THE 1914 "MIRACLE" BOSTON BRAVES
THE GREATEST COMEBACK IN MAJOR LEAGUE HISTORY ...
FROM CHUMPS IN JULY, TO CHAMPS IN OCTOBER ...

Charles W. Murphy, owner of the Chicago Cubs, was the man who made possible the 1914 miracle of the Boston Braves.  He fired his manager Frank Chance and made his star second baseman, Johnny Evers, the new player/manager of the Cubs in 1913.  The Cubs finished third and Evers, he felt, was a great ball player but too impulsive to ever be a good manager, so he illegally hired a new manager, therefore violating Evers five year contract, and making him a free agent. 

Manager George Stallings and owner James Gaffney made Johnny Evers their one newsworthy acquisition.  Evers signed with the Braves on February 12th.  Evers used the rival Federal League as leverage, and was able to forge a $20,000 signing bonus with incentives, something that would have been unthinkable before the advent of the Federal League. The long-time second baseman was not a superstar slugger who could carry a team offensively, but his experience playing for and managing a consistently successful unit like the Cubs would engender him into a critical leadership role in Boston.

Evers was 140 pounds fighting fury.  Off the field he was quiet and reserved, but intensely serious.  This was not the Evers that umpires, ballplayers, and fans feared, respected and admired.  On the field he was a wildcat, snarling at umpires and clawing at opponents. Manager, George Stallings immediately made him team captain.  No team in the league had better leadership than the 1914 Braves with Stallings and Evers.

The double-play combination for the Braves thus became Rabbit Maranville to Evers to Butch Schmidt.  It was a good combination.  Schmidt was a powerful man, and effective, if not a graceful first baseman, but not a long ball hitter.  The Braves would also opened the season with Charlie Deal at third base.  Deal had been given a shot by the Detroit Tigers in 1913, but was sent to the minors to gain experience.  A few weeks later he was batting .312 for the Providence Greys, and the Braves bought him.  He was a good third baseman, but a light hitter.  The backup infielders were either, Oscar Dugey, an even-tempered Texan, or Bill Martin, who signed in midseason.

Stallings was trying to prove two theories with the 1914 Braves pitching staff.  One was that everything else being equal, it was better to use left-handed hitters against right-handed pitchers and vice versa.  He therefore employed two sets of outfielders, none of whom were the strong point of the team.  The only outfielder who played regularly against both types of pitching, was Joe Connolly, a left-handed batter.  In center field Stallings alternated George "Possum" Whitted, a right-handed batter, with Larry Gilbert, a left-handed batter.  In right field he used right-hander Les Mann with Herb Moran and Josh Devore, both left-handers.  The other outfielder was Ted Cather, a pitcher for his first three years in organized baseball.  Brought up by the St. Louis Cardinals he was shifted permanently to the outfield.  Larry Gilbert was also a former pitcher, but had a more potent bat then an arm.  The Braves drafted him after he hit .283 for Milwaukee in 1913.

The mildest character on the 1914 Braves was catcher, Hank Gowdy, who was the complete opposite of the fiery Johnny Evers.  His fieriest words consisted of "Holy Cow" or "Shucks".  He had spent most of 1913 in Buffalo, where he batted .313 before being recalled by the Braves.  He was a patient workhorse for the team, catching 128 games, and he was the favorite target for Evers because of his good nature.  Behind Gowdy was young Bert Whaling, who was bought from Seattle in the following 1912 along with pitcher Bill James.

Along with pitchers Bill James, Dick Rudolph and Lefty Tyler, who won 69 games, where Eugene Cocreham, Ensign Cottrell, Richard Crutcher, Otto Hess and Paul Strand who won 25 games between them.

The 1914 Boston Braves were the weakest, the luckiest and the gamest baseball club ever to win the pennant.  Manager George Stallings did not expect to win the pennant when the Braves reported to their training camp in Macon, Georgia.  He did expect to be in the race and he did expect to be in the first division.  He told his players that the only thing they needed to worry about was the New York Giants who had won three successive National League pennants.

The Braves made a dismal start.  Lefty Tyler was beaten in the season's opener at Brooklyn, on April 14th, by a score of 8 to 2.  The Braves lost their first three games before beating the Phillies in Philadelphia. 

On April 23rd, the Braves had their home opener at South End Grounds. There were the usual opening day ceremonies, the band concert, the parade of the players, the raising of Old Glory in center field, and the opening of the game by Mayor Fitzgerald, who threw out the first ball. Just before the game started manager Stallings received a cluster diamond pin and a gold buckle belt on behalf of his players, from Captain Johnny Evers. Evers was cheered when he first came to bat as was Rabbit Maranville. The Braves won the game, beating Brooklyn, 9 to 1.

