made by Catcher Wilson of St. Louis in the second game. In the ninth inning, with two men on base, he caught a third strike on the bounce, threw to third base instead of first.

P: The spitball pitching of St. Louis' ageing Burleigh Grimes who allowed Philadelphia but two hits in the third game, blanked them for eight innings in the seventh.

P: The pitching of Philadelphia's George Earnshaw who allowed St. Louis two hits in the fourth game.

P:The error made by Third Baseman Flowers of St. Louis in the sixth game. His wild throw to first base upset young Pitcher Paul Derringer who thereafter walked four batters, forced in two runs.

P: The extraordinary batting and base-running of $4,500-per-year Centrefielder John Leonard ("Pepper") Martin of St. Louis who made three hits in the first game; made two hits, stole two bases and scored two runs in the second (TIME, Oct. 12) ; made two hits in the third; made the only two hits for St. Louis in the fourth; knocked in four runs with three hits, one of them a homerun in the fifth; was passed in the pinches in the sixth but managed to steal a base in the seventh. He tied the World Series record for total number of hits (12). He also made 10 putouts, no errors in the series.

His room disordered by presents which included a large red pepper, two rifles and a sheaf of telegrams inviting him on deerhunts for which he had vowed a fondness, Hero Martin was pleased but not abashed by his sudden, immense publicity. Said he: "Every time I swing, the fat part of my bat hits the ball."

St. Louis scouts recalled less glamorous days in the career of Pepper Martin. Son of an Irish father and an English mother, he rode to Greenville, Tex. on a freight car in 1924, got a job playing second base for $150 a month. Bought by the Cardinals for $2,500, he was schooled at Fort Smith, Syracuse, Houston and Rochester, minor league teams maintained by the St. Louis Cardinals as developing ground for young players. Tried as a substitute in 1928, he became a regular when St. Louis traded Centrefielder Taylor Douthit to Cincinnati last summer. Gay, generally grimy, accompanied by a wife who cried whenever he made a hit, hawk-faced Pepper Martin last week seemed highly pleased with himself and the World Series. Interviewed by fuzzy-headed Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who said he would like to change places with him, Pepper Martin retorted: "O. K. ... If you'll swap your $50,000 a year for my $4,500."* When St. Louis won the seventh and deciding game last week, it was the first time a National League team had won the World Series since 1926, when St. Louis beat the New York Yankees. It was a series notable, with the exception of Pepper Martin's exploits, for brilliant pitching rather than sensational batting. When it was over, each of the players on the St. Louis team got $4484.24. Athletics got $2,989.50 each.

Fourth Game. Having won the first game and lost the second in St. Louis, and lost the third in Philadelphia, Manager Cornelius McGillicuddy ("Connie Mack") of the Philadelphia Athletics was faced with a familiar but difficult problem : who should pitch? As usual, he failed to reveal his solution of the problem till just before the game. Large (6 ft. 4 in.), bland George Livingston Earnshaw then began warming up. A game ahead, Manager Gabby Street could afford to gamble by starting right-handed Sylvester Johnson. He gave Philadelphia a run in the first inning, was replaced in the sixth after Jimmy Foxx had hit a homerun over the left field fence. Only one St. Louis batter managed to hit George Earnshaw--Pepper Martin who got a single in the fifth inning, a two-base hit in the eighth. Philadelphia won, 3 to 0.

Fifth Game. Already the unmistakable hero of the series, Pepper Martin heard himself described by Manager John McGraw of the New York Giants as the "greatest World Series player I ever saw." He was unabashed when Manager Street, moving him from sixth place to fourth in the batting order, made him clean-up man for St. Louis. In the first inning, he hit a sacrifice fly on which High scored. In the sixth, after Captain and Second Baseman Frankie Frisch had made a two-base hit, Pepper Martin smashed a homerun into the left field grandstand. In the eighth he singled, scoring Rightfielder Watkins. He was then, for the first time, put out trying to steal second. Philadelphia made a run in the seventh inning, St. Louis made another run in the ninth and won, 5 to 1.

Sixth Game. At Lancaster, Pa., a tire blew out on an automobile in which three men were driving to St. Louis to see the remainder of the World Series. The automobile swerved across the road, landed on the railroad tracks ahead of the train on which the St. Louis team was returning from Philadelphia. A man in the signal tower saw the wreck, switched the train onto a clear track, then shunted it back without delay or mishap.

A mishap occurred in the fifth inning of the next day's game. First man up for the Athletics, Foxx reached first on a wild throw by substitute Third Baseman Flowers of St. Louis. Miller sacrificed and Paul Derringer, rattled as he had been in the first game, walked Dykes. Williams singled. Grove struck out but Derringer walked Bishop, filling the bases. When the count against Philadelphia's Centrefielder George ("Mule") Haas was three balls and two strikes, Derringer delivered a pitch that crossed the plate close to Haas's knees. Umpire Richard Nallin called it a ball. After a long protest, in which Pitcher Derringer later declared Umpire Nallin had admitted making a mistake, the game was resumed. Cochrane singled, scoring one run, and Pitcher Derringer then walked Simmons, forcing in another. He was replaced by Sylvester Johnson. In the seventh inning, Leftfielder Hafey of St. Louis dropped a fly, Philadelphia got four runs more. St. Louis got a run in the sixth inning, lost 8 to i, in the only poorly played game of the Series.

Seventh Game. Not since 1926 had it been necessary to play a seventh game to decide the World Series. By pitching Derringer, Johnson and finally Lindsey and Rhem in the sixth game, Manager Street had his best two pitchers Grimes and Hallahan, ready for the seventh. Connie Mack sent Grove and Earnshaw to take turns in batting practice but when the game began, as everyone had anticipated, Earnshaw was pitching. Martin, who had done nothing the day before, got a base on balls and stole second in the first inning. High and Wat kins had singled in the same inning and St. Louis started the game with a two-run lead. In the third, High singled and Watkins hit a homerun into the right field bleachers.

The score was still 4 to 0 against the Athletics in the ninth inning when, with two out and two men on base, Dib Williams, Philadelphia's recruit shortstop, singled and filled the bases. The next batter was Cramer, pinch-hitting for Relief Pitcher Walberg. His hit scored two runs and brought about the last dramatic instant of a dramatic game.* Pitcher Burleigh Grimes was replaced by William ("Wild Bill") Hallahan. Second Baseman Bishop, first man on the Philadelphia batting order, lifted a high fly toward centre field. As the ball sailed into the air, Pepper Martin began running toward where he thought it would land. If he caught it, the series would be over. If he dropped it, which, under normal circumstances would have been unlikely, two runs might go in to tie the score! Centrefielder Martin, still running, stretched out his left hand. The ball fell into it and stayed there.

*Judge Landis' salary is $65,000. Pepper Martin's salary next year will be a news story. *By using a stopwatch in the crucial instants of the third game, able Sportswriter Paul Gallico of the New York Daily News discovered that it took Martin 3.9 sec. to reach home from a standing start on third base. Other timings:

Grove's fast ball 37 sec.

Grimes' slow ball 67 sec.

Fly to the outfield 5.9 sec.

Successful double play 4.31 sec. or less

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