SOX KNOCK OUT BRISSIE FOR PATRIOTS DAY SPLIT.
Boston, April 19 - Veteran Lou Brissie has made a courageous return to baseball from leg injuries suffered during the war, but Opening Day, 1948 will not be memorable for the right-hander. Brissie was knocked down by a Ted Williams line drive in the first inning, and lost effectiveness as the Red Sox plated seven runs off Brissie in two innings en route to a 9-6 win, earning a doubleheader split. In the first, Williams lined a bullet off Brissie's injured leg, and the pitcher collapsed in a heap. The crowd was hushed, and with time called, Williams left first to check on the veteran. "For Chrissakes, Williams," yelled Brissie from the ground, "Pull the damn ball!"* The crowd applauded as Brissie returned to his feet, but obviously had lost his form. Vern Stephens hit a three run home run in the second game in his debut in a Red Sox uniform. Philadelphia rallied in the eighth off rookie reliever Harry Dorish, but Earl Johnson squashed the rally for the win. Sam Mele drove in two runs on four hits in the nightcap.

Philadelphia won the lidlifter 2-1 as baserunning mistakes proved costly for the Red Sox. Two runs were lost on the bases in the fourth, and Williams was doubled up on a sacrifice attempt by Stan Spence in the ninth. Phil Marchildon scattered six hits and struck out six for the win. Joe Dobson also struck out six, but was the hard-luck loser in the opener.

*- Story and quote from David Kaiser's "Epic Season", page 40.

Yankees take opener vs. Nats, 5-1.
Washington, April 19 - Joe DiMaggio collected three hits and Allie Reynolds benefited from strong defense en route to a 5-1 New York victory. Gus Niahros threw out two Senator baserunners to thwart any Washington chances. George McQuinn drove in the first two Yankee runs with a first inning double off Nats starter Early Wynn. Reynolds blanked the Senators through seven innings until Jake Early hit a solo home run to spoil the shutout attempt.

                     1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 -  R   H   E
New York             2  1  0  0  0  0  0  0  2 -  5  10   0
Washington           0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0 -  1   6   0


New York              AB  R  H BI  Avg  Washington            AB  R  H BI  Avg
S Stirnweiss 2B        5  0  2  1 .400  E Yost 3B              4  0  3  0 .750
T Henrich RF           5  0  1  0 .200  A Kozar 2B             4  0  0  0 .000
C Keller LF            3  1  0  0 .000  G Coan LF              3  0  1  0 .333
 C Mapes LF            1  1  0  1 .000  M Vernon 1B            3  0  0  0 .000
J DiMaggio CF          4  1  3  1 .750  L Culberson CF         3  0  0  0 .000
G McQuinn 1B           4  0  1  2 .250  S Robertson RF         3  0  0  0 .000
B Johnson 3B           4  0  0  0 .000  M Christman SS         3  0  1  0 .333
P Rizzuto SS           4  0  1  0 .250  J Early C              2  1  1  1 .500
G Niarhos C            3  1  1  0 .333  E Wynn P               2  0  0  0 .000
A Reynolds P           4  1  1  0 .250   T McBride PH          1  0  0  0 .000
                                         R Garcia P            0  0  0  0 .000
                      -- -- -- --                             -- -- -- --
Totals                37  5 10  5       Totals                28  1  6  1


New York                   IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO BFP  HB   D   T  HR   ERA
A Reynolds (W 1-0)        9.0   6   1   1   3   5  31   0   1   0   1  1.00
Totals                    9.0   6   1   1   3   5  31   0   1   0   1

Washington                 IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO BFP  HB   D   T  HR   ERA
E Wynn (L 0-1)            8.0   7   3   3   4   0  35   0   2   0   0  3.37
R Garcia                  1.0   3   2   2   0   2   6   0   2   0   0 18.00
Totals                    9.0  10   5   5   4   2  41   0   4   0   0


Left On Base: New York 9, Washington 3
Double Plays: New York 3, Washington 0
Doubles: E Yost (1); J DiMaggio (1); G McQuinn (1); G Niarhos (1);
     A Reynolds (1)
Triples: none
Home Runs: J Early (1)
RBIs: S Stirnweiss (1); C Mapes (1); J DiMaggio (1); G McQuinn 2(2);
     J Early (1)
Stolen Bases: C Mapes (1)
Caught Stealing: G Coan (1); M Vernon (1)
Hit by Pitch: none
Ground into Double Play: A Kozar (1); G Coan (1); J Early (1)

News and Notes

• Hot Stove trades held attention of baseball fans more powerfully since 1942. Boston manager moved to the front office, and Joe McCarthy was lured out of retirement. Vern Stephens, Jack Kramer, Ellis Kinder and Stan Spence was acquired by the Millionaires in order to contend with the champion rival Yankees.
• In the off-season, the press wrote off the champions until Yankee brass acquired Eddie Lopat from Chicago for Aaron Robinson and Bill Wight and Red Embree from Cleveland for Allie Clark. Former president Larry McPhail sought Embree last season but wisely selected Allie Reynolds in exchange for Joe Gordon upon the advice of slugger Joe DiMaggio. The Yankees and Red Sox are now the favorites to win the pennant.
• Southern Association action began in Atlanta's Ponce de Leon Park has an overflow crowd of 21,812 witnessed the Crackers opener vs. Birmingham Barons. Over 5,000 fans were turned away as the comedy duo of Abbott and Costello performed before the game.

