Giants Say E-Nehf to Dazzy’s Winning Streak

(This is the eighth in a series that celebrates the 100th anniversary of Dazzy Vance’s great 1924 season with the Brooklyn Robins./Dodgers.)

By Glen Sparks

Well, there was bound to be a clunker or two, right? Dazzy Vance only suffered through a few bad outings in that grand season of 1924. One of those was May 28 against the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds. Dazzy surrendered six runs—all of them earned—in a 6-5 loss.

Brooklyn entered the action with a 17-15 won-loss record, tied for third place with the Cincinnati Reds in the National League standings, two games behind the Giants (20-14) and the Chicago Cubs, (21-15) who were in a virtual first-place tie.

Art Nehf, a 5-foot-9-inch left-hander and two-time 20-game winner started for New York. Considered a gentleman in an era filled with ruffians, Little Arthur, as some called Nehf, liked playing the piano and studied electrical engineering at Rose Polytechnic.  On the mound, Nehr threw sidearm and, on occasion, nearly underhand. He also developed a “slow ball” that floated out of his hand like a knuckleball.

This was an important season for the former Giants ace. He boasted a 4.50 ERA in 1923, one of the circuit’s highest. “Nehf is breaking down,” one sportswriter complained. Thus far in 1924, he was 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA.

Milt Stock’s solo homer in the second inning gave Brooklyn an early advantage. A Bernie Neis two-run single put Brooklyn ahead, 3-0;  Zack Wheat added an RBI base hit the following frame.

Vance, meanwhile, allowed just two singles and a walk through the first five innings. A seventh-straight victory seemed likely.

The Giants finally struck in the bottom half of the sixth. The first two Giants batters reached base. Billy Southworth’s single brought home one run, and Irish Meusel (Bob’s older brother) followed with a sacrifice fly. New York had cut Brooklyn’s lead in half.

The Dodgers got back one run in the top of the eighth. Jack Fornier greeted Giants reliever Claude Jonnard with a home run. Brooklyn took a 5-2 lead.

Vance, though, unraveled a bit in the bottom half of the eighth. First, Frankie Frisch hit a one-out double. The Fordham Flash scrambled to third base on Zack Wheat’s throwing error. Southworth walked, and Meusel singled home Frisch. George Kelly’s two-run double cleared the base. The score was now 5-5.

Jonnard allowed just a two-out single to Jimmy Johnston in the top of the ninth. New York’s Frank Snyder began the bottom half of that final frame with a base hit. Jonnard struck out looking, while Ross Youngs singled, moving Hugh McQuillan, who had pinch-run for Snyder, to second. Frankie Frisch flied out just before Southworth drove home the winning run.

Vance, now 6-2, gave up 10 hits, eight of them in the final four frames. “The Giants certainly did smack Vance in those final four innings,” according to the Brooklyn Standard Union. “The McGrawmen earned all their tallies.” Thomas S. Rice from the Brooklyn Eagle decided, “Death cometh to all men sooner or late(r), and so does a pounding come to all baseball pitchers sooner or late(r).”

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