The Philadelphia Baseball Review is honoring the legacy of the 1934 Philadelphia Stars by celebrating their 90th anniversary of winning their lone Negro National League pennant.
A recap of Game 1 can be found here.
Games Two and Three of the series were played as a Sunday doubleheader at Cole’s Park, home of the Chicago American Giants. Despite the cold and windy conditions, about 2,000 fans braved the elements to watch the action. Slim Jones, the Stars’ ace, took the mound for Game Two, facing off against Ted Trent, who had represented the West in that season’s East-West All-Star Game.
Both pitchers lived up to their reputations, keeping the game scoreless through five innings. But in the sixth, the American Giants broke through. Jack Marshall led off with a single, and after Trent struck out, slugger Turkey Stearnes tripled to left-center, bringing home the game’s first run. Alex Radcliffe followed with a single to score Stearnes, but the rally stalled there. The American Giants tacked on an insurance run in the eighth when Trent doubled with two outs and Stearnes knocked him in with a single, sealing a 3-0 victory. Trent was dominant, allowing just four hits and four walks while striking out eight, as the Stars’ offense never got going.
Game Three featured a battle between veteran pitchers: Willie Foster, making his second start of the series for the American Giants, and Stars player-manager Webster McDonald, who had previously spent five seasons with the American Giants before joining the Stars. Known for his submarine delivery and a deep arsenal of pitches, the 34-year-old McDonald was tasked with evening the series.
The Stars struck first, manufacturing a run in the top of the third on a pair of singles, a walk, and an error. But the American Giants quickly responded in the bottom half of the inning, stringing together four singles and capitalizing on a fielder’s choice to push across three runs. The Stars fought back in the top of the fourth, tying the game on Jake Dunn’s double and Jack Marshall’s triple, followed by a wild pitch that allowed Marshall to score.
In the fifth, Willie Cornelius replaced Foster on the mound but surrendered two runs that gave the Stars a two-run cushion. Cornelius settled in after that, but McDonald and the Stars’ defense held firm, preserving a 5-3 win. With the split of the doubleheader, the American Giants took a 2-1 lead in the series.
