1935 World Series

The 1935 World Series featured the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago Cubs, with the Tigers winning in six games for their first championship in five Series appearances. They had lost in 1907, 1908, 1909, and 1934.

The Tigers won despite losing the services of first baseman Hank Greenberg. In Game 2, Greenberg collided with Cubs catcher Gabby Hartnett and broke his wrist, sidelining him for the rest of the Series. Marv Owen replaced him at first base and went 1 for 20. Utility infielder Flea Clifton was forced to fill in for Owen at third base and went 0-for-16 in the Series.

The Cubs had won 21 consecutive games in September (still a record as of 2016), eventually taking the National League pennant by four games over the defending World Series champions, the St. Louis Cardinals.

In Game 6, Tommy Bridges pitched a complete game victory to win the Series for Detroit. With the score tied 3–3 in the top of the ninth inning, Bridges gave up a leadoff triple to Stan Hack, but retired the next three batters without the runner on third scoring. In the bottom of the ninth, Goose Goslin drove in the winning run with two outs. After the game, manager Mickey Cochrane said the following of Bridges' gutsy performance: "A hundred and fifty pounds of courage. If there ever is a payoff on courage this little 150-pound pitcher is the greatest World Series hero."^[1]

In addition to Bridges, the Tigers had a hitting hero. Right fielder Pete Fox accumulated ten hits and an average of .385 for the Series. Fox hit safely in all six games.

Detroit owner Frank Navin, then 64 years old, had been running the organization for 30 years and had seen four of his teams win American League pennants, only to lose four World Series. Six weeks after the Tigers finally won the World Series in October 1935, Navin suffered a heart attack while riding a horse and died.^[2]

Summary

AL Detroit Tigers (4) vs. NL Chicago Cubs (2)

Matchups

Game 1

A pitching duel between Lon Warneke and Schoolboy Rowe, both of whom went the distance, was decided by its leadoff batter, Augie Galan, doubling, advancing on an error by Rowe and scoring on a Gabby Hartnett single. Frank Demaree added a homer in the ninth for the visiting Cubs.

Game 2

Detroit's first four batters got hits and Cub starter Charlie Root was pulled without recording an out. The Tigers scored four times in the first and pulled even in the series, Tommy Bridges tossing a six-hitter.

Game 3

Detroit brought back Game 1 starter Schoolboy Rowe in relief. He gave up a pair of Cub runs in the ninth to send the game into extra innings, but nailed down the victory after Jo-Jo White's RBI single in the 11th.

Game 4

Alvin "General" Crowder did it all for Detroit, pitching a complete-game five-hitter, scoring his team's first run after a single, and getting the game-winner home with a groundout in the sixth. Chicago threatened against Crowder with a pair of one-out hits in the ninth, but Stan Hack grounded into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play.

Game 5

Staving off elimination, the Cubs got a two-run homer from Chuck Klein. They replaced Lon Warneke after six innings with right-hander Bill Lee, who gave up Detroit's only run in the ninth on three consecutive hits before settling down to retire the final three batters.

This was the first of three World Series games that the Cubs have won in Wrigley Field. The others were Game 6 in 1945, and Game 5 in 2016.

Game 6

Goose Goslin's walk-off single won it in front of Detroit's home fans, pitcher Tommy Bridges getting his second win of the Series.

Composite line score

1935 World Series (4–2): Detroit Tigers (A.L.) over Chicago Cubs (N.L.)

Detroit: "City of Champions"

When the Detroit Tigers won the 1935 World Series, the city of Detroit was mired in the Great Depression, which had hit the city and its industries particularly hard. However, with the success of the Tigers and other Detroit teams and athletes in 1935/36, Detroit's luck appeared to be changing, as the City was dubbed the "City of Champions." The Lions continued Detroit's winning ways by capturing the 1935 NFL Championship Game, followed by the Detroit Red Wings winning the 1935–36 Stanley Cup championship. With the Stanley Cup win, the city had seen three major league championships in less than a year. Detroit's "champions" included Detroit's "Brown Bomber", Joe Louis, the heavyweight boxing champion; native Detroiter Gar Wood who was the champion of unlimited powerboat racing and the first man to go 100 miles per hour on water; and Eddie "the Midnight Express" Tolan, a black Detroiter who won gold medals in the 100- and 200-meter races at the 1932 Summer Olympics.

Notes

References

• Cohen, Richard M.; Neft, David S. (1990). The World Series: Complete Play-By-Play of Every Game, 1903–1989. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 157–161. ISBN 0-312-03960-3. 
• Reichler, Joseph (1982). The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.). Macmillan Publishing. p. 2143. ISBN 0-02-579010-2. 

External links

• 1935 World Series at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)
• 1935 World Series at Baseball Almanac
• 1935 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com
• The 1935 Post-Season Games (box scores and play-by-play) at Retrosheet
• History of the World Series - 1935 at The SportingNews. Archived from the original on 2008.
• Detroit Tigers History

World Series
No World Series was held in 1904 because the NL champions refused to participate; no World Series was held in 1994 due to a players' strike.
1900s	1900 · 1901 · 1902 · 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
1910s	1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
1920s	1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930s	1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940s	1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950s	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960s	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
See also	Pre-World Series champions World Series champions Most Valuable Players Starting pitchers Babe Ruth Award Commissioner's Trophy Appearances Streaks Droughts Broadcasters TV ratings ALCS NLCS ALDS NLDS ALWC NLWC 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake Dauvray Cup Temple Cup Chronicle-Telegraph Cup Game 7 World Series ring
Book:World Series