Editor’s note: The Reds Decade Tournament games are being played with Strat-o-Matic cards and dice. Injuries will only be used during the game when they occur. For this tournament, the rules include a three-man pitching rotation that starts over with each best-of-three game series. If a real life starter is not in the rotation, he can be used in relief. Cincinnati squads that did not made the post-season are featured in this event as one team from each decade from the 1910s to the 1980s were selected.
The 1911 Cincinnati Reds became the first team to advance to the second round of the Reds Decade Tournament with a 6-4 victory over the 1955 Cincinnati Reds.
Dick Hoblitzell led the way with three hits, while driving in two runs and stealing a base.
George Suggs (1-0) went the distance for the victory as he allowed 11 hits with four walks and a strikeout.
With two outs in the third, Hoblitzell tripled and scored on a single by Mike Mitchell.
Johnny Temple tied it at 1-1 as in the bottom of the third as he knocked in a run on a ground out.
Both teams added a run in the fourth.
Tom Downey tripled for the 1911 team and raced home on a sacrifice fly by Eddie Grant. For 1955, Gus Bell reached on a two-base error and scored on a double by Chuck Harmon.
Temple gave 1955 a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth with a RBI double.
Art Fowler, the 1955 starter, got in trouble in the seventh as he walked Grant, gave up a single to Suggs and walked Bob Bescher to load the bases.
After Fowler fanned Johnny Bates for the second out, Hoblitzell smacked a two-run single to give his team the a 4-3 advantage. Mitchell’s RBI single gave the 1911 Reds a two-run lead.
Suggs picked up his second hit of the affair with a RBI single in the eighth off Collum.
The final tally of the game was on a solo homer in the bottom of the ninth by 1955’s Ted Kluszewski.
With the sweep in the best of three game set, the 1911 Reds will face the winner of the series between the 1934 team and 1977 in the second round. The 1977 squad leads that series 1-0.
First Round Schedule and Results
(Best two out of three)
1911 Reds vs. 1955 Reds (5-4, 6-4, 1911 Wins 2-0)
1934 Reds vs. 1977 Reds (3-7, 1977 Leads 1-0)
1948 Reds vs. 1986 Reds (5-1, 1948 Leads 1-0)
1924 Reds vs. 1964 Reds (3-2 (10), 1924 Leads 1-0)