The Braves lost 2 of 3 games to the Robins and lost two straight to the Giants. They finished the month of April with a 2-7 record, in 7th place, 6 1/2 games out already.

May started with a series against the Phillies and they split two games. On May 4th, the Braves staged a wonderful uphill fight, beating Philadelphia, 10 to 7. Nobody would have given a nickel on the chances of winning after the first inning, when the Phillies jumped out to a 5 to 0 lead. The Braves chipped away and were down 7 to 6 going into the sixth inning. With one out Evers singled and Maranville followed with another base hit. With the two runners at second and third. Butch Schmidt came through with a double to left field, giving the Braves the lead.

But that was all the excitement the team could muster. They took to the road and lost three games to the Giants and four straight to the Cincinnati Reds. They won only three of their first nineteen games.  Their luck was atrocious.  They lost game after game by one run.  Johnny Evers was sick, Rabbit Maranville had tonsillitis, some of the pitchers were wild, and some had sore arms.

In Pittsburgh they lost 2 of the 3 games they played. In the game they won on May 18th, Bill James was on the mound and pitched well. Whenever the Pirates got going and landed a man on base, he tightened up and shut off every prospect of the rally. He gave up only one run and the Braves won, 4 to 1.

Stallings moaned and complained but he never gave up.  He raved and raged like a maniac pacing up and down the bench, yelling and fining his players recklessly.  He kept saying that when everyone came back healthy they would be hard to beat.  They had no rules except the one to show up at the ballpark ready to play, and to keep within the law.  He would get angry and fine a player $500 for missing a hit and run signal and if the player should flare back at him, he'd raise the fine to $1000.  However he never collected a dollar that he had imposed.

The Braves lost games but they never lost the spirit of winning.  Stallings and Evers worked together, one of them abusing the players in the dugout and the other giving it to them on the field.  It was a hard team to play for, but after a period of time they had the spirit to win.

They then took 3 of 4 against the Cubs in Chicago. Johnny Evers, who was the former manager of the Cubs, played a big part in their defeat on May 21st, by a score of 3 to 1. He paved the way for the first run when he waited for a base on balls in the first inning, and later crossed the plate on Rabbit Maranville's three bagger. In the fifth, his long sacrifice fly, sent Hank Gowdy across with the third Braves run.

The Braves got three hits, on May 22nd, but good pitching by Otto Hess and misplays by the Cubs, enabled them shut out the West Siders by a score of 2 to 0. Hess held the Cubs to four hits. Great defense was the key. Maranville and Evers handled a total of 17 chances between them without missing a beat.

On May 24th, the Braves got six hits to beat the Cubs by a score of 3 to 2, winning the series at the West Side Grounds. Down 2 to 0, Butch Schmidt singled to start the Braves fifth inning and went to second on a ground ball out. Hank Gowdy connected, sending Schmidt home with the first Boston run. Then Leslie Mann lined a hit to center, sending home Gowdy with the tying run. Mann went to third on the throw home and scored what proved to be the winning run on a sacrifice fly by Bill James.

They then took another 2 of the 3 games they played against the Cardinals in St. Louis. In the first game on May 25th, the Braves played a great defensive game. Whenever serious trouble threatened, the defense tightened up and they managed to defeat the Cardinals by a score of 3 to 2.

Three little infield hits, which nobody could handle, a line drive single by Hank Gowdy, a base on balls to Johnny Evers, and a home run by Rabbit Maranville with the bases loaded, gave the Braves six runs in the second inning, on the way to a 7 to 4 win against the Cardinals on May 27th.

But then it was business as usual for the Braves, when they lost four of five games in Brooklyn. They had started the road trip in last place and finished it winning 8 of the 17 games, still in the basement with an 11-26 record, 12 1/2 games behind.

In June, the Braves started on the right path when they came home and opened up with a 7 to 2 win over Cincinnati on June 5th. Evers and Maranville were the hitting stars, with Evers getting a single and two doubles, while Maranville got two singles with men on base.

After losing the two middle games of the series, the Braves broke even by winning the final game, 3 to 2 on June 9th. Butch Schmidt got two of the five hits that the Braves made in his three chances at bat.

Then they swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in four hard fought games. On June 10th, the Braves smashed the Pirates, 11 to 2. Rabbit Maranville came through with three singles, a double and a sacrifice fly in his five trips to the plate.

The Braves repeated their assault on Pittsburgh by winning the second game of the series by a score of 3 to 2 on June 11th. This one was not a one-sided affair, but a close, hard-fought contest from start to finish, in which the work of the two great shortstops Honus Wagner and Rabbit Maranville was the feature of the game.

