Resumed Protested Game: 8/17/1947

We are not sure if the Dodgers actually protested the game, but the game ended up being treated as if it were a resumed protested game. We are continuing to research it.

The game was the second game of a Dodgers at Phillies doubleheader. At the time Pennsylvania had a curfew on Sunday games saying they had to end no later than 6:59 PM. The Phillies had won the opener 4-0, and the second game was tied 4-4 after six innings as the curfew neared. The Dodgers scored a run in the top of the seventh, which caused the Phillies to adopt delaying tactics hoping the inning would not be completed and the game would revert back to a six inning tie. At that point, the game turned into a travesty.

The Phillies changed pitchers to eat up some time. The Dodgers then countered by having the runners on first and second trot toward the next bases hoping the Phillies would put them out, but the Phils permitted a double steal. Dodger batters swung at pitches well out of the strike zone. One of them was during an intentional walk issued after the double steal, but the home plate umpire did not allow that Dodger tactic. Finally the inning ended when the Dodger on third tried to "steal" home by trotting towards the plate and the Phillies decided they could not allow the run to score.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Phil's first hitter, Harry Walker, could not find his bat! That delayed things enough so that the count on him was 2-1 when the curfew went into effect at 6:59. At that point, the game was considered to be a six inning 4-4 tie.

The next day Ford Frick, National League President and later Commissioner, ruled that the game must be resumed (on September 25 when the Dodgers were next in Philadelphia) with Walker at bat with a 2-1 count and none out in the bottom of the seventh. He based his ruling on the umpire's report and possibly on the Dodgers protest if they made one. His official statement said "it was a farcical exhibition which was a disgrace to baseball and a complete travesty of all the rules of sportsmanship."

The Dodgers ended up winning the game 7-5 when it was completed on September 25 before the regularly scheduled game.

Page Updated: 12/17/2005

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