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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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FENWAY'S FIRST TEAM July 3, 1912 ... Twelve thousand Philadelphia fans were at the ballpark today to enjoy the raising of the World Champion Pennant, accompanied by the music of two brass bands and a chorus of 100 singers, who sang music during intervals of the matinee, with a half hour show of sending balloons in the air in honor of the Athletics. Manager Connie Mack was determined to stop the upward march of the Boston Speed Boys and the stage setting was perfect for an afternoon of exciting baseball. The program was carried out as arranged, with the exception of the part played by the Red Sox, who stubbornly refused to give an inch to the world champions and finally forced them to lower their colors on the field of battle, to the tune of 7 to 2. It was let out that Joe Wood would pitch for the Red Sox and he and Ray Collins warmed up. Connie Mack was in a position where he was forced to use his best man right off the bat, and he selected the iron man Jack Coombs. Finding that Coombs was chosen as the pitcher, manager Jake Stahl shifted and sent out Ray Collins, figuring that Wood would look better tomorrow and to the delight of the Red Sox, Collins pitched a masterpiece. He gave only one pass, that being intentional to bring up a left-handed batter, and it worked to perfection. He was dead on the mark and was cleverly handled by his catcher Bill Carrigan. The Red Sox clearly out pointed the A's in the field, at the bat and in leadership. Frank Baker played a great game at third, but was cut off from a safe hit by the excellent work of Collins. Heinie Wagner was the headliner for the Red Sox at the plate, with a long drive to the bank in center that Rube Oldring made an inexcusable muff on. That was good for two runs and gave the Red Sox the lead which they never lost. Down 2-0, Tris Speaker had doubled and Jack Barry threw a ball past first on Duffy Lewis' grounder. Speaker scored the first run and Lewis went to second. Then Wagner hit the fly ball that Oldring dropped and two more runs scored to give the Sox a 3 to 2 lead. Jack Coombs pitched a great game until the Red Sox found him for four runs in the ninth-inning. Gardner opened up with a triple to left-center and Jake Stahl hit a grounder to Eddie Collins for an out, that held Gardner at third. Heinie Wagner was there in the clutch, sending a single to center that scored Gardner from third. After Carrigan was thrown out at first, Ray Collins walked and Wagner stole third. Catcher Jack Lapp made a wild throw in trying to get Wagner, allowing him to score. Harry Hooper banged out a double and Steve Yerkes a single, that scored two runs, giving the Red Sox the 7 to 2 lead. The Red Sox were able to get 15 men to first, ten reached second, eight went to third and seven scored. The fans rooted hard for their champions, until the Red Sox put the knockout blow over in the ninth. The day was fine and the ceremonies were rather uninteresting, because the fans were there to see the contenders for the American League championship in action. Winning with Collins against Coombs gave the Red Sox the edge on the series of six games. President Ban Johnson saw the game from President Ben Shibe's box, and remarked after the game how impressed he was with the Red Sox. The Red Sox have now beaten Ed Walsh, Walter Johnson and now Jack Coombs, three of the best pitchers in the American League. |
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