In the third game, on June 12th, the Braves won another good game by a score of 5 to 3. Joe Connolly and Larry Gilbert put the game away with home runs, after the Pirates had tied the score in the first half of the seventh inning.

And finally, the Braves came from behind in a tense thriller on June 13th, and won the final game of the series 4 to 3. It was a thrilling contest that was a battle from start to finish, as the two teams alternated in the lead or being behind several times, and at no time was there no more than a one run edge. The Braves held the lead when the Pirates knocked in a run to tie the game in the eighth-inning. But back again came the Braves in their half after two were out. Singles by Leslie Mann and Hank Gowdy, accompanied by a double steal, gave them what proved to be the winning run on a steal of home.

The Cubs came to the South End Grounds next and the Braves took three of the four games. On June 16th, the Braves took the second game of the series by a score of 7 to 5. In the sixth inning the Braves led 6 to 5. Then in the eighth, Hank Gowdy drew a pass and Larry Gilbert beat out an infield hit.  Johnny Evers worked a pass to fill the bases. Joe Connolly came up to the plate and watched and waited until he was walked to force Gowdy over the plate.

The Braves swept a doubleheader on June 17th, by scores of 8 to 3 in the morning and 7 to 3 in the afternoon. Lefty Tyler and Bill James were the pitchers. Both pitchers were in fine form, and James shut out the Cubs for six innings in the afternoon. Charlie Deal provided the big hits in the first game and Leslie Mann came through with a bases loaded triple in game number two.

The Cardinals and Braves split their series but the Braves won, coming from behind against the Cardinals on June 19th. In the eighth-inning the Cardinals were in the lead, 5 to 3. Maranville was the first up and sliced out a two bagger to right. Butch Schmidt singled and sent in the Rabbit. Charlie Deal came up next and hit a slow ball back to the pitcher who tried to force out Schmidt at second, but Schmidt was ruled safe. Leslie Mann then laid down a perfect bunt to put Schmidt on third and Deal on second. Bert Whaling was up next and singled to center to score both runners, putting the Braves in the lead once again. After a walk, Hank Gowdy was hit by a pitch, to force in Whaling from third, giving the Braves a two run lead for good, 7 to 5.

In the final game of the series on June 20th, the Braves won by a 3 to 2 score in a pitcher's battle. Bill James held the visitors to three singles for the entire game.

Against the first place Giants on June 24th, the Braves split a doubleheader. The Braves won the first game 7 to 3 and the Giants won the second game 4 to 0. In the first game, the Braves then took the lead in the third inning as Maranville singled to score Gilbert with the go-ahead run. The Braves tacked on three more runs in the fifth inning, when with one out, Joe Connolly smashed one over the right-field fence. Maranville drew a walk and Gowdy singled. Charlie Deal brought them home with a triple to right.

The Braves won 12 of 16 games and on June 25th, the team climbed out of the cellar into seventh place by defeating the Giants with a walk-off 7 to 6 win as Paul Strand doubled home Bert Whaling in the ninth inning. 

After winning 14 of 22 games, the next day they were back down in the basement. They lost three of the four games with the Phillies and three straight to Brooklyn. They had lost 8 of the 12 games and were 15 games out of first place.

Adding insult to incompetence, they then traveled to Buffalo to play an exhibition against the Buffalo Bisons, who honored Manager Stallings once leading them to a pennant, in the International League and were embarrassed, 10-2, on July 7th.

“Big league ballplayers you call yourselves, eh?” Stallings fumed as they boarded the train. “You’re not even Grade A sand-lotters. I’m ashamed of you all.”

But from that abysmal day in Buffalo lay the foundation for one of baseball’s unlikeliest and greatest rises from oblivion.  As Stallings predicted, their luck gradually changed.  With trades made for Possum Whitted, Ted Cather and Josh Devore, the team played consistent ball.  The pitching staff settled down, once Stallings decided to use Rudolph, Tyler, and James as his primary three starters.  He added more strength to the bench in purchasing Red Smith from Brooklyn.

Using the loss against the minor leaguers in Buffalo as a rallying point, Johnny Evers challenged his team to start believing in themselves. The Braves met his challenge.  

“We did something nobody ever believed possible,” Rabbit Maranville said decades later. “Gamblers were laying 100-1 against us on Opening Day with hardly any takers. They raised the odds to 1,000-1 after the first month. By July 4th, after we had been in the cellar all but three days, you could have gotten 1,000,000-1.”

