Chicago Cubs tickets

THE DETROIT TIGERS REPEATED AS American League champs in 1935, led by the same cast of characters: manager-catcher Mickey Cochrane, who batted .319, second baseman Charlie Gehringer, who batted .330 with 108 RBI, and Hank Greenberg, now in his third full season, who was named the American League's MVP after driving in 170 runs. The Chicago Cubs, meanwhile, shot past the Giants and Cardinals with a 21-game September winning streak to clinch the National League pennant. The Cubs' balanced attack was led by second baseman Billy Herman, who batted .341, and stellar defensive catcher Gabby Hartnett, who was voted N.L. MVP after a .344 season. Both the Cubs and Tigers had lost in their last four World Series appearances, so something had to give. The Tigers were determined that this would be their year. "We came close in '34, losing in seven," Charlie Gehringer said. "And when you've come that close, well, you know what it is to almost win. That's a very itchy feeling."

The first game took place at Navin Field (later called Tiger Stadium), the site of the ugly Game 7 display the year before. It was bad news again for Tiger fans, as the Cubs took the lead before they made a single out, and Chicago's Lon Warneke held the Tigers to four hits in a 3-0 shutout. The Tigers turned the tables the next day, scoring four runs themselves before they made an out, capped by Greenberg's homer into the left field stands. The Tigers cruised from there, winning 8-3, though the victory was not without its downside, as Greenberg injured his wrist when hit by a pitch in the seventh inning. He stayed in the game, but made the injury worse when he tried to score from second on a single and collided with Hartnett at the plate. An X-ray showed a broken bone in the wrist, putting Greenbe on the sidelines for the rest of the Series and for most of the next season as well. The Tigers now traveled to Chicago with the Series tied, but without the league NI\Y. No matter, as they won 6-5 in eleven innings to take the Series lead. Detroit pitcher Schoolboy Rowe blew a two-run lead in the ninth, but the Tigers took it back in the eleventh on singles by Billy Rogell and Joyner `Jo Jo" White, and an error by Fredd1 Lindstrom. Game 4 the next day was more good news for Detroit, as Alvin Crowder pitched a fine game to defeat Chicago's James "Tex" Carleton, 2-1. It was the first time the Tigers had ever won three consecutive World Series games, and they now led the Cubs three games to one. Chicago stayed alive the next day, though, winning Game 5 on a homer into the Wrigley Field bleachers by Chuck Klein, and the teams returned to Detroit with the Tigers still needing just one more win for the championship.

Game 6 was the most exciting contest of the Series, as the teams were tied 3-3 after six innings, knowing that the next run would most likely decide the game. Things looked bleak for the Tigers when Stan Hack led off the ninth inning with a triple for the Cubs, but Detroit pitcher Tommy Bridges retired the next three batters on a strikeout, a grounder, and a fly ball to preserve the tie. "When I think back on the 1935 World Series," Billy Herman said many years later, "All I can see is Hack standing on third base, waiting for somebody to drive him in. Seems to me now he stood there for hours and hours." The Tigers threatened in the bottom of the ninth as Cochrane singled and moved to third when Gehringer hit a line drive off 1 Phil Cavarretta's glove at first base. Goose Goslin then hit a sharp single to right field to drive in the winning run, and it was all over. The Tigers were world champions for the first time. "That was the thrill of a life-time," Gehringer said. "You don't realize what the world championship means until you've won it. It was the first championship ever for Detroit, and the town really went wild. So did we."