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.
Eddie Grant drilled a three-run homer to lead the 1911 Cincinnati Reds to a 5-4 victory over the 1955 Cincinnati Reds in the opening round of the Reds Decade Tournament..
With 1911 trailing by two runs in the bottom of the sixth, Mike Mitchell had doubled and Tom Downey reached on a walk as Grant stepped into the batter’s box to face 1955 starter Joe Nuxhall with two outs. Grant’s big swing gave his team the lead for good.
Nuxhall (0-1) didn’t make it out of the sixth as he was tagged with the loss allowing five runs on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts. Joe Black retired one batter to end the sixth, while Hersh Freeman was perfect in the seventh and eighth.
Bert Humphries (1-0) picked up the win for the 1911 squad after working a scoreless sixth. Art Fromme tossed the final three frames earning a save as he gave up three hits with a walk and four strikeouts.
Bobby Keefe started for the 1911 team and was sent to the showers in the fifth without getting an out. Keefe gave up four runs on nine hits with a walk before Frank Smith took over on the mound to end the fifth.
A RBI ground out by Ted Kluszewski gave 1955 the lead in the top of the first before 1911’s Larry McLean tied it in the bottom of the second with a run-scoring single.
Both teams added a run in the third. Wally Post had a RBI double for 1955, while Mitchell’s run-scoring single made it 2-2.
Run-scoring singles by Roy McMillan and Post in the fifth put 1955 up 4-2 before Grant’s long ball in the sixth inning.
George Suggs will start for the 1911 team in the second contest of the three-game series, while Art Fowler gets the call for the 1955 squad.
First Round Schedule and Results
(Best two out of three)
1911 Reds vs. 1955 Reds (5-4, 1911 Leads 1-0)
1934 Reds vs. 1977 Reds
1948 Reds vs. 1986 Reds
1924 Reds vs. 1964 Reds