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THE BABE
ARRIVES ... June 1, 1914 ... The two Johnson's, Walter of the Washington Nationals and Rankin of the Boston Red Sox met for the third time this season in a pitcher's battle, and the Boston man won, making it two out of three against his illustrious namesake. The score was 1 to 0, and it indeed was a fight from start to finish. Only five hits were made off each man, and an error which was mixed in with the two hits made by the Red Sox, in the fifth inning, was a factor in the scoring of the only run made in the game. Walter Johnson certainly has faced a tough competitor in his games against the Boston pitcher. The Nationals have only scored one run in three games, and to show how good Walter is, he won that game. In their first clash on April 23rd in Washington, the Red Sox won 6-0, Walter being touched up for nine hits, while Rankin held Washington to six hits. In last Friday's game at Fenway Park, the first one of the doubleheader, which Washington won 1-0, only two hits were made off the Washington pitcher, while six hits were made off the Boston counterpart. In today's game the Red Sox had five hits, including two doubles and the Nationals had one double in their five hits. And so, the Red Sox have scored seven runs off Walter in three games on 16 hits, and Washington has scored one run off Rankin with 17 hits. Threatening weather, and the fact that it generally was not known that the two Johnsons would be pitching against each other again, kept the attendance down to fewer than 5000. It did rain in the later innings, but the competition was so keen that nobody realized it. Rankin Johnson was given grant support by his teammates, except for a bobble by an infielder and a poor throw to second by the catcher, which placed a man on third with none out, and put the Sox pitcher in the only hole that he was in for the whole game. He was saved, however by a great play from Harry Hooper, who threw out Howie Shanks at the plate. Tris Speaker went way over to the mound in left-center to make a great running catch, and Duffy Lewis also made a great catch just as he fell after reaching the top of the terrace under the scoreboard. Everett Scott made a spectacular one-handed stop near second base and threw on the run to retire a runner at first. The Red Sox scored the only run making the game in the fifth inning. After Del Gainor had been thrown out by Kid Foster, Hick Cady singled past first base. Rankin attempted to bunt, but Walter fielded the ball cleanly and tried to force Cady at second base. Unfortunately for him, he hit Hick in the back with his throw. Harry Hooper then singled over second and Cady came around to score, with what would prove to be the winning run. Rankin did not have a strikeout to his credit, while Walter had eight. The Sox pitcher worked his change of pace to perfection keeping the Washington hitters off-balance throughout the game. He used great judgment and pitched with a lot of nerve. |
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