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GAMBLING
WITH HARRY FRAZEE ... August 10, 1917 ... The Red Sox stepped to the plate and won both ends of a doubleheader from the Tigers, as Walter Johnson took care of the White Sox, putting the Red Sox only 1 1/2 games out of the American League lead. The curtain raiser at Fenway Park was won in the ninth-inning and was practically a gift from the Tigers. Dick Hoblitzell tripled after three men had been passed and scored on a hit which Harry Hooper dumped between Ty Cobb and Harry Heilmann, which should have been an easy out, giving the Champions a come-from-behind 5 to 4 walk-off win. Bill James, who hurled a one hitter against the Red Sox on their second Western trip, and Babe Ruth faced off against each other in the first battle and some very questionable plays put the Tigers ahead in the opening inning with a 3-0 lead. It did not dishearten the Babe, who kept plugging, while the lead slipped away from Detroit. James was very generous, giving 10 base on balls, until manager Hughie Jennings yanked him in the eighth-inning. At that time, the Tigers were leading 5 to 1 and Bernie Boland pitched the team out of the hole. But in the ninth-inning he could not get the ball over the plate and filled up the bases, setting the table for the Red Sox come back. What was probably one of the longest hits ever made at Fenway Park, was a home run drive by Babe in the fifth inning. He crushed the ball into the centerfield bleachers, the ball striking the eighth row of seats. It was such a huge blast that when Ty Cobb saw where it landed and just fell down on the grass. Two innings later Heilmann robbed Babe of another long smash by taking the ball in right field while on a dead run, being unable to stop himself after making a catch and slamming into the fence near the foul line. In the second game the Sox measured young Howard Ehmke very early, having the game on ice before the first inning was over. His own poor defensive work contributing largely to his early finish. Rube Foster pitched a nice game for the Red Sox. The Tigers scored off him in the first inning but thereafter he held them in check. In the third inning when he fanned Cobb on three swings, Ty kicked up a big fuss in claiming that Foster had been doctoring the baseball. He insisted and demanded that umpire Billy Evans examine the ball. Finally Foster tossed it in, raised his hands in the air and appealed to Cobb to come out and search him. Evans just tossed the ball out of the game and Cobb was booed as he walked back to the bench. The big finish in the first game put a lot of pepper in the Red Sox and they were all business from start to finish in the nightcap, winning it 5 to 1. |
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