I'm sure that's right, Val, Walter was viewed as a difference maker; Game 1 was probably the only game in which the Nats were favored, at least outside of Washington.
With the uproar from fans queuing for tickets plainly audible beyond Griffith Stadium's walls, the Nats practiced inside, in private, for two days prior to the start of the Series. Bucky Harris wanted it that way. He had his charges working on squeeze plays, bunting drills, and defensive positioning and execution. Temporary bleachers had been set up in left field to accommodate the anticipated overflow crowd, and they had an influence on the outcome of game one.
George Kelly's homer in those stands in the second inning was particularly galling, as it fell just beyond Goose Goslin's outstretched glove at the three-foot barrier. In the fourth inning, rookie Bill Terry reached the seats on the fly with a homer that would normally have been easily caught. Walter Johnson was on his game, though, and struck out the side in that inning. Travis Jackson became his fifth consecutive strikeout victim to open the fifth. Joe Judge, a lifetime .324 hitter during the season, got the Nats' first hit off of veteran southpaw Art Nehf of the Giants in the fourth, and in the sixth Earl McNeely broke the ice by doubling to left and coming around following consecutive ground-ball outs by Harris and Rice.
In the eighth, with the Giants still ahead 2-1, Ross Youngs doubled down the left field line with one out. He moved to third on a groundout, the second out, and Bill Terry was walked intentionally. Terry attempted to steal second, the idea being that if Ruel threw to second, he might make it and Youngs could come in on the second part of the double steal. But Ruel gunned the ball to third, and Youngs, who had strayed one step too far, was out. In the top of the ninth, with two out, pitcher Art Nehf singled to right with Hack Wilson on second. Sam Rice charged the ball, scooped it up cleanly and relayed it about five feet up the line so that Ruel was able to jam it right into Wilson's neck. The crowd of 35,000-plus was delirious.
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