May 15th, 1934 - Transactions

Cards release Grimes; Red Sox Acquire Shortstop; Cubbies add Pitching

Today witnesses a series of moves announced by major league front offices.

First, the St. Louis Cardinals announced that they were releasing spitballer Burleigh Grimes. Grimes, who has been pitching in the bigs since 1916 is among a few "grandfathered" pitchers still allowed to throw spitballs. During the 1920s, no pitcher won as many games as "Ol stubblebeard" as Grimes is known. Grimes has, however, only appeared in 5 games this year for the Cards, and has not been effective with an ERA of 7.11.

Grimes was acquired from the Cubs last year, after the Cubs had in turn acquired him from the Cards. Grimes has also pitched for Pittsburgh, Brooklyn, New York (NL), and Boston (NL) in his long career.

In other news, the Boston Red Sox acquired backup shortstop Lyn Larry from the New York Yankees. Their plan is to give hit solid hitting but error prone shortstop Bill Werber more time at third base, shoring up one of the key weaknesses - fielding.

Finally, in a complex series of maneuvers, the St. Louis Browns returned pitcher Jim Weaver to the New York Yankees from whom they purchased him. The Chicago Cubs however, exercised their rights to acquire Weaver off waivers, so the pitcher who first saw major league action in 1928, but who has played mostly in the minor leagues since, will be pitching for Chicago from now on.

May 14th, 1934 - NL Game Summaries

Cubbies Defeat Giants in 14 Inning Thriller!!!
Malone throws 5 scoreless innings in relief

Giants.......... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 - 6 15
Cubs............. 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 - 7 14 0

After 7 1/2 innings, this afternoon's game between the league leading Cubs and hotly pursuing Giants appeared to be a well pitched 2-2 duel. Then, the hitters took over, scoring 8 runs to leave the game deadlocked at 6 after 9. The deadlock was not broken until the bottom of the 14th inning, when Cubs catcher decided it with a solo home run.

There were many clutch moments as the teams battled back and forth all day. The Giants tied the game in the top of the 8th with a leadoff homer by Gus Mancuso. The Cubs appeared to take a decisive 4-2 lead in the bottom of the 8th as Chuck Klein blasted a two run homer. However, the Giants responded in the top of the 9th with a 4 run rally, capped by a 3 run pinch hit homer by George Grantham to give New York a 6-4 lead going into the the bottom of the 9th.

The Cubs were down to their final out in the 9th, with a runner on second, when manager Charlie Grimm called on pinch hitter Babe Herman. Herman drew a walk and Stan Hack followed to load the bases with two outs. Woody English came up big in the clutch with a two run single to tie the game once again at 6-6.

4 and a half scoreless innings followed. Perce (Pat) Malone (pictured) then stepped into the breach for Chicago, holding the hot hitting Giants through 5 at bats until the Cubs finally broke through with Hartnett's homer. Hartnett also blocked a run in the top of the 4th. Still, Charlie Grimm couldn't stop talking about Malone's sterling performace. 'Bottom line is, this guy kept us in the game until we could win it. I didn't think anyone could stop New York after they scored 5 runs in the last two innings.'