|
“DIARY OF A WINNER”
|
FENWAY'S FIRST TEAM August 4, 1912 ... A back and forth tustle of a game, with both teams hustling from start to finish, saw the Red Sox beat the Naps here at League Park by an 8 to 6 score. Left-hander Vean Gregg had been saved for the game as manager Harry Davis held him out of the games with the Athletics, hoping the throw a scare into the boys from Boston. Ray Collins had pitched a great game last time against the Naps and the Sox banked their hopes strongly on a repeat performance. However Cleveland got after Collins savagely from the beginning. A doubleplay engineered by Larry Gardner saved a heap of trouble in the first inning, but three singles in the second and an error by Collins gave the home team a 2 to 0 lead. Buck O'Brien had to come in and relieve Collins in the third, after the Red Sox had hammered Gregg for five runs in the top of the inning. Neil Ball hitting for Collins, drew a pass and Hooper sacrificed him to second. Steve Yerkes sent in two runs with a smashing single to left, taking third on the throw to the plate. Speaker knocked out a single but Larry Lajoie, making a great one-handed stop, prevented Yerkes from going home. Duffy Lewis singled to score Yerkes and sent Speaker to third. Larry Gardner lined a single to left that scored Speaker and that was all that Gregg was allowed to give up, being sent to the showers in favor of Bill Steen. Jake Stahl singled off the new pitcher and Heinie Wagner, the ninth man up, was thrown out by Lajoie, allowing Speaker to score the fifth run of the inning. Bill Carrigan ended it with a pop fly out. Collins didn't find it easy because the local team was hitting every pitch all over the park. Buck was very wild, but managed to hold Lajoie in check, and this counted heavily, as the power hitter was out three times when a safe drive would have caused a lot of misery. With the Sox leading by a score of 6 to 2 in the fifth inning, it looked like it would be all Boston, but the home team got down to business and three runs were scored on Wagner's fumble and doubles by Buddy Ryan, Joe Jackson and Joe Birmingham. They scored a cheap run in the sixth to tie up the score on a pass, a passed ball and a throwing error by Steve Yerkes. The Red Sox got one man around the bases in the seventh on a fumble by the shortstop and Larry Gardner's drive against the right-field fence for two bases. Speaker however was caught napping at first base on a sharp throw by catcher Steve O'Neill. Down 7 to 6, Cleveland forced the battle in the eighth when O'Neill walked and Ted Easterly singled. With O'Neill at third and Terry Turner up, the sky brightened for the Naps as O'Brien had him down to three and two, having to throw the next ball over the plate. Turner met it squarely and it went tearing close to the ground in right-center. Speaker, over like a greyhound shot out like a flying fish to spear the ball about two inches from the ground, rolling over, but holding the ball and throwing to first for a great double play to save the day. The Red Sox scored their last run in the ninth-inning on a double by Yerkes, a sacrifice by Speaker and a single by Lewis to make it 8 to 6. The first man up for Cleveland in the ninth was Joe Jackson and he bunted. Gardner came in on the run and fumbled the ball allowing him to get the first safely. Lajoie came up next and O'Brien threw one close to his head for the first pitch. On the second pitch Buck was up a splitter and Lajoie sent like a shot on the ground to Heinie Wagner. Heinie played it over to Yerkes who turned it over to first for a nice double play. Joe Birmingham sent up a fly ball that Wagner clung on to, for the final out, saving a hard earned victory for the Speed Boys. There were five doubleplays in the game, three by the Red Sox and all saved runs. Cleveland hit safely in five of the nine innings while Boston got to first in seven of them. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
 |
 |
