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GEORGE BURNS |
BACK-TO-BACK WORLD
SERIES CHAMPS
George Burns' big bat beats the Sox
June 9, 1916 ...
George Burns, who had driven in the first three Tigers' runs, sent Ty Cobb and Harry Heilmann across the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning, driving the ball past Mike McNally for a slick walk-off Tiger win. The Red Sox seemingly had the game on ice,
leading 4 to 1, until the Tigers came to bat in the eighth inning. Babe Ruth was on the mound and had only allowed two hits way back in the second inning, that gave the Tigers their only run. The Sox had been hitting the ball hard all day, so nobody seemed to worry.
Ty Cobb started the eight with a single and was forced at second by Bobby Veach. Mike McNally muffed Harry Heilmann's doubleplay ball and their were two on base. Burns sent Ruth's next pitch into deep right center for a two-run triple, and Ralph
Young's hit scored him to tie the game.
The Sox breathed a sight of relief as they went back out front in the top of the ninth on Duffy Lewis' third hit of the game, a triple, sending McNally home. But the joy soon turned to gloom, as Ossie Vitt and Cobb led the ninth with singles off Ruth.
Carrigan went out and pulled him in favor of Carl Mays. Veach sacrificed the runners along and Hobby made a fine play on Heilmann's shot to first, nicking Vitt at the plate. With two outs and the count three and two, Mays grooved one to Burns and the big firstbaseman lined one
to right for the walk-off come-from-behind victory.
Duffy Lewis was the Red Sox star, with a triple and two singles, driving in three of the Sox runs. In all, the Sox had 10 hits, including a homer and two triples against Jean Dubuc. The Tigers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning, but the
Babe evened it up with his first home run of the year. It rained several times during the day, delaying the start of the game fifty minutes. |
