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The Red Sox manager sat alone in a darkened room, mulling over the situtation. It was unprecedented: a single game playoff for the American League pennant. The league had been in business since 1901, and the race had never ended in a tie (true, in 1908, a mere half game had separated the winning Detroit Tigers from the runner-up Cleveland Indians, but that was a long time ago)--until now, 1948.

The matter at hand: whom to start in the single game tomorrow at Fenway Park? Rumor had it that knuckleballer Gene Bearden would start for the Indians on one day of rest but that was actually something of an advantage: knuckleballers prospered on work, and actually did better if they were slightly fatigued. It boiled down to two choices for McCarthy: young, strong Mel Parnell, or veteran gamer Denny Galehouse. One thing you had to say for Galehouse: if he could win with that ragtag bunch known as the St. Louis Browns, he could win anywhere. But Galehouse had been lit up a few times recently including, ironically, one miserable outing against the Browns. Parnell, on the other hand, didn't have that drawback, but he was young and relatively inexperienced.

McCarthy stood up and paced, stopping now and again to stare out at the autumn evening in Boston. Again and again, he turned over the positives and negatives to the options before him. Then he stopped pacing and stared ahead into the darkness...and nodded slightly. He had reached a decision.
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