ROOKIE WINS REDS OPENER, 5-4.
Cincinnati, April 19 - Ted Kluszewski belted a pinch-hit two run home run off Kirby Higbe to lift the Cincinnati Reds past the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-4, before an Opening Day crowd of 32,147 at Crosley Field. The game was marred by a brawl in the eighth inning between Pittburgh's Stan Rojek and Reds' first baseman Babe Young who had allowed a Pirate run by allowing a ground ball to go between his legs with two outs and a runner on third. Rojek led off the ninth, and apparently reminded Young of his miscue which set off the fireworks. The game was delayed for five minutes as right field was littered with pop bottles from the bleachers. One cameraman was pushed off the field by umpire Jocko Conlan, and police ushered off a spectator who came out swinging.

Cincinnati came from two runs behind with only two outs to spare in the ninth. Virgil Stallcup doubled home Ray Lamanno which chased Corsair starter Hal Gregg who had held the Reds to only six hits over eight innings of work. Gregg was the Game 7 starter for Brooklyn in last season's Series, and was acquired by Pittsburgh in a trade involving Dixie Walker and Billy Cox. Another former Dodger Kirby Higbe relieved Gregg, and Kluszewski hammered the vet's first offering into those same right field bleachers inhabited by the rowdies who littered the playing field one frame earlier. Kluszewski led the Southern Association with a .377 average with Memphis last season with 7 HR's and 68 RBI.

Pittsburgh took a 3-0 after Ralph Kiner singled home Johnny Hopp in the fifth inning. Hopp had tripled down the right field line scoring Gregg. Cincinnati's Grady Hatton hit an opposite field home run to left field with a runner on to close the lead to 3-2.

                     1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 -  R   H   E
Pittsburgh           0  1  0  0  2  0  0  1  0 -  4  11   0
Cincinnati           0  0  0  0  0  2  0  0  3 -  5   9   1


Pittsburgh            AB  R  H BI  Avg  Cincinnati            AB  R  H BI  Avg
S Rojek SS             5  0  0  0 .000  F Baumholtz RF         4  0  1  0 .250
J Hopp CF              5  1  3  1 .600  J Wyrostek CF          3  1  1  0 .333
R Kiner LF             4  0  1  1 .250  G Hatton 3B            4  1  1  2 .250
D Walker RF            5  1  2  0 .400  H Sauer LF             4  0  1  0 .250
F Gustine 3B           4  1  1  0 .250  B Young 1B             4  0  0  0 .000
E Stevens 1B           3  0  1  0 .333  R Lamanno C            3  1  1  0 .333
M Basgall 2B           4  0  0  0 .000  B Adams 2B             4  0  1  0 .250
C Kluttz C             3  0  1  1 .333  V Stallcup SS          3  1  1  1 .333
H Gregg P              4  1  2  0 .500  E Blackwell P          2  0  1  0 .500
 K Higbe P             0  0  0  0 .000   A Galan PH            0  0  0  0 .000
                                         K Raffensberger P     0  0  0  0 .000
                                         T Kluszewski PH       1  1  1  2 1000
                      -- -- -- --                             -- -- -- --
Totals                37  4 11  3       Totals                32  5  9  5


Pittsburgh                 IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO BFP  HB   D   T  HR   ERA
H Gregg                   8.1   8   4   4   3   2  35   0   3   0   1  4.32
K Higbe (L 0-1)           0.0   1   1   1   0   0   1   0   0   0   1 10.00
Totals                    8.2   9   5   5   3   2  36   0   3   0   2

Cincinnati                 IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO BFP  HB   D   T  HR   ERA
E Blackwell               7.0   9   3   3   2   2  30   0   1   1   0  3.85
K Raffensberger (W 1-0)   2.0   2   1   0   1   1  10   0   1   0   0  0.00
Totals                    9.0  11   4   3   3   3  40   0   2   1   0


Left On Base: Pittsburgh 9, Cincinnati 6
Double Plays: Pittsburgh 1, Cincinnati 1
Doubles: J Wyrostek (1); D Walker (1); H Sauer (1); E Stevens (1);
     V Stallcup (1)
Triples: J Hopp (1)
Home Runs: G Hatton (1); T Kluszewski (1)
RBIs: J Hopp (1); R Kiner (1); G Hatton 2(2); C Kluttz (1);
     V Stallcup (1); T Kluszewski 2(2)
Stolen Bases: none
Caught Stealing: none
Hit by Pitch: none
Ground into Double Play: F Baumholtz (1); R Kiner (1)

News and Notes

• Brooklyn manager Leo Durocher announced over the weekend that Preston Ward, 20, will be the club's starting first baseman as Jackie Robinson moves to second base. Ward played for Class A Pueblo last season. Brooklyn returned Ray Sanders to Boston for $100,000. Sanders missed part of 1946 and all of 1947 with a broken left arm. Sanders was acquired from Boston along with Bama Rowell in exchange for Eddie Stanky. At the time of the trade, Brooklyn GM Branch Rickey was quoted as saying "we've just won the pennant."
• Boston finished with the best record in Grapefruit action, 14-7. The Giants, who hit 202 homers as a team in 1947, look to be in mid-season form with 55 home runs in 36 games this spring. Cleveland (19-12) topped the American League clubs in spring action.