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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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FENWAY'S FIRST TEAM April 26, 1912 ... It was in the seventh inning of the game today at Fenway Park, with two men on base and two outs, that Hugh Bradley came to bat with the score standing at 6 to 3 in favor of the Philadelphia Athletics. Lefty Russell was cutting the ball over with corkscrew curves and variable speeds, and the Red Sox were having a hard time, only able to manage one base hit during five innings. Bradley had grabbed a hold of a pitch and walloped one off the left-field fence in the first inning. That hit drove Cy Morgan out of the game. This time Russell's pitch broke nicely above the thigh and Bradley cut loose with every ounce of strength and the ball went tearing out toward left center and sailed out over the fence for a clean home run and three runs, that gave the Speed Boys the lead. The scene that followed was indescribable. Spectators jumped onto their seats and threw their hats into the air as the Boston players gave Bradley congratulations. The second feature of the afternoon was the work of young Hugh Bedient. Both Larry Pape and Eddie Cicotte and proved easy for the heavy hitting Philly team, and with the score 6 to 3 against the Sox, Bedient was sent in to stop the champions. A single by Danny Murphy in the eighth-inning would be the extent of the hits made off the rookie Red Sox pitcher. Not a man was passed and yet he was in the hole in the sixth inning and eighth-inning, only out of the one in the sixth with two strikeouts. In the eighth, with a man on third and only one out, he forced Jack Barry to hit one to Heinie Wagner for a play at the plate, and then got the third man on an easy pop out to Larry Gardner. In the ninth-inning he shutdown Philly in order and the crowd gave the youngster a standing cheer. It was evident from the start, that Pape was no match for Philly, and Cicotte was far from formidable, so the fans were pleased to see one of the Red Sox youngsters come out and pitch splendidly. Cy Morgan met his usual fate when facing the Boston Speed Boys, and after one inning he was chased to the showers and Lefty Russell was given a chance to stop the Sox. Russell's pitching was good, but he was wild and Boston took advantage of this and worked their way into the position, where Bradley would be called upon to deliver a big hit for all the money. Bradley drove in four runs and scored two, with a double and a home run, that will be talked about for a long time, besides playing a fine game at first base. In the first inning Harry Hooper started off of the Red Sox by striking out. Steve Yerkes worked Morgan for a pass and Tris Speaker hit a grounder down to Eddie Collins, that he tried to handle for a force out at second, but fumbled. Bradley came up and hit one against the left-field fence for two bases, scoring both the runners and then romped home on Gardner's sharp single to center. That made the score 3 to 0, but it didn't last for long. In the top of the second, Pape got the first two men up, and then Ira Thomas singled. Harry Krause pinch-hit for Morgan and singled to right. Both men scored on Strunk's triple down the right-field foul line. Then in the third the Athletics added two more. Eddie Collins walked and Frank Baker smashed a single to center, going to second as the ball got by Hooper in right field, with Collins scoring. Danny Murphy singled to score Baker and McInnis grounded into a doubleplay, before Jack Barry was thrown out by Yerkes to end the inning, but the score was 4 to 3 with the Athletics now in the lead. Philly added one more run in the fourth and one more run in the fifth to make it 6 to 3, looking like easy winners. Bedient came into pitch for Boston in the sixth and struck out two of the three men he faced. Then in the bottom of the seventh, Bedient lead off and drew a pass. Hooper was hit by a pitch and Yerkes sent a long fly to right-field. Speaker singled to score Bedient and Hooper went around to third. Then Bradley strolled to the plate and sent the ball over the fence to give the Red Sox a 7 to 6 lead. Bedient retired the A's in the eighth and ninth innings and when it was over, the crowd rushed onto the field at the end of the game to see the man who looked like a real champion. The Boston players were the most pleasing looking bunch that one would want to see, and of course the Connie Mack team was in bad humor. |
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