Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Crawford Series

2008-II Opener, July 7th. Island Park, Harrisburg, PA
Attendance 6,001
Umpires: Julip Arp, Art Fields

Pittsburgh 100 020 230 - 8 12 1 WP - Satchel Paige
Harrisburg 020 110 000 - 4 7 0 LP -- Satchel Paige
HR - Oscar Johnson, Josh Gibson, Jud Wilson


Paige of the Crawfords, 9IP, 7H, 4R, 4ER, 10K, 0W
Paige of the Giants, 9IP, 12H, 8R, 8ER, 6K, 0W

Satchel Paige celebrated the 102nd anniversary of his birth in spectacular fashion by pitching for both clubs today at Island Park. Unfortunately his pitching didn't live up to the usual standards. Combined though, he did pitch two complete games while striking out 16 batters and walking none. The game itself was much more competitive than the final score indicated.

The Crawfords jumped in front when Cool Papa Bell singled, stole and scored on Rap Dixon's single. The Giants came back in the bottom of the 2nd with extra base hits by Heavy Johnson and Rev Cannady and a sacrifice fly by Frank Grant produced two runs. Johnson slammed a homer in the bottom of the 4th stretching the hometown lead to 3-1. In the top of the next inning, Sam Bankhead singled and scored on Judy Johnson's triple. Pat Patterson's sacrifice fly tied the game at 3-3. The Giants came right back in the bottom, on Rap Dixon's two out single, a steal and Oscar Charleston's tiebreaking single.

The Crawfords went in front for good when Josh Gibson and Jud Wilson hit back to back homers. The fords added three insurance runs in the 8th. Paige, for the Crawfords, earned the win by recording the last 13 outs while yielding no hits.

The two teams will grapple again tomorrow at 3:00 on the Island. It will be Daltie Cooper for the Giants versus Hall of Fame southpaw Willie Foster for the Crawfords.

July 8th. Island Park, Harrisburg, PA
Attendance 4,981
Umpires: Art Fields, Julip Arp

Pittsburgh 100 020 230 - 8 12 1 WP - Willie Foster
Harrisburg 020 110 000 - 4 7 0 LP - Daltie Cooper
HR - Jud Wilson

The Pittsburgh Crawfords beat the Harrisburg Giants for the 7th consecutive today on the island. Jud Wilson homered for the second game in a row. Herb Dixon rapped four hits for the Giants in a losing cause.

July 9th, 2008 Island Park, Harrisburg
A - 3281
Umps - Arp, Craig

Pgh 100 013 002 - 7 WP - Harvey S - Double Duty Radcliffe
Hbg 120 100 101 - 6 LP - Red Ryan
HR - Bell, Cannady, Jenkins

July 10th, 2008 Island Park
A - 2872
Umps - Craig, Arp

Pgh 310 003 200 - 9 WP - Leroy Matlock
Hbg 030 003 000 - 6 LP - Willie Gisentaner
HR - Josh Gibson, Fats Jenkins


NOTES: The Pittsburgh Crawfords captured their 10th consecutive game Thursday afternoon on the Island. The fords four game sweep with a 12 run margin provided a target for the 15 remaining Negro League teams. The three best performances advance to the second round of games.Cool Papa Bell was 7 for 16 (.438), a couple of doubles, a homer, 5 steals, three walks, 5 runs scored, and 5 knocked in. Josh Gibson and Jud Wilson each slammed two homers in the series; as did Fats Jenkins for the good guys.

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