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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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FENWAY'S FIRST TEAM June 20, 1912 ... In a free hitting game this afternoon at the Hilltop Park, the Red Sox beat the Highlanders from the start to the finish, finally going over the finish line by a score of 15 to 8. The Sox scored in the first seven innings. Russ Ford, the New York starter, pitched for four innings, only to see Boston score ten runs as result of several errors by his men. During that time the Red Sox had nine hits including triples by Duffy Lewis and Larry Gardner, as well as a home run by Heinie Wagner. Wagner had two doubles and in his last time at bat, sent a deep fly ball out to Birdie Cree, who pulled it down right up against the fence. Lewis had two singles as well as his triple, knocking in the first two runs. George Shears came in to pitch and held the Red Sox down to five runs in the last five innings. The New Yorkers, on the other hand, beat up on Buck O'Brien, giving him one of the worst drubbings of his major league career. Charley Hall began warming up in the later innings. The field was very hard and the ball went bounding as if it was hitting a marble floor. Several misplays happened that were not credited as errors. For example, the first two runs by the Highlanders, resulted when Duffy Lewis allowed a ground ball to go through him to the fence. Wagner also failed to get to fast ground balls, that he normally would have caught. These may have been excuses for the Red Sox, but many errors by New York were due to poor throws and fumbles on easy grounders. On the other hand, Larry Gardner, Heinie Wagner, Tris Speaker and Steve Yerkes made some sensational plays and catches. The Red Sox scored in the first inning on a single by all Olaf Henriksen, a sacrifice by Yerkes, an infield single by Speaker, and a triple by Lewis to the centerfield fence that gave them two runs. They scored four more in the second inning on a single by Wagner, an error by Earle Gardner on a throw from Russ Ford, a wild throw and fumble by Roy Hartzell, and a single by Duffy Lewis. That gave the Red Sox a 6 to 0 lead. In the third inning, Wagner hit the ball to the extreme corner of centerfield for a home run, making it 7 to 0. New York got two back in their half of the third, but the Red Sox countered with another three runs in the top of the fourth. Yerkes drew a pass and then Gardner brought him in with a triple to the right-field fence aided by a wild throw by the shortstop Bill Stumpf. They then scored another run in the fifth inning on a double by Wagner and a single by Bill Carrigan. Two more were added in the sixth, with two outs, on a single by Jake Stahl, Wagner's double and a sacrifice fly ball. That made the score 13 to 4. New York got three runs in the bottom of the sixth and the Red Sox added two more in the top of the seventh on a fumble by Stumpf, a triple by Yerkes and a single by Lewis. In the last two innings, Carrigan was the only man to reach first base with a single to left. In the New York eighth-inning the Highlanders scored one more run to make the final score 15 to 8. |
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