In a doubleheader with the Dodgers before 51,435 at the Polo Grounds, the fireworks start two days early. The Dodgers take a uneventful opener, 3 – 2, but in the 4th inning of the nitecap, Dodger player-manager Leo Durocher ends the inning by grounding into a double play and spikes 1B Zeke Bonura as he crosses the bag. Bonura takes off after Durocher, chases him down the right field line, and throws his mitt at him. He finally wrestles him to the ground. Both players are ejected, and the Giants go on to win, 6 – 4. To Bonura’s charge of intentional spiking, the Lip retorts, “If that big clown hadn’t got his foot in my way, I wouldn’t have been close to him.”

Dodger player-manager Leo Durocher

On July 2, 1939 In a doubleheader with the Dodgers before 51,435 at the Polo Grounds, the fireworks start two days early. The Dodgers take a uneventful opener, 3 – 2, but in the 4th inning of the nitecap, Dodger player-manager Leo Durocher ends the inning by grounding into a double play and spikes 1B Zeke Bonura as he crosses the bag. Bonura takes off after Durocher, chases him down the right field line, and throws his mitt at him. He finally wrestles him to the ground. Both players are ejected, and the Giants go on to win, 6 – 4. To Bonura’s charge of intentional spiking, the Lip retorts, “If that big clown hadn’t got his foot in my way, I wouldn’t have been close to him.”

 

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