PADRES ROUT ACORNS

I’m a little over halfway through the first draft of my bio/memoir about my dad: From the Bayou to the Big League. I’m going year by year of the baseball years—1930 through 1943. I’m working on 1936 now, and the only ones I have left to finish are 1937 – 1940. Today I’m sharing a write-up about a game in 1936.

PADRES ROUT ACORNS, 16-0

Hebert Registers Eleventh Win of Season as Mates Ruin League Leaders

The headlines delivered the synopsis, but the clipping from the Los Angeles Times related the details. Oakland, sitting atop the standings, paid a visit to Lane Field on June 16 in San Diego, and looked nothing like the first-place team they bragged about being. The Oaks went through four pitchers trying to quiet Padre batters. The home team took advantage of seventeen hits served up by the unfortunate quartet, as well as four errors by the Oakland fielders.

Wally Hebert, on the other hand, was the lone hurler the Padres put on the mound. He pitched shutout ball for nine innings, scattering nine hits sparsely throughout, posting his eleventh victory of the 1936 season. Since he did so well on the mound, he can be forgiven for being the only Padre to post goose eggs at the plate. All eight remaining Padres posted at least one hit. Three batters—Myatt, Durst, and McDonald, hit safely three times, and another three—Holman, Desautels, and Wirthman—got two hits apiece.

Vince DiMaggio started the brou-ha-ha in the bottom of the second inning with a home run. San Diego hitters batted around, scoring five runs on the way. DiMaggio came to bat for the second time and was fanned to end the frame. The Oaks, I’m sure, were thankful for a chance to rest.

The Padres went on to score once in the third, and twice in the fourth. Another five run rout took place in the sixth and two more scored in the seventh. They couldn’t resist twisting the knife one more time and put another run in the “W” column in the eighth. 16-0. Oakland had one more chance to do something in the top of the ninth and managed to get two hits off the southpaw. The runners died on base and the game, mercifully for Oakland, was in the books.