The team went on the road to Chicago and things began to change. On July 8th, the Braves were forced to go 11 innings before they beat the West Siders. In the 11th inning, with the score tied at four each, Jim Murray was given a base on balls and Bert Whaling sacrificed him to second. Ted Cather singled him in to take the lead. Maranville sent across two more runs across to make the score 7 to 4.

The next day, July 9th, the Braves trimmed Chicago by a score of 3 to 1. Bill James held the locals to six widely scattered hits, and with the exception two innings, not a Chicago-base runner got past second base.

Mixing their hits with four errors made by the Cubs, the Braves trimmed Chicago by a 5 to 2 score in the final meeting of the series at the West Side Grounds on June 11th.  for the West Side bunch. Evers, Connolly and Schmidt got two hits apiece. Rudolph was a stumbling block for the Cubs and gave up only six hits for a total of 14 bases.

The Braves won their next two games in St. Louis. The first was a run away, 12-5, on July 12th. Josh Devore and Bert Whaling led with three hits each. The next day, July 13th, the Braves had to go 12 innings to win a game. Cardinals outfielder, Cozy Dolan was nice enough to give the game to the Tribe, when he let Oscar Dugey's line drive go-between his feet for a home run in the 12th inning. But the Cardinals won the last two games of the series to gain a split.

In Cincinnati, on July 17th, In a brilliant pitching duel, the Braves won out by a close 1 to 0 score. Bill James (9-6) allowed just four hits and was never in trouble. The next day, July 18th, the Braves won by a score of 6 to 3. Dick Rudolph (10-8) held the Reds to three hits and one run in the first six innings.

The Braves left the cellar for good on July 19th, when they swept the series in Cincinnati.  Trailing 2 to 0, entering the ninth inning, they scored three runs to come from behind.  As they left the field the players threw their caps and bats into the air and cheered like college boys. 

It was then that their big three pitchers stepped up and save them.  They allowed an average of about one run a game over a stretch of 15 games.  After they left Cincinnati, they posted four shutouts against Pittsburgh in five games. 

On July 20th, the excellent work of Lefty Tyler, gave him a win by a score of 1 to 0. The Braves moved into sixth place with the defeat of the Dodgers at St. Louis. Dick Rudolph shut out the Pirates, 6 to 0, on July 21st. Rabbit Maranville got two hits and was running all over the infield with nothing getting past him.

The Braves and Pirates split a doubleheader on July 22nd. The Pirates gave them an opening in the first game and they took advantage of it and romped home by a score of 1 to 0 in 11 innings. Bill James notched his second shutout, having allowed just one run in his last three starts. The Pirates bumbled the game away in extra innings. Charlie Deal was first up in the 11th inning and Honus Wagner made a mess of his little roller. He was sacrificed to second and Hank Gowdy hit safely into left field. Max Carey let it get away from him, and Charlie came across with the one and only run.

The Braves left Pittsburgh with another shutout, 2 to 0 on July 23rd. It was Lefty Tyler again, who was in the same excellent form that he showed in the opening game of the series. They left for home having gone 12-4 on the trip, in 4th place, 11 games behind the Giants.

Against the Cubs at the South End Grounds, the Braves took 2 of the 3 games they played. On July 27th, the Braves beat Chicago, 5 to 3. Johnny Evers played fine game in the field and had a double and a single in his three chances at the plate. It was a hard-fought game, with Chicago twice tying it up. In the eighth the Braves clinched the game. With the scored tied, Maranville reached first on an error and Butch Schmidt was hit by a pitch. Charlie Deal sacrificed them over and Rabbit scored on Les Mann's sacrifice fly. Schmidt tagged up and scored on Hank Gowdy's single. The Braves finished Chicago off when they trimmed the Cubs on July 29th, the score being 8 to 3. The Braves had taken 11 of 15 games from the Cubs.

Next it was the third place Cardinals, who came to Boston five games ahead of the fourth place Braves. The Braves were held to one hit in nine innings, on July 30th, but poor support in the field, allowed the Braves to win by a score of 2 to 1. Lefty Tyler pitched well, and the one run made by the Cardinals was on a freak home run in which the ball broke through the wire net above the left-field fence and just dropped on the wrong side.

Dick Rudolph did a masterful exhibition of pitching at the South End Grounds on July 31st. From the opening of the game, until he brought into a close by striking out the last batter, Rudolph had St. Louis totally fooled, 2 to 0.

It was on August 1st that the Braves got permission from Red Sox president, Joe Lannin to use Fenway Park for the very first time.  Over 20,000 fans jammed the ballpark to see the Braves win a game from the Cardinals in a 10 inning 4 to 3 walk-off win. With two outs, Johnny Evers came up and doubled to left. Possum Whitted smacked a hot grounder into right field. Evers never stopped as he rounded third, and came home with the winning run. As a result of the win, the Braves reached the .500 mark in wins and losses, only 8 games out of first place.

