Alt-1922: Like 1978 or like 1904?

 

In the end I suppose it was going to always be this--the Yankees and Red Sox are tied after Game 162, and need to play Game 163.  The will do so at the Polo Grounds, with Dutch Leonard facing Red Faber.  Things looked exceedingly dire for the Pinstripes after they dropped a very winnable game to the Athletics in Game 161 while Boston won their 5th in a row, but there was a wild finish the next day.  

New York turned to Dazzy Vance to try and hold down Philadelphia while they then hoped for Cleveland to beat Boston, but Vance was very ineffective in the first few innings and Bullet Rogan let some inherited runners score, and the Yanks were staring at a 8-1 deficit. They fought back and took a 9-8 lead into the 7th, which Pennock then gave back before rookie Cliff Bell threw a couple of clean innings. It took something of a miracle finish including a questionable Philadelphia attempt to cut off a run at home vs. taking the out at first to set up a walkoff 2-RBI double by Goose Goslin and a 12-11 win.

In Cleveland, the Red Sox-Spiders game followed what seemed to be a familiar pattern--the Spiders roughed Ray Collins up early, but a 4-0 lead was not nearly enough and Boston entered the 9th with a 7-4 lead and Collins still on the mound. However, a Ray Chapman triple tied up the game and put the winning run on third with 1 out. Erskine Mayer shut down that threat, and the game stayed deadlocked at 7 until the 13th inning, with repeated instances of Speaker getting to 2nd base followed by Babe Ruth getting intentionally walked and the Spiders escaping.  Finally, Alt-1915 legend Bevo LeBorveau drove in Guy Sturdy with the winning run, and we had our flatfooted tie atop the AL.

The Yankees have done very well against Boston this year, and Faber is 5-0 against them. Leonard is the ace of the Boston staff, but hasn't been quite as good in the second half. In-universe, people might wonder if Faber is cut out for big games, though of course this (should be) random.  In another random in-universe storyline,  Roger Peckinpaugh, the Yankees captain, is apparently healthy enough to play in Game 163 for the first time in over a month. 

Let's see how this goes.  Depending on the outcome I may go for a Watsonian post vs. a Doylist one...