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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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FENWAY'S FIRST TEAM April 27, 1912 ... The champion, Philadelphia Athletics got a good lead in today’s game, but their inability to hit Sox ace, Joe Wood developed, and when the Sox got Boardwalk Brown’s measure and began hammering him, they lost their heads. The game at Fenway Park was another one of those sensational ballgames where one team gets off to a commanding lead, and the other team comes tearing back at breakneck speed to cross the finish line a winner. The Athletics scored first in the second inning. After Frank Baker grounded out, Danny Murphy singled as did Stuffy McInnis. Murphy moved over to third on the base hit and scored on Jack Barry's out at first. Ira Thomas singled home McInnis and the Athletics were up 2 to 0. They increased their lead in the fourth inning as Baker opened up with a single and stole second. He then tried to steal third and scored when catcher Les Nunamaker threw the ball into left-field. McInnis doubled and Barry singled to score McInnis with the fourth run. The Sox came back with a run in their half of the fourth as Steve Yerkes singled and pitcher Boardwalk Brown threw wild to first, trying to keep him close. Yerkes tried to go all the way around to third, but was thrown out. Then Tris Speaker singled and stole second, going to third when Thomas threw wild to second. He scored on a base hit by Hugh Bradley to make it 4 to 1. In the fifth inning Brown drew a pass but was forced out by Strunk. Rube Oldring hit one by Yerkes that sent Strunk to third. On the next pitch Eddie Collins singled to score Strunk with the fifth Philly. After five innings, the Red Sox were down 5 to 1 and the big crowd sat back to just see how bad the beating was going to be. Brown was pitching a good game for the A's, while Joe Wood was proving easy pickings for the visitors. But Wood bore down in the sixth inning and struck out two men and got the third man out on a pop fly and no Athletic player was allowed to reach base after that inning. However with the way Brown was pitching, it did not look good for the home team. Then in the sixth inning, things began to happen. Harry Hooper singled and Speaker doubled. Hugh Bradley came up and smashed the ball to left for two bases, scoring two runs. The Athletics were now only two runs to the good. Then came the eighth-inning. Yerkes was passed and Speaker singled. There was a delay while the visitors talked it over, as Bradley was coming up, and it was feared that he would hit the ball hard somewhere. Bradley fooled them however, and laid down a clever bunt, moving the runners over. That put it up to Larry Gardner, who smashed the first pitch he saw, for three bases and the Speed Boys had tied it up. Duffy Lewis was very eager at the plate and sent the first ball to right-field for a double, scoring Gardner with, what would be, the winning run. The crowd went into a frenzy and Wood pitched a perfect ninth-inning sending everyone home with a satisfactory come from behind victory. There were several sensational plays. Rube Oldring took a low liner from Wood on the dead run, and picked it off just above the ground. Jack Barry made a sensational running catch of a Texas Leaguer in short right field, and Danny Murphy made a clever running catch in the eighth inning, when the Red Sox were tearing it up and got to second for a doubleplay. Tris Speaker made a great throw to the plate after taking a fly ball to double up Amos Strunk. Then he closed the game with a sensational play taking the ball at full reach after a long run and getting cheered by the fans. Threatening skies up until noon and cloudy weather all day kept many away, especially the out-of-town people, and yet there was still a fine crowd when the game started. |
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