The 1940 Cincinnati Reds continued their successful season-ending run, taking three of four games from the 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers. The Reds won eight of their final 10 to finish in a second-place tie with the 1935 Chicago Cubs at 19-13.
The Dodgers continued their late-season slide. They were tied for first place at 15-9 but won just one of their final eight games, and ended up at 16-16.
Frank McCormick and Ernie Lombardi both hit .357 (5-for-14) in the series to lead the Reds. Joe Beggs had saves in each of the three Cincinnati wins and will lead the league with 10 overall. Billy Herman hit .455 (5-for-11) for the Dodgers.
Game #1: Brooklyn 3, Cincinnati 2
The Reds took an early 2-0 lead after Ival Goodman homered in the second inning and Mike McCormick had an RBI single in the third. The Dodgers got one back in the bottom of the third on Billy Herman’s RBI single, and tied the game in the seventh when Herman singled and later scored on an error. Then, in the bottom of the ninth, the Dodgers put together a two-out rally to win. Dixie Walker walked, went to third on a single by Herman, and scored on Pete Reiser’s walk-off single.
1940 CINCINNATI REDS AB R H BI 1941 BROOKLYN DODGER AB R H BI
Billy Werber 2 1 0 0 Dixie Walker 2 1 0 0
Lonny Frey 4 0 1 0 Billy Herman 5 1 4 1
Frank McCormick 4 0 2 0 Pete Reiser 5 0 2 1
Ernie Lombardi 3 0 0 0 Joe Medwick 4 0 0 0
Mike McCormick 4 0 1 1 Dolph Camilli 2 0 1 0
Ival Goodman 4 1 1 1 Cookie Lavagetto 3 0 1 0
Harry Craft 4 0 1 0 Pee Wee Reese 2 0 0 0
Billy Myers 4 0 1 0 Mickey Owen 4 0 1 0
Paul Derringer BYZ 3 0 0 0 Kirby Higbe BY 3 1 0 0
Lew Riggs 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 32 2 7 2 TOTALS 31 3 9 2
1940 CINCINNATI REDS 011 000 000 -- 2
1941 BROOKLYN DODGERS 001 000 101 -- 3
LOB--1940 CINCINNATI REDS 6, 1941 BROOKLYN DODGERS 10.
ERR--Harry Craft. HR--Ival Goodman. SB--Cookie Lavagetto.
1940 CINCINNATI REDS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Paul Derringer BYZ [L] 8.67 9 3 2 8 4 0
1941 BROOKLYN DODGERS
Kirby Higbe BY [W] 9.00 7 2 2 3 2 1
Game #2: Cincinnati 8, Brooklyn 6
In the top of the first, the Reds began the game with back-to-back homers from Billy Werber and Lonny Frey. The Dodgers came back with a five-run fourth inning, which included a three-run homer from pitcher Whit Wyatt. The Reds then scored the next six runs, including a four-run fifth inning that had another solo homer from Werber and a two-run double from Ernie Lombardi. Mike McCormick had RBI singles in the fifth and seventh innings. The Dodgers got the tying run on base in the bottom of the ninth but fell short.
1940 CINCINNATI REDS AB R H BI 1941 BROOKLYN DODGER AB R H BI
Billy Werber 5 2 2 2 Dixie Walker 5 0 2 0
Lonny Frey 4 2 1 1 Billy Herman 3 0 0 0
Frank McCormick 4 2 3 0 Lew Riggs 0 0 0 1
Ernie Lombardi 4 1 2 2 Pete Reiser 3 1 2 0
Mike McCormick 5 0 2 2 Joe Medwick 4 1 0 0
Ival Goodman 5 0 0 0 Dolph Camilli 4 1 1 0
Harry Craft 4 1 2 0 Cookie Lavagetto 3 1 0 1
Billy Myers 4 0 2 1 Pee Wee Reese 4 0 0 1
Bucky Walters BY 3 0 0 0 Mickey Owen 3 1 0 0
Morrie Arnovich 0 0 0 0 Whit Wyatt BKZ 2 1 1 3
Jimmy Wasdell 1 0 0 0
Augie Galan 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 38 8 14 8 TOTALS 33 6 6 6
1940 CINCINNATI REDS 200 040 110 -- 8
1941 BROOKLYN DODGERS 000 500 001 -- 6
LOB--1940 CINCINNATI REDS 7, 1941 BROOKLYN DODGERS 7.
ERR--Mike McCormick, Lonny Frey. 2B--Billy Myers, Ernie
Lombardi. 3B--Harry Craft. HR--Lonny Frey, Billy Werber (2),
Whit Wyatt BKZ. HBP--Pete Reiser. SACF--Lew Riggs.