The Braves made a perfect clean sweep of the series with the Cardinals by winning the fourth straight game by a score of 1 to 0 at the South End Grounds on August 3rd. Lefty Tyler spun another great game with his third shutout in his last four starts. He kept the Cardinals hits at three, and then to emphasize his great work, Lefty led off the ninth-inning with a line drive single and scored the winning run. St. Louis left town with their lead over the Braves cut to two games.

Next it was the Pirates to try again against the Braves. On August 4th, Dick Rudolph (14-8) threw another shutout, also like Lefty Tyler, the third for him in his last four starts, winning 1 to 0. It was another two-hit game for him. Bill James threw the third consecutive shutout for the Braves on August 5th, blanking the Pirates 4 to 0. Only four hits were made off James and one of those was a scratch infield poke by Honus Wagner. Just one of the Pittsburgh players got as far as second base.

On August 6th, the Braves broke a major league record by winning 23 of their last 28 games.  The record was broken when Maranville hit a 10th inning walk-off home run to beat the Pirates in one of the most exciting games played all year.  The streak ended the next day when the Braves finally lost, after winning 9 games in a row.

At Fenway Park on August 8th, the Braves beat Cincinnati, by a score of 4 to 3 in 10 innings. Up until the time that one man was out in the ninth-inning, they had not scored a run. Joe Connolly drew a free pass and Rabbit Maranville beat out an infield grounder. Charlie Schmidt slapped a base hit into right field, and after the ball took a bad hop, Connolly and Maranville scored and Schmidt found his way to second safely. Bill James, pinch hitting, came through by cracking out a single to center, knocking in the tying run. Josh Devore opened up the 10th inning with a single. Possum Whitted sacrificed him over and went to third on a ground out. The Rabbit then shot a bullet on the ground by the pitcher and it went through the box into centerfield allowing Devore to jog home with the winning run.

On August 10th, against the Reds, the Braves climbed into second place, only 6 1/2 games behind the league leading, Giants. With Bill James (14-6) on the mound, the Reds did not have much of the show. Only six hits were made off James and three of these, which included a double, were Texas Leaguers. The Braves finished the homestand, winning 11 games and losing just two.

Angling for an unprecedented fourth straight National League title, the Giants were performing nothing like the team that had won it the previous three years. When the Braves went to the Polo Grounds, they swept the Giants in three games. In the first game on August 13th, the Braves won in an impressive manner, more impressive in fact than the score of 5 to 3 indicated. Dick Rudolph was stacked up against Rube Marquard and Rube was hit hard and often. Leslie Mann, Maranville and Ted Cather were that star performers for the Braves, in addition to Rudolph. Besides a home run in the second inning, Mann drove in two more in the sixth with a single to right. The Rabbit scored two of the Braves runs, one of which he started by leading off with a triple to left-center. Cather was a hitting star of the game coming across with two doubles and a single in five times at bat.

In the second win, on August 14th, the Braves made the Giants look small compared to them and won by a 7 to 3 score. They pounded Jeff Tesreau, who lasted only five innings, during which eight hits and six runs were scored off him. Bill James was on the mound for the Braves and he allowed six hits in nine innings, no two of them coming in the same inning. Joe Connolly came through with a double, a single and a home run in his three times at bat.

The Braves capped the series with a 10-inning, 2-0 win by Lefty Tyler over Christy Mathewson on August 15th. The fans were there to see Mathewson check the onward rush of the Braves and see Stallings' men crack. They did not see any of these things however, but on the contrary, they saw the great master out pitched by Tyler. Lefty never pitched better and had pitched shutout ball in the last two games in which he had worked. The team left the Polo Grounds only 3 1/2 games behind the Giants, in second place.

In Cincinnati on August 17th, the Braves won both games of the doubleheader 11 to 1 and 7 to 3. Dick Rudolph won the first game and Bill James (16-6) won his ninth straight in the nitecap, while the club made it 30 victories in 36 games. With a 3 to 2 win on August 19th, Lefty Tyler had the first run scored on him in more than 27 innings, put over by the Reds in the fifth inning.

Continuing their winning ways, the Braves shifted to Forbes Field in Pittsburgh and took the first game of the series by a score of 6 to 3 on August 20th. Dick Rudolph (17-8) was on the mound and won his 11th consecutive game, without breaking a sweat.

The Braves and the Pirates broke even in the doubleheader played on August 22nd, with Pittsburgh's winning the first game by a score of 3 to 2 in a 12 inning battle, and the Braves coming back and winning the second game by a score of 4 to 2. However, the Braves were just 1/2 game behind the Giants when they were beaten by the Reds.

