The Giants crush the first-place Braves, 8 – 2, behind Sheldon Jones. Sid Gordon hits his 24th and Johnny Mize his 29th, both off Vern Bickford, to pace the New Yorkers. The Braves lead Brooklyn by a game.
The Pirates halt the Cubs, 7 – 4, behind rookie Bob Chesnes. Chesnes helps his own cause with two singles in the Bucs’ 6-run 8th inning to pin the loss on Russ Meyer. Stan Rojek has four hits for the Pirates, while Andy Pafko drives home three runs on three hits for Chicago.
At Philadelphia, Rex Barney of the Dodgers fires a one-hitter, beating the Phils, 1 – 0. The lone hit is a looping single by Putsy Caballero that just eludes a diving Duke Snider.
Yankee first baseman Tommy Henrich hits his fourth grand slam of the season, tying one of the major league records established by Babe Ruth, who died yesterday. The Bambino set the record playing for the Red Sox in 1919, the year he hit 29 round-trippers in his final season in Boston.
An estimated crowd of 100,000 fans passes by the body of Babe Ruth, which is on display at Yankee Stadium. After the funeral in two days at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the ‘Bambino’ will be buried in the Cemetery of the Gate of Heaven in Hawthorne, New York.
Indians rookie Gene Bearden shuts out the Browns, 8 – 0, to improve his record to 12-3.
On August 16, 1948, one of the game’s most charismatic figures passes away. Home run king Babe Ruth succumbs to throat cancer with his wife Claire and his two adopted daughters at his side, Babe Ruth dies of throat cancer at Memorial Hospital in New York City at age 53. at the age of 53….
Before 72,468 – the largest crowd of the season at Yankee Stadium – the A’s sweep a pair from the Yanks by 5 – 3 scores and regain second place in the American League. The A’s win the opener in 10 innings after Joe DiMaggio ties the score with his 20th homer of the year. Joe D also triples home a run in the extra frame but Lou Brissie preserves the win for Carl Scheib. The A’s total 20 hits in the two games, including a triple and double by Sam Chapman. New York is now in 4th place, five games back.
In the first of two at Philadelphia, Ken Heintzelman tosses a one-hitter to beat the Giants, 8 – 1. The only hit is Whitey Lockman’s 7th-inning triple. The Phils take the nitecap, 7 – 5, as Ed Heusser pitches five innings of relief to win. Larry Jansen and Clint Hartung take the losses.
1948 – Rookie George Vico drives in seven runs to pace the Tigers to a 10 – 3 win over the Browns. Vico is one better than a cycle, collecting two doubles, a triple and homer to back Virgil Trucks’ sparkling one-hit relief effort over 6+ innings.
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