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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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FENWAY'S FIRST TEAM May 20, 1912 ... In a wonderful game at Fenway Park, Joe Wood had the rare pleasure of out pitching Big Ed Walsh of the Chicago White Sox and seeing the Red Sox win out by a score of 2 to 0. Walsh pitched the opening game of the series Friday and returned from his home in Meriden, Connecticut confident of taking the third game from Boston. Manager Jake Stahl selected Joe Wood for the game and the Kansas Cyclone never pitched a finer game of baseball. From the beginning it was easy to see that the Speed Boys meant to fight for everything in sight. Every player was on his toes and the Chicago boys soon realize that the Red Sox meant business even when pitted against their ace. Great fielding by the Sox in the first inning took the fight out of the White Sox for a time. Morrie Rath led off with a single, but was nipped trying to make second base on catcher, Les Nunamaker's sharp throw. Harry Lord reached first when Hugh Bradley failed to block his fast ground ball. Then, trying to hit and run game, Lord attempted two bases on Jimmy Callahan's grounder to Larry Gardner at third, but Wagner took the return throw from Bradley, covering third for a doubleplay. Shano Collins singled in the second inning, only to be forced by Rollie Zieder, who tried for second also, and with the same result being thrown out by Nunamaker. In that inning the Red Sox scored the only runs made in the game. Wagner walked and Nunamaker doubled. Wood went out at first and Harry Hooper rolled a slow one down to Lord, who threw home but too late to get Wagner. Walsh thought the out was made it home and got hot under the collar, then in trying to pick off the runner at first, threw the ball away, allowing Nunamaker to score the second run. Buck Weaver opened up the third with a single and started for second, when catcher Walt Kuhn struck out, but was called out by umpire Silk O'Loughlin for Kuhn's interference, that forced Nunamaker to throw the ball far over Wagner's head. The Red Sox had a fine chance in the fourth when Nunamaker led off with a hit and Wood was passed. Then Harry Hooper struck out and Steve Yerkes forced Wood, followed by Tris Speaker flying out to centerfield. In the fifth, Duffy Lewis led off with a double, but was nipped trying for third on a fly ball out to Shano Collins. No Boston runners saw second base after that. The only White Sox player that reached third in the game, got there in the fifth inning. Ping Bodie got to first on Larry Gardner's high throw, but was forced at second by Collins. Wood was holding the runners close, and shot the ball by Bradley allowing Collins to make third. But then Wood disposed of Zieder on strikes and Gardner got Weaver at first, to end the threat. The White Sox made a rally in the eighth-inning when, with two on, as a result of singles by Zieder and Matty McIntyre, Wood knocked out Walsh on strikes. Then there was something doing in the ninth. Rath was passed and Lord came to the plate. He was looking for an opening, but Wood was looking to get him out. Joe got him for two strikes on slow benders and then sent in two balls off the mark. The next one thrown was a rifle shot for strike three, that left Lord with a disgusted look in his face. Callahan hit a grounder that Gardner made a great running pickup of, and shot to Yerkes for the second out. Ping Bodie then popped one up to Yerkes that ended the game, giving Joe Wood a 2 to 0 shutout, and the cheer that went out, was followed by a smile that spread all over the ballpark. By all odds, the best fielding of the day was turned in by Larry Gardner. Two plays in particular were simply great. The first one was a stop of a fast ground ball from Lord, with the ball taking a bad hop, but Gardner stayed with it and pulled it down in time to get him on a very close play at first base. The second great play was off Jimmy Callahan in the ninth, when Larry gathered in a grounder on the run while crossing the field and shot it to second for the force. Duffy Lewis and Harry Hooper did some great hitting, with Duffy getting a single and a screaming double to the bank, while Harry got in two singles, sending a man home with one and giving Bodie a chance to make a jumping one-handed catch of a hard drive in deep center. There was no stage of the game with the Red Sox were not the masters of the situation. It was doubly pleasant by the fact that Walsh had returned to Boston for one more Red Sox scalping and failed. Six men reached first off Joe Wood, one on a pass and five singles. Ten Boston players found their way to first off Walsh, three on passes and seven on hits. The day itself was quite cold with a strong east wind blowing against the batters. The crowd, needless to say, was delighted with the way that Joe Wood and the other Red Sox went right after the Chicago men from the first inning to the last. |
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