On August 23rd the Braves tied the Giants for first place.  The Reds hit Christy Mathewson hard and scored three runs in the first inning, which were enough to win, 3 to 2. It had taken the Braves just five weeks to climb from the bottom to the top of the National League, winning 34 of their last 42 games played.

Lefty Tyler (12-9) was a huge factor.  From the middle of July thru the middle of August, he pitched four shutouts, giving up only three earned runs in seven games and 63 innings pitched, for a 0.43 ERA.

After winning only one game in Chicago, the Braves fell out of first place by 1/2 game, and moved on to St. Louis. On August 29th, by fighting hard, the Braves won both ends of a doubleheader before the largest crowds that ever to see a ballgame in St. Louis. With Bill James on the mound, the Braves won the first game by 4 to 0 score, and in the second game, they were able to win that one by a score of 6 to 4, putting over four runs in the eighth-inning.

On September 1st, the Braves again moved back into first place and on September 2nd, Rudolph and James won both games in another doubleheader in Philadelphia, as the Giants lost to Brooklyn.  The Phillies were beaten to a whisper and never had a chance to stop the Boston express in either game. The first game was won by score of 7 to 5 and the second game by a score of 12 to 3. In less than two months, the Braves went from last place and 15 games out, to first place with a 1 game lead over New York.

On September 4th, Bill James (20-7) won his 20th game. Since the first of July he had won 13 of the 15 games he pitched. In a nerve wracked contest that went 12 innings, the Braves won by a score of 6 to 5 against the Phillies. In the 12th inning Red Smith led off with a double, Rabbit Maranville sacrificed him to third, and he was brought home on a squeeze play, with Hank Gowdy laying down a perfect bunt. They took the final game on September 5th, 7 to 1.

JOE CONNOLLY & RABBIT MARANVILLE

The Braves won three games out of the four in Philly, and 16 out of 22 on the road trip. They left Philadelphia in a tie for first place with the Giants going into a crucial series with them in Boston on Labor Day. 

With the entire city of Boston now abuzz when the Braves returned home.   It was at Fenway Park that the Braves set what was Boston's all-time one-day attendance record on September 7th.  The morning game against the Giants, drew 36,000 fans and the afternoon game drew 40,000 fans.  The paid attendance for the two games was announced at 74,163.  Some 9000 fans also stood on the fringes of the outfield on Duffy's Cliff.

The Braves won the first game 5 to 4 behind Dick Rudolph, by scoring two runs off Mathewson in the last of the ninth inning.  The crowd went crazy and the players had to fight their way off the field.  The Braves were again alone in first place, but not for long as the Giants got them in the afternoon as Jeff Tesreau breezed to an easy 10 to 1 win over Lefty Tyler.  The deciding game of the series was played the next day, on September 8th before 17,000 fans.  Bill James pitched a three-hitter to win it 8 to 3, and giving the Braves sole possession of first place.

After taking two out of three from the Giants, the Braves took four out of the five games the played with the Phillies. They split a doubleheader with on September 9th. In the second game, George "Iron" Davis who was also attending Harvard Law School, pitched a no-hitter for the Braves. Five Phillies reached first base on walks, two on errors. Davis walked three men with none out in the fifth inning, but then fanned Ed Burns and got Gavvy Cravath to ground into a double play. It was just one of seven career victories for Davis.

Running as smoothly as a well lubricated machine, the Braves cut down the Phillies in the doubleheader on September 10th at Fenway Park, while the New York Giants were breaking even in a doubleheader with Brooklyn. They thereby gained a full game and rest easy with a lead of 2 1/2 games over the New Yorkers. The first game went to the Braves by a score of 3 to 0, with the runs coming in the eighth inning after running along for seven innings on an even keel. Dick Rudolph (20-10) pitched the opener and gained his 20th win. The second game was won by a score of 7 to 3. The Braves failed to get under way until the sixth, when they sent up their heavy lumber after two were out and the fireworks were good for four runs.

The Braves won the final game of the series with the Phillies by a score of 6 to 5 on September 11th. It was a close call because the Braves had a three run lead that was not only lost, but the Phillies players were allowed to take the lead, not once but twice, so that the Braves came into the ninth-inning needing two runs to win. Oscar Dugey beat out an infield hit and went to second on a wild pitch. Possum Whitted beat out a perfect bunt to reach first with a hit and put Dugey on third. Ted Cather knocked out a sacrifice fly ball and Dugey scored the tying run. The throw to the plate got away and allowed Whitted to scamper over to third. The Rabbit came up and hit a fly ball to right and Possum came in with the winning run. The win kept the Braves up 2 1/2 games over the Giants.

