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THE SOX CAN'T STAY
HEALTHY NOR HAPPY ... June 6, 1913 ... It required 12 innings of intensely interesting baseball at Fenway Park before the Red Sox broke a tie score. Duffy Lewis drove the ball against the left field fence and sent Tris Speaker home with the winning run, to make the score 4 to 3. There were two outs at the time and Speaker barely reached the plate with a great slide, just as the ball hit Ray Schalk's big catchers mitt. It was by all odds, the most interesting game played at Fenway Park this year. Both teams got down to business at the start and went through the entire game on their toes. The Red Sox were forced to work every point possible, because they had been doing very light hitting, and four of the five hits, which went for extra bases, counted in the scoring as did three passes to first. The only Red Sox players to hit the ball safely were Harry Hooper with a double, Duffy Lewis with a double and a triple, and Hick Cady with a double and a single. Five hits in 12 innings is rather light stick work, but the few hits they made, were timely and following walks, as they did, they finally worked the undoing of the White Sox pitching staff. Joe Wood was on the mound for the Red Sox and was hit easily in three of the first four innings when the visitors scored their three runs. Joe went through the next eight innings, however, as a master of the situation, allowing five singles scattered through as many innings. As the game lengthened and the sun was going down, leaving shadows across the infield, Joe worked at a rapid pace. He allowed no free rides to first and nothing short of some erratic fielding could lose for Mr. Wood. In the early part of the game when men were on first, Joe cut his pitching motion very short. It seemed to bother his catcher Hick Cady, as three low fastballs got by him. But as it turned out, the miscues were not damaging. White Sox starter Doc White worked for 6 2/3 innings and was taken out for Reb Russell. Then commenced a real battle, for the score was tied at three all, and both teams knew that one run with the side the money. From that point on to the end, White Sox were not able to get a man past second base and the Red Sox failed to make much of a showing until the 11th inning when, with a man on first, Joe drove the ball to left-center and it looked sure that the game was over. But Wally Mattick, who had been covering an immense amount of ground, made a remarkable jumping catch after a long run to save it. The Red Sox were the first to score. With two outs in the first inning Speaker drew a pass and came home on a fine triple by Duffy Lewis down the right-field line. The White Sox came back with a run in the second inning and a run in the third to grab a 2-1 lead, but the Red Sox tied the score in their half of the third inning. Joe Wood drew a pass and Steve Yerkes grounded to Jack Fournier who threw wild to second base, looking for the force out. But the throw went wild and Wood was allowed to make third while Yerkes went down to second base. Tris Speaker lofted a fly ball to center that scored Wood to tie the game. The White Sox came back in the fourth to take the lead when Ping Bodie drove the ball against the left field fence for a double and Ray Schalk drove him in with a line drive off the left centerfield banking for three bases. That gave the White Sox a 3-2 lead. But the Red Sox tied the score again in the seventh inning. With one down, Cady lined one to left field bank for two bases and Harry Hooper doubled to left to score him. The score was now tied at three runs each and everybody settled down for real business. Both teams played excellent ball but time was running out as the sun was setting. Finally in the 12th inning after Harry Hooper flied out to center and Steve Yerkes popped to second, Speaker drew a pass. Duffy Lewis was next and Reb Russell reached back and shot one for the plate, but Duffy smashed the ball against the left field fence. It caromed past Bodie and Mattick picked it up, on the run, just as Speaker was rounding third. Mattick made a great throw to the plate, but Speaker was going fast and slid away from the tag to end the game. |
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