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HANS LOBERT |
THE 1914 "MIRACLE" BRAVES
The
Braves lose after the first four batters
May 2, 1914 ... The Phillies jumped on Hub Perdue with two singles and two home runs by the first four men he faced. Three runs were over the plate before he had a chance to break a
sweat. Then came another home run in the fourth inning, which with a double in the third, showed Perdue that his stuff wasn't fooling the Phillies.
The Phillies sluggers played no favorites for they got after Bill James, who relieved Perdue, and touched him up for two doubles and three singles, most of which were made in the seventh inning. The final score of the game was 6 to 2 in favor of Philadelphia.
It was a great game for those who like to see free hitting, but unfortunately most of it was done by the visitors. 11 hits for a total of 24 bases were what they got. Hans Lobert, himself had a home run, two doubles and a single in four times at bat. Sherry Magee hit a home run and a double,
and Fred Luderus had a home run and a single.
There is no defense in a ballgame against slugging, except pitching or out slugging the opponent. The Braves pitching staff could not do the first thing, and the Braves batters could not do the second thing. Seven hits were made off Rube Marshall, and these were made by four men. Butch
Schmidt got three, Bert Whaling had two, and Tommy Griffith and Charlie Deal had one each.
Whenever the Braves threatened to start something, a doubleplay stopped their chances. On two occasions it looked as if they might get into the running. In the fifth inning, with the score 4 to 1 against them, they had two men on base and only one out. Otto Hess was sent up to pinch-hit for
Perdue. He got his bat on the ball and sent a low liner to Dode Paskert, who didn't have to move an inch and doubled up Whaling at first. If it had been 2 feet to either side, Paskert would never had a chance to touch the ball.
In the seventh inning, down 4 to 2 and the tying runs on base, Les Mann hit into another doubleplay. In spite of a bad start, the Braves fought again to the finish and even made a flash in the ninth-inning with two out, but couldn't get the job done.
After the Phillies got three runs in the first inning, they got one more in the fourth. In the fifth inning the Braves finally got on the board, when Butch Schmidt singled, Charlie Deal reached on a throwing error, and Whaling brought both runners home with a single to right. The Braves
added another run in the seventh as Griffith singled to open up the inning. Schmidt followed with another hit and Whaling then produced his second hit of the game to score Griffith, making it 4 to 2.
Bill James who had been holding them for three innings, seem to lose his stuff in the eighth. Beals Becker doubled and lobar singled. Becker tried to score and was out at the plate on a great throw by Les Mann. But Magee followed with a double scoring Becker. He was caught between second and
third on Gavvy Cravath's ground ball to Maranville. The Rabbit ran down Becker, but Cravath made it to second base. He scored on a single by Luderus to make it 6 to 2. |