After losing the first game to Brooklyn at Fenway, the won the next two. On September 14th, Dick Rudolph pitched the Braves to score a 4 to 3 win over the Robins. A great play at the plate by Rabbit Maranville saved a tie score in the eighth inning. An error and a sacrifice put a runner on third base and Rabbit's play was the highlight of the game.

Bill James won his 23rd game on September 15th, pitching himself in and out of trouble, but getting a 7 to 5 win. By winning the final game of the series with the Robins, the Braves increased their lead over the Giants to 3 1/2 games.

With the Cardinals in town, the Braves took two games and tied one. On September 16th, it was "Johnny Evers Day". It was a great one for Johnny in particular, and the Braves in general. Twelve thousand fans saw the Braves beat St. Louis in a great game by a score of 6 to 3. The game was deadlocked until the eighth-inning when the Boston captain led off with a hit. With daring baserunning he went to third on an error and scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly, as the band played "When Johnny Comes Marching Home".

Dick Rudolph, in spite of a rough first inning, became steady as a rock on September 17th and won his 22nd game, 5 to 1. Only seven hits were made off him, and four of those came in the first two innings.

The Braves then swept three games from the Pirates. On September 19th, the Braves chalked up seven runs in the 6th inning to beat the Pittsburgh by a 9 to 3 score. For five innings the Braves got only one hit, a single by Hank Gowdy. In the 6th, Butch Schmidt sent a line down the third base line. Red Smith and Rabbit Maranville played the waiting game and drew walks to load the bases. Then a two base slam from Gowdy that went into deep center field cleared the bases. and gave the Braves the lead.

Rudolph won his 23rd game on September 21st, defeating the Pirates by a 6 to 5 score. Joe Connolly came through with a mighty bases-loaded triple in the fourth inning, and the team never looked back. The Braves defeated Pittsburgh again by an 8 to 2 score in the final game of the series on September 22nd. Lefty Tyler (16-13) did the pitching and was very effective. But for an error, Pittsburgh would have not scored. They got only six hits off Tyler and no two of them came in the same inning except the first one. It was Connolly who again got the big base hit. He came to bat with the bases loaded again and slugged the ball way into the outfield to the bleacher fence. The Giants were shut out by Chicago and at the end of the day the Braves had increased their lead in the National League five games.

Cincinnati came to town and the two teams played three doubleheaders. The Braves only lost one of those games. The Reds came in with a record of 18 straight losses and lost the first game of the doubleheader, by a 3 to 2 score on September 23rd. Then they turned around and won the second game dramatically in the ninth-inning with a rally, winning 3 to 0. In the opener Bill James notched his 24th win for the Tribe. In the Braves ninth with one out and the game tied, Red Smith put over the winning run for the Braves with a home run. Red gave the ball mighty wallop and sent it on a fly almost to the stands. It looked as if it would hit the top of the fence, but a youngster who wanted to souvenir, reached up at the railing and tried to catch the ball, but dropped it back into the playing field. Umpire Ernie Quigley saw what happened motioned for Smith, who was standing on third, to come home and the Braves won the game.

On September 24th, Dick Rudolph pitched a complete game 5-0 shutout. Then the next day, September 25th, he threw another complete games shutout against the Reds, winning 2-0, for his 8th straight win and his 25th victory of the season.

Finally the home series ended by winning three straight from the Cubs. The Braves, who were in last place on July 17th, swept another doubleheader on September 26th. Four doubleheaders in six days was a lot of baseball. The Braves swept by scores of 6 to 2 and 12 to 2. In the opener, Rabbit Maranville broke up the game with a grand slam home run in the fourth inning. In the second game, the Braves got seven hits, which included a triple by Possum Whitted and another homer by Red Smith.

It was a free hitting game at Fenway Park, and the Braves won in a sensational finish by a score of 7 to 6 on September 28th. The Cubs scored two runs in the ninth and but for a sensational play by Red Smith, the game may have been lost.

The Braves clinched the pennant on September 29th. They had won 25 of their remaining 31 games. The Braves were 68-19 after completing their mid-season climb and won the pennant by a stunning 10 1/2 game margin at season’s end.

The Boston Braves were the all time underdogs, and the city of Boston loved them. Johnny Evers was voted the most valuable player in the National League.  Bill James led the league with 26 wins against 7 defeats.  He won 19 of his last 20 games with an ERA of 1.90 per game.  Dick Rudolph, who had a 12 game winning streak, until beaten by the Cubs in August, finished with a 27-10 record.  He pitched six shutouts, all after Fourth of July. 

