|
“DIARY OF A WINNER”
|
FENWAY'S FIRST TEAM September 17, 1912 ... On the ninth anniversary of Jimmy Collins' Boston Americans winning the game in Cleveland that made them champions of the American League in 1903, this year's version of the Boston Red Sox went down to a double defeat at the hands of the Cleveland Naps, needing only to win one game of the doubleheader to clinch the American League pennant. Instead they dropped both games. The first game went up to the 11th inning, when with two on, Larry Lajoie drove the ball against the right-field fence, sending home the winning runs and giving Cleveland a walkoff 4 to 3 victory. It was a match between two good left-handers, Ray Collins pitching himself out of several tight places, but was very weak in the field, having fallen down on two simple grounders and failing to get the ball over to first base. In the first inning with two outs, Collins failed to cover first when Jake Stahl fielded up the ball and it cost Boston two runs in the game. Boston hit Vean Gregg quite easily, while the Naps teed off on Collins' curveballs without a problem. Their catcher, Fred Carisch, a recruit from Toledo, got in five hits in his many times at bat, including a triple and a double. The Naps got two runs in the first inning. Doc Johnston drew a pass and Sam Chapman went out on a fly ball to Harry Hooper. Joe Jackson reached base as Ray Collins failed to cover the bag after Stahl had taken a ground ball. Lajoie next smashed the ball for two bases and Gardner dropped Duffy Lewis' throw, allowing two men to score. The Red Sox tied the score in the sixth with two runs on a pass to Steve Yerkes, a double by Speaker off the right-field fence, the ball missing going out of the park by only a foot, a sacrifice fly by Duffy Lewis and a single by Larry Gardner. The Naps came back to take the lead on a triple by Carisch and a long sacrifice fly by Johnston. The Red Sox then tied the score once more in the seventh on a double by Carrigan with two men out, and a single by Collins. Then came the 11th inning after each team having been shutout for four innings. Terry Turner singled and Joe Jackson beat out a bunt on Stahl's fumble, followed by Lajoie's drive off the fence. Buck O'Brien and Fred Blanding worked hard the second game. The Naps scored the first run of the game in the second inning. It came on a single by Joe Jackson and he scored on Clyde Engle's wild throw past third after Lajoie's out. The Sox came back and took the lead with two runs in the fourth on two passes to Hooper and Yerkes, an out by Speaker to advance them, and a base hit by Lewis. O'Brien then passed Turner and with two down. Then he stole second in the bottom of the fourth inning. Cady made a very poor throw on the steal and Turner scooted over to third. Tim Hendryx then singled to score Turner and Jack Graney knocked out a base hit to send in Hendryx with what proved to be the winning run that put the Naps up 3 to 2. Defensively, Cleveland's catchers were dead on the mark in throwing out Boston base runners, while the Red Sox catchers were wild. Marty Krug played both games at short and was not impressive as compared to Heinie Wagner. Manager Jake Stahl did not play in the second game. Although the Red Sox were hustling, there was very little enthusiasm on the bases, as noted by the number of men thrown out trying to steal second. Bill Carrigan and Heinie Wagner left for New York tonight on the train and will not report to the club again until next Tuesday in Boston. Manager Stahl thinks the rest will do his veterans good. As soon as the pennant is absolutely settled, other regular players will be allowed to rest, especially Larry Gardner who has a sore thumb. Ray Collins was quite a sick boy in St. Louis and few thought he would work today. Although he was far from being strong, the workout will probably have done him some good. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
 |
 |