1940 CINCINNATI REDS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Bucky Walters BY [W] 7.00 4 5 5 3 3 1
Whitey Moore CXW 1.00 0 0 0 1 0 0
Joe Beggs BZ [S] 1.00 2 1 1 1 1 0
1941 BROOKLYN DODGERS
Whit Wyatt BKZ [L] 6.00 11 6 6 1 6 3
Mace Brown BXW 1.00 1 1 1 1 1 0
Freddie Fitzsimmons 2.00 2 1 1 2 0 0
Game #3: Cincinnati 5, Brooklyn 4
The Reds had another good first inning, scoring three times as Lonny Frey had an RBI triple and Mike McCormick had an RBI single. The Dodgers tied the game at 3-3 in the sixth on Lew Riggs’ solo homer. The Reds went back in front in the bottom of the sixth on Ival Goodman’s two-run double. Riggs tripled and scored on Joe Medwick’s sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth to cut the deficit in half, but that was it for the Dodgers.
1941 BROOKLYN DODGER AB R H BI 1940 CINCINNATI REDS AB R H BI
Dixie Walker 4 1 1 0 Billy Werber 5 1 1 0
Lew Riggs 4 2 2 1 Lonny Frey 4 1 1 1
Pete Reiser 4 1 1 1 Frank McCormick 3 1 0 0
Joe Medwick 3 0 1 2 Ernie Lombardi 3 1 1 0
Dolph Camilli 4 0 0 0 Mike McCormick 3 1 1 1
Cookie Lavagetto 3 0 0 0 Ival Goodman 4 0 2 2
Pee Wee Reese 3 0 0 0 Harry Craft 4 0 1 0
Mickey Owen 3 0 1 0 Billy Myers 4 0 1 0
Curt Davis BZ 2 0 0 0 Gene Thompson BX 3 0 1 0
Jimmy Wasdell 1 0 0 0 Eddie Joost 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 31 4 6 4 TOTALS 34 5 9 4
1941 BROOKLYN DODGERS 000 201 001 -- 4
1940 CINCINNATI REDS 300 002 00x -- 5
LOB--1941 BROOKLYN DODGERS 1, 1940 CINCINNATI REDS 8.
ERR--Mickey Owen. 2B--Ival Goodman. 3B--Pete Reiser, Lew
Riggs, Lonny Frey. HR--Lew Riggs. HBP--Ernie Lombardi, Mike
McCormick. SACF--Joe Medwick.
1941 BROOKLYN DODGERS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Curt Davis BZ [L] 7.00 7 5 5 1 2 0
Hugh Casey CY 1.00 2 0 0 0 1 0
1940 CINCINNATI REDS
Gene Thompson BX [W] 8.00 5 3 3 0 7 1
Joe Beggs BZ [S] 1.00 1 1 1 0 0 0
Game #4: Cincinnati 5, Brooklyn 2
The Reds continued their early-inning success by jumping out to a 5-0 lead after three innings. Harry Craft had a two-run homer in the second and Ernie Lombardi had a two-run double and Ival Goodman had an RBI single in the third. Jim Turner had a shutout going with two outs in the ninth but the Dodgers scored twice on back-to-back triples by Pete Reiser and Joe Medwick. Joe Beggs came in and got the final out for his third straight save. Turner earned his team-best sixth win.
1941 BROOKLYN DODGER AB R H BI 1940 CINCINNATI REDS AB R H BI
Dixie Walker 4 0 0 0 Billy Werber 3 0 0 0
Billy Herman 3 1 1 0 Lonny Frey 3 1 1 0
Pete Reiser 4 1 1 1 Frank McCormick 3 1 0 0
Joe Medwick 3 0 1 1 Ernie Lombardi 4 1 2 2
Dolph Camilli 4 0 1 0 Mike McCormick 4 1 1 0
Cookie Lavagetto 3 0 0 0 Ival Goodman 4 0 2 1
Pee Wee Reese 3 0 0 0 Harry Craft 4 1 1 2
Mickey Owen 3 0 0 0 Billy Myers 4 0 1 0
Luke Hamlin CYZ 1 0 1 0 Jim Turner BZ 3 0 1 0
Lew Riggs 1 0 0 0
Jimmy Wasdell 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 30 2 5 2 TOTALS 32 5 9 5
1941 BROOKLYN DODGERS 000 000 002 -- 2
1940 CINCINNATI REDS 023 000 00x -- 5
LOB--1941 BROOKLYN DODGERS 3, 1940 CINCINNATI REDS 6.
2B--Dolph Camilli, Ernie Lombardi, Lonny Frey. 3B--Pete
Reiser, Joe Medwick. HR--Harry Craft.
1941 BROOKLYN DODGERS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Luke Hamlin CYZ [L] 5.00 8 5 5 2 4 1
Freddie Fitzsimmons 3.00 1 0 0 1 0 0
1940 CINCINNATI REDS
Jim Turner BZ [W] 8.67 5 2 2 2 0 0
Joe Beggs BZ [S] 0.33 0 0 0 0 0 0
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 