Show alce WHAT was the best bau ball game ever pitched when you con lider the combined quality of pitch ng on both sides this query came ip recently when we were wishing good luck to such warzone war zone travelers Is s carl hubbell mel ott ducky medwick dixie walker paul wa and paul derringer none of hem went back far enough to offer any complete check on the intricate situation the only candidate for the honor present was carl hubbell one of the great pitchers of all time who innocently became involved in the argument As I 1 figure it there were three carl hubbell such games that belong in one compact ind select group the first took place in 1908 when addle addie joss of cleveland beat ed walsh of the chi iago fago white sox I 1 to 0 in this game lean and lanky joss a great pitcher badly overlooked pitched ne nc of the few perfect games in baseball not a white sox reached arst base against this flawless exhibition ed walsh struck out 15 cleveland hit lers and allowed only two hits and in BI those now forgotten days cleveland had a mighty slugging team leaded by nap lajoie rv o hit game gam e this was a pitching thriller that aone who saw it will ever forget I 1 was talking about this game recently with charley hughes of the detroit athletic club who also covered the big arm contest that game is my pick charley said except for one wild throw neither team would have scored against joss and walsh before nightfall there is no greater thrill than to see a perfect game pitched no one to reach first especially when the other pitcher is allowing only two hits and fanning 15 men the next allstar all star double pitching entry we recall was the meeting between fred toney of cin cincinnati and big vaughn of the cubs on may 2 1917 in that game these two pitchers turned in a double exhibition hibi tion that has never been equalled equal led at the end of nine innings neither had allowed a hit A double no o hit game in one afternoon was something for the record ord no hit nine inning games are rare enough and when you yon get two pitchers offering the same tare fare on i a single occasion you get close to the mit limit what about the game mel asked that carl hubbell pitched against the hard hitting cardinals july 2 1933 hurling 18 innings hubbell promptly blushed ill tell you about it ott said carl carl beat deat the cardinals one to nothing after 18 innings tex carleton worked the first 15 innings for the cardinals and jess haines the last 3 they also pitched great ball you have to allowing only me adne run in 18 innings but that all of it if you pitched perfect ball through 18 innings only 54 men would come to bat well as I 1 recall it only 57 men came to bat against carl that lay day maybe only 56 now its great to lo pitch 9 fine innings but bot think what it means to pitch 18 great innings how about it carl I 1 asked carl changed the subject slightly the best game I 1 ever pitched was against the dodgers he said that was memorial day 1940 they got one hit but that day I 1 had most of my stuff working better than your 18 inning game and your no hitter I 1 asked 1 I think so he said but that 18 inning thing was a long afternoon heres a funny angle mel ott said again later on we beat dizzy dean and the cardinals one to nothing in the second game that same day 27 innings for the cardinals anyway we have offered you three of the greatest pitching contests of all time slipping on back a mere matter of 36 years there they stand on their own records the joss walsh gem of 1908 the toney vaughn jewel of 1917 the carleton blaines masterpiece ter piece of 1933 18 tunings innings it would be interesting to get a vote from those who follow baseball as to which was the top masterpiece of the three 0 0 0 all 1411 around fighters how many know that in addition to football ability this navy team has set a new record in the way of elgh fighting tin a or boxing talent here they are capt ben chase guard was the regimental heavyweight champion in 1943 and the runner up in 1944 leo bramlett crack end is heavyweight champion of af the academy clyde scott from arkansas won the middleweight championship of the plebe piebe summer tournament |