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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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FENWAY'S FIRST TEAM August 29, 1912 ... The champion Philadelphia Athletics came to Fenway Park and in front of 14,000 fans, found little to encourage them in the first of three games, which went to the Speed Boys by a count of 8 to 1. Connie Mack had tuned up his men, hoping for killing, but the all around work of the home team, closed in on the Athletics from the jump and clearly outscored them from start to finish. If not for the careless error on Eddie Collins' line drive in the ninth-inning by Harry Hooper, Philadelphia would have been shutout with the fine pitching of Ray Collins. It was his third straight victory over Philly and today his work was his good and as effective as it has been all season. Even Eddie Collins and Frank Baker were forced to go hitless. Five hits were made off Ray and they were scattered through five innings and not a member of the Philadelphia team reached third base until, with two outs in the ninth, Stuffy McInnis drove the ball one foot inside the foul line to the left-field bank and scored the only run of the game for the A's. Eddie Plank was on the mound for the Athletics, and the clever left-hander, who has given Boston many a knockout blow in the past 11 years, was no match against the Sox today. The first run came across right off from the start on a pass to Steve Yerkes, a single by Tris Speaker and a line drive by Duffy Lewis. The Athletics tightened and prevented Boston from making further trouble in the first inning, although there were men at second and third with only one out. Ray Collins was working perfectly and issued no passes to the A's and only one hit was made off him in four innings. Then came the fourth inning for the Red Sox when every man came to bat and four runs came dancing over the plate as a result of two passes, a single by Larry Gardner, Heinie Wagner's double that sent in two runs, and singles by Bill Carrigan and Harry Hooper, making it 5 to 0. At this point Carroll Brown was brought in to replace Plank and finished the game nicely, but it was Ray Collins who kept his foot on the accelerator and Philadelphia went down to one of the most decisive defeats of the year. The fielding of Tris Speaker was outstanding in this game. He had to running catches with his back to the infield that were phenomenal. Jack Barry hit one ball on a low line drive to short right center and Speaker, playing in close for the ball, shot out, dove and got the ball in his gloved hand a few inches from the ground, rolled over, and came up showing the ball. Bill Carrigan caught a steady game behind the plate, nipping the only man who tried for second. Larry Gardner made a fine play at third and Heinie Wagner made several running catches in foul ground. Although he was still quite sore, Jake Stahl was back at first. He got into valuable sacrifice hits that helped develop the six runs made in the fourth and fifth innings. In the fifth inning the Red Sox added another two runs as Brown passed Lewis, Gardner singled and was sacrificed by Stahl. After Wagner popped out, Carrigan hit a hot ground ball that got away from Barry and two more runs scored. One more was added in the eighth as Carrigan was walked and sacrificed over by Ray Collins, Hooper was thrown out by Baker on a fine play, and Yerkes singled to bring in Carrigan with the eighth run. In the ninth inning Danny Murphy got to first on a fumble by Yerkes and then Hooper made his muff of Eddie Collin's line drive before McInnis drove him in. Red Sox President James McAleer, in Washington this past week, offered Clarke Griffith, owner of the Washington Nationals, $50,000 cash for Walter Johnson at a dinner with American League President Ban Johnson and other baseball officials. Griffith refused the offer on the spot, saying that he would not sell Johnson for even $100,000. |
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