Everyone got a chance to chip in under manager Stallings, who worked his magic through platooning, a tactic generally not often used in the majors at the time. Yet it was hard to look at the team’s offensive numbers, especially its middle-class .251 team batting average, and conclude they were overpowering. Their only .300 hitter was Joe Connolly, who finished second in the batting race to Brooklyn's Jake Daubert. But the Braves got their hits and scored their runs when it counted, as evidenced by their many come-from-behind victories during their second-half dash.

While the National League was turned upside down, the Philadelphia Athletics remained at the American League forefront in more conventional fashion. In 1914, they seldom were challenged and won 99 games, claiming their fourth American League pennant in five years with room to spare.

A coin was flipped in Philadelphia and it was decided that the first two games of the World Series would be played in Philadelphia.  The Athletics had won four American League pennants in five seasons and were huge favorites to win the World Series.  Stallings showed nothing, but contempt, for the overrated Athletics when he talked to his team.  He said he were not that good and would never even scout them, although his assistants did so secretly.  He predicted to his team that they would win four games in a row and sweep.  Everyone thought he was crazy.

The Braves arrived in Philadelphia on October 7th.  Stallings had to call Connie Mack to arrange practice times.  He picked an argument with him over use of the field at Shibe Park, wanting it in the afternoon.  Mack did not want to give him afternoon practice time, which he wanted for his own team, because the games would be played in that time period and it was his ballpark.  Stallings fired that he didn't like his attitude and that his team would beat him up four straight games before hanging up the phone.  The next day, the Braves found themselves locked out of Shibe Park altogether, so they practiced down the street at the Phillies’ ballpark, Baker Bowl.  Stallings told his players to ignore the Athletics' players during the games unless it was to insult them or harass them.

Connie Mack tried to play it cozy before Game #1 by letting his prize southpaw, Eddie Plank take batting practice.  He then started Chief Bender, who the Braves hammered for a 7 to 1 victory.  Dick Rudolph dominated Philadelphia, allowing only five hits and striking out eight.  Stallings played it cozy also and kept changing Rudolph's signs during the game because he didn't trust Mack and wanted to keep him from using anything to help in his next meeting with the star pitcher.  At the plate, Hank Gowdy led the Boston attack with a single, a double and a triple.

In Game #2 the Braves had to fight for their lives, but they won it, 1 to 0.  Two vital plays were made in the ninth-inning and both favored the Braves.  Both Eddie Plank and Bill James pitched shutout ball for eight innings and Boston only had managed six hits against Plank, and James had only given up two.  With one out, Charlie Deal doubled over Amos Strunk's head in right field.  After James struck out, Deal was trapped off second base.  Catcher Wally Schang fired the ball to Jack Barry, as Deal broke for third, and slid in safely ahead of Barry's throw.  Les Mann then lined the ball over Eddie Collins head to score Deal with the only run of the game.

Then in the last of the ninth with one out, Barry was passed and took second on a wild pitch.  Walsh walked bringing up Eddie Murphy, who was so fast he had not grounded into a double play all season.  Evers barked at Maranville to get closer to the bag.  Maranville moved over and stood right behind the bag.  He was lucky he did because Murphy smashed the ball between the legs of Bill James and he had nothing more to do than scoop it up, tag second base and throw him out of first.

When the Braves left Philadelphia, Stallings ordered them to take all their equipment because they would not be coming back.  There was no holding back the Braves now, as they returned to Boston.  "Four Straight" was the cry chanted by the 300 Royal Rooters who had accompanied them to Philadelphia and now paraded through Boston wearing tribal regalia. 

Before the Game #3, Johnny Evers was given a car for winning the MVP, and rode around the field to the cheers of the crowd.  The game was Hank Gowdy's day to shine.  He knocked out two doubles and a home run, leading the Braves to a 5 to 4 victory in 12 innings.  It was the only game of the series where the Athletics ever had the lead.  Three times the A's led, and three times the Braves came back and caught them.

Prior to Game #4, Stallings ordered the team's road Secretary, Herman Nickerson to cancel the train reservations for Philadelphia.  Nickerson thought Stallings had lost his mind, but with three days rest, Dick Rudolph came back to the mound and beat the Athletics 3 to 1. 

Even for those who sensed a Boston upset, this was startling. Rudolph and James each got credit for two victories, combining to allow just one earned run over 29 innings. The Athletics batted just .172 and were left utterly demoralized.  They were all heroes, but the most valuable player was Hank Gowdy, who batted .545 with six hits for 14 total bases and handled the Boston pitching staff superbly.  The Braves had come back all the way and were the Champions of the World.  It was the first time the World Series had ended in a four game sweep.