Playing The Game

It’s always interesting and enlightening to listen to Howard Ehmke. When he talks of baseball and the 1920s, he makes them seem as vivid and recent as the past season.Not exactly a refresher course either. Some of his stories are new, even to veteran sportswriters.

Like the one he was telling yesterday at lunch. He wasn’t concerned about the loss of his strikeout record, which the Dodgers’ Carl Erskine broke this year but was telling about how close he came to missing the opportunity to fan 13 of the Chicago Cubs for the A’s in the first game of the 1929 World Series.

In the late Spring of 1929, Connie Mack suggested that he finish his career in the minors and tempted him with the promise that he would make him a manager.

“He called me into his office,” Ehmke related. “He knew I was getting near the end of the line and so did I.

“He said to me, ‘Howard, I have to cut down the squad. You haven’t been able to work much and I’d like to know what you think about going to Portland now and next season I’ll give you a chance to manage the club.

“‘I don’t want any part of it, Mr. Mack,’ I told him. ‘I think you’re going to win the pennant and I know I can help the club. I can beat the Yankees for you.’”

Ehmke Made Mack a Proposition, and Won It

Ehmke knew his plea had strength. The A’s had lost in 1928 because they couldn’t beat the Yanks. They only took six of 22 games in the season series. Ehmke had pitched well in several outings against the New Yorkers.

Still, Mack seemed to be hesitating. Ehmke spoke up again, this time with a proposition. He continued:

“I said to him, ‘Mr. Mack, in ten days we go over to New York for a four game series. If you let me pitch the last game and I don’t win it for you, I’ll go anywhere you want me to, and willingly. If you give me the chance, I’ll win it.’

“’You’ll get the chance,’ he promised.

“Nothing more was said about it until a Sunday morning when I was having breakfast alone at the Alamac (New York hotel) when Mr. Mack came into the dining room. He came to my table. I knew he had something on his mind.

“We had lost all three of the games against the Yanks in that series and the last game was to be played that day.

“He talked about this and that and finally after a lull, he said:

‘I suppose you’re not going to pitch today, Howard?’”

“’I certainly am, Mr. Mack,’ I told him, ‘unless you don’t want me to. Don’t you remember our little agreement in Philadelphia?

“’That’s all I wanted to hear, Howard,’ he said to me.

Connie Picked Spots For Ehmke All Season

“The club got some runs and we won easily. The score, I think, was 7 to 3. I often think what would have happened if I had gone to Portland. Of course I am not sorry I stayed with the A’s. I wouldn’t have missed pitching that opening game of the World Series for anything.

“From New York, we went on a long road trip with St. Louis the last stop. On the train going west, Mr. Mack said to me, ‘Howard, I’m giving you plenty of time to get ready. I want you to pitch in St. Louis. When Sam Gray starts, you start.

“We always had trouble with Sammy Gray. You remember he had been with the A’s and when he was traded to St. Louis, he bore down against us and was really tough.

“We didn’t have a good road trip. The White Sox took four games from us. Then we went to St. Louis. On the train Mr. Mack said, ‘I think Sam will go tomorrow. Be ready.’

“Sammy started the next day and so did I. He was really tough and bearing down. I was bearing down, too. The Browns only got one hit off me until the ninth. I don’t recall how many hits we had, but Sammy shut us out for eight innings. In the ninth, we scored four. In their ninth, they got a triple, but did not score. We won 4-0.

“Connie was picking spots for me all through the season just as he did in the World Series. And, you know, when he asked me if I would go to Portland, I think he was only trying to find out if I wanted to pitch anymore.”