of the Great Depression.
Before long the Indians jogged out to the field, splendid in their home whites with scarlet trim and the Indian chief on the left sleeve. They wore black caps with a red C and black socks with three thin white stripes. The uniforms were manufactured by Blepp-Coombs Sporting Goods Stores, a Cleveland retail giant located at 55th and Superior.
The fans cheered loudly for their favorite veterans, including Earl Averill, Hal Trosky, Bruce Campbell, Sammy “Bad News” Hale, and catcher Frankie Pytlak. They hollered for starting pitcher Johnny Allen while he tossed his warmup throws. As expected, a huge roar went up from the stands when Bob Feller left the dugout to play catch. Though he would not pitch until Saturday, all eyes were on him. He finished his throws, then had to run the gauntlet of reporters and at least one radio host with a live microphone.
The pregame revelries began with Mayor Harold Burton throwing out the first pitch. It took him four tries before he sailed one across home plate. The large crowd rose to its feet when a group of dazzling chorus girls from Playhouse Square lined up smartly at home plate. The Indians nearly knocked each other down scrambling out of the home dugout and dashing to a spot in front of the eye-catching ladies. Roy Weatherly proved he was the fastest ballplayer on the club, outrunning everybody to get a choice location for the photos.
With this appealing highlight, the pregame ceremonies ended. Allen tossed his warmup pitches and the game got underway. Through much of the 1936 season he had displayed a violent personality, ready to fight umpires, opposing players, managers, and anybody who seemingly wronged him. The Cleveland fans wondered if he would continue the outrageous behavior in the new season.
To the relief of the 20,752 patrons, the Browns went out easily in the top of the first inning. Allen faced three batters without screaming at anyone. The Indians’ new shortstop, Lyn Lary, came to the plate to face St. Louis starter Elon Hogsett. The veteran pitcher, formerly of the Detroit Tigers, eventually sported a high lifetime earned run average of over five runs per game. Lary swung at the first pitch, lining a double down the right-field line. Roy Hughes walked and Earl Averill laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third. That brought up slugging first baseman Hal Trosky. He did not disappoint, lining a shot to deep right field, where Beau Bell made a nice running grab. Lary, who had tagged up at third, scored the game’s first run without difficulty.
Cleveland broke the game open in the fourth inning with a barrage of singles and doubles, scoring five runs. An error by Browns third baseman Harlond Clift scored Hale, then Lyn Lary belted his second double to right field for another run. Roy Hughes followed with another two-base hit to score Johnny Allen and Lary. Trosky singled to cap the scoring and put the game out of reach. Hogsett took a seat on the bench to watch a parade of four Browns relief pitchers finish the game.
Johnny Allen gave up seven hits in the fifth through seventh innings, but managed to dance out of trouble, allowing only two runs in his nine-inning stint. One of the runs came via a booming triple by former Indian Joe Vosmik. The temperamental Allen pitched well, in spite of throwing just eleven innings in spring training. He kept himself under control, only tossing the rosin bag a couple of times when he disagreed with the home plate umpire.
The 9–2 victory pleased the crowd, who were also entertained by a wild brawl in the right-field seats. It took a handful of police to break up the fight between several obviously drunken fans. Later some of the colorful bunting hanging from the upper level caught fire due to a careless fan lighting his cigar. Quick-thinking young men attempted to douse the flames with beer and soda until water was located to put out the blaze. All of the rousing activity, plus a total of twenty-two hits between the two teams, made the game last an unusually long two hours and forty-five minutes.
The Indians to a man were jubilant in the clubhouse. There were plenty of smiles, including Johnny Allen yelling from the showers, “I only need nineteen more wins!” They had played hard and hustled, completely deserving the one-sided win. Manager Steve O’Neill talked happily with reporters, pleased that his boys had put on a good show. Now all attention turned to Saturday’s game and the season debut of still–high schooler Bob Feller.
Throughout spring training, every pitch Feller threw, every warmup toss he made, was carefully scrutinized by reporters and fans. Now, on April 24, the baseball realm would see how he fared. At game time there were 12,000 fans in the seats, a fine crowd for the day after the home opener. Among the ticket holders were an unusual number of young boys, already members of the growing Feller fan club. They anticipated a big win, with at least eighteen or twenty strikeouts.
For St. Louis, leadoff hitter and former Indian Bill Knickerbocker walked to home plate. Feller started with a few curveballs when suddenly a severe pain raced through his elbow. He panicked for a moment, not sure what to do. Feller desperately wanted to make a good showing, especially in his first start of the year. His elbow throbbing, he made the decision to keep the pain to himself. He shook off the signs from Frankie Pytlak until he saw the one for a fastball. Feller blazed away, though the aching in his arm was almost unbearable. He stuck with the fastball, trying not to make eye contact with his puzzled catcher.
Knickerbocker looked over several pitches, then trotted to first with a walk. After a fly ball for out number one, Joe Vosmik stepped up to the plate. He picked out a fastball for a sharp base hit. Feller kept throwing the hard one, but could not find the plate, walking outfielder Beau Bell and player-manager Rogers Hornsby. That brought in the first run of the ball game, still leaving the bases loaded. The free-swinging Harlond Clift chased three fastballs for the second out. After another walk forced in run number two, Catcher Rollie Hemsley lined a base hit to make the score 4–0. Feller got the third out and walked back to the dugout without talking to Steve O’Neill or Pytlak.
In the second inning Feller loaded the bases again, this time with none out. After he retired Beau Bell, Rogers Hornsby came to the plate with a choice opportunity to crack the game wide open. In spite of the mounting pain in his elbow, Feller gamely struck out the Browns’ big hitter. Harlond Clift swung away, lofting a fly ball to Bruce Campbell. The fans stood and applauded their hero for escaping the inning unscathed.
The Indians batters came to life in the bottom of the second inning. Sammy Hale smacked a double to left field and Campbell walked. St. Louis pitcher Jim Walkup checked the runners and delivered to Frankie Pytlak, who hammered the ball to the fence. Both runners scored while Pytlak raced to third with a triple. Feller came to bat with a chance to cut into the lead. Once again the fans stood as Feller singled, scoring Pytlak from third. Now the Indians trailed by only a run.
Feller struggled through another four innings until he gathered his courage and confessed to O’Neill that he had hurt his arm. Trainer Lefty Weisman took Feller to the clubhouse and carefully examined the arm. It did not appear to be anything serious, allowing Feller to advise reporters he would throw again in a few days. Though the Indians lost the game, 4–3, the big story in the papers was the scary arm injury and the possible ramifications.
On the positive side, Feller had struck out eleven batters in his six innings. After giving up the four runs, he blanked St. Louis over the next five innings. He did walk six Browns. Walks were a major concern of the front office, but out-of-town writers would reference them as evidence that Feller was just wild enough to be effective.
Several days later the elbow had shown little improvement. Cy Slapnicka called team doctor Edward Castle to examine his ailing pitcher. A complete assessment revealed several torn fibers just below the elbow. Dr. Castle instructed Feller to rest the arm for two weeks before doing any kind of throwing. The diagnosis calmed Slapnicka and Alva Bradley, but they maintained a small amount of worry. The two men had made a large investment in the hard-throwing right-hander. They could stand another couple of weeks, but anything more might be viewed as a serious predicament.
Trainer Lefty Weisman believed a bone in the right arm might have
