July 18, 1941 (Friday)

SHIP SHAPE ORDER AND A DOUBLE HEADER

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Kate's Birthday. 69 yrs. old.

Boys finished setting up

oats

Worked every minute trying

to get every thing done and

in "ship - shape" order for

company.

Henry + I wen to Lyds +

Alden's to-night to bring some

of Ill folks home with us

if they come to-night.

No one came to-night.

Hank and Orlo planning to

leave early in the morning

for Detroit to see the double

header ball game between

Tigers and Yankees.

A lovely shower of rain last

night - first in a long time.

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Edna has been cleaning and baking and getting ready for the big reunion (which is happening the next day) for days now. She wants everything in "ship-shape" for all of the family traveling to Bowne Center from Illinois.

During the evening, she and Henry went to Lydia and Alden Porritt's home anticipating the arrival of some of the Illinois family. They did not arrive.

Alden Nash Porritt as a young man

Lydia Porritt is Henry's sister. Alden is Lydia's son. (In case you hadn't yet noticed; there are a lot of Aldens in our family).

According to the 1940 US Census, Lydia was living with her son Alden and his family. Her husband John passed away in 1929.

Everyone is getting ready for the Nash reunion. Henry and Lydia's mother Eleanor was a Nash.

Edna and Henry were anticipating the arrival of family from out of state. They were probably relying on a message that arrived in a letter (or perhaps a short long distance telephone call) days or even weeks ago, notifying them of an expected arrival date. Today, we have the benefit of texts and mobile phones and GPS tracking to help us stay connected about changing travel plans and delays. Edna and Henry just returned home and hoped their family would all arrive safely the next day.

Hank is not going to the reunion. Instead, he is headed to Detroit the next day with Orlo to see the Tigers play a double header against the Yankees.

The Tigers lost both games. In game one they were defeated 9-3. In game two, the Yankees beat them by a score of 6 -2.

Bobo Newsome pitched most of the first game for the Tigers. Hal Newhouser and Schoolboy Rowe pitched in game two.

My dad's all-time favorite Tiger, Rudy York, was in the line-up for the Tigers that day. It was a good day for York, despite the Tigers two losses. He had two hits and two RBIs in game two (the only two runs scored during that game). York also had two RBIs in game one, accounting for two of the three runs scored that game.

Hank and Orlo also saw Charlie Gehringer play that day. Gehringer had one hit in each game.

Joltin' Joe DiMaggio

This was 1941 and the Tigers were playing the Yankees. That meant Joe DiMaggio was in the line-up.

It is 1941 and DiMaggio is in the line-up!

That is a big deal because 1941 is the year DiMaggio had his 56-game hitting streak, a record that still stands today.

I got excited thinking that Hank and Orlo might have seen one of those games. I looked up the dates of DiMaggio's hitting streak. It came to an end on July 17, 1941, just two days before Hank and Orlo saw him play in Detroit.

DiMaggio did not disappoint, however. He had three hits between the two games.

In fact, the day after his streak ended on July 17, DiMaggio had a single and a double off of the amazing Bob Feller and went on to have hits in another 16 consecutive games (two of which Hank and Orlo saw), giving DiMaggio hits in 72 of 73 consecutive games.

Hank and Orlo were witness to a bit of baseball history.