Cards and vintage stuff: August 9th, 1938

Heavy fighting on two continents dominated the news on August 9th, 1938. In Spain, Republicans surprised Nationalist forces in the Battle of the Segre, while the Japanese continued to attempt their excursion into Soviet territory in the Battle of Lake Khasan.

It was Primary Day in much of the United States. Most notably, President Roosevelt unsuccessfully campaigned for liberal Democratic candidates in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. In Arkansas, Hattie Caraway, the first woman to be elected a U.S. Senator, narrowly won her state's primary, assuring her re-election. 

Meanwhile, in Pulaski County, Bernie Hoff was running for Sheriff and Collector for Pulaski County.

 

The primary date is on the back of the matchcover. Hoff appears to have served as Collector from 1929 to 1938, so it appears he lost this election. 

The team closest to Arkansas, the St. Louis Browns, were home and split a doubleheader with Cleveland. Harlond Clift (Harland on his 1942 Play Ball card and 1983 TCMA reprint) was a factor in both games. In the opener, he scored the first run and then, with the Browns behind Bob Feller 3-1 in the eighth, followed Glenn McQuillen's leadoff single with a single of his own, knocking Feller out of the game, and reliever Denny Galehouse blew the lead, as after a sac bunt Red Kress hit a 2-run single to tie the game, and after a couple more runners got on, pitcher Lefty Mills drove in the eventual winning run with a groundout. In the second game, Cleveland hurler Earl Whitehill did what Feller could not, shutting down the Browns for a whole game, en route to an 8-1 triumph. Clift did reach base three times, with a double and two walks.