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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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WORLD CHAMPS AGAIN April 14, 1915 ... The Boston Red Sox opened the American League season with Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics and were handed a 2 to 0 beating. Furthermore, they were forced to go hitless by Herb Pennock until, with two down in the ninth-inning, Harry Hooper killed off is no hit bid by beating out a slow grounder to Larry Lajoie. The day was bright and shining, and the ball yard was dressed as if for a wedding, with a lovely green dress and considerable bunting, as the band poured out march and waltz music. Everything was properly arranged for a pleasant afternoon for the fans. It was Larry Lajoie's day and it was a day for hoisting the American League Pennant. In fact it was a great day in every way until it was time to start the game, and then it was discovered that the fans were not interested enough to come out to the ballpark. That fact alone put a great damper on the afternoon. However considerable interest was developed, as the Red Sox were inning after inning without a run or a hit, until it looked as if Pennock would get into the Hall of Fame as a no-hit pitcher. What was better still, he refused to give out a single free pass after the first inning. There was only one place in the game where the Red Sox had a chance to score with a hit, and that was in the first inning when with two down, Tris Speaker walked and stole second, only to see Duffy Lewis ground out to Stuffy McInnis. Pennock is a left-handed pitcher with good speed and has little break to was ball, but has very good command. The Red Sox batters walked to the plate with the same confidence that a man, who doesn't have the rent would have when he met with his landlord. The way they couldn't hit the ball must have put a lot of stress on President Lannin, who sat in a box seat near the dugout. Heinie Wagner was lamentably weak, failing to hit the ball outside of the diamond. In fact it was a slow piece of fielding that put the Athletics on the winning side of the days outcome, for the runs by Connie Mack's men came in the seventh, when the Red Sox made several bad plays. Wagner could have stayed out of trouble with a little more power on his throw. The bad act was pulled off when Ernie Shore passed the first man up, and Wally Schang singled. Amos Strunk hit a ball that lay on the line a few inches from the plate, but Hick Cady either lost sight of it, or was satisfied that it was a foul ball, with the result that the bases were filled. Jack Barry then hit one to Everett Scott, who played the ball home for the force out, but still left the bases full. Pennock came up and hit a sharp grounder straight at Wagner, who picked it up cleanly, but was painfully slow in getting into a perfect throwing position, and then let it go to the plate without any zip, allowing the runner to beat the throw, scoring what proved to be the winning run. The next ball was hit back to Ernie Shore, who tried to play to the plate, but he too was late. Had either Cady or Wagner made the play, the teams might have played until it was dark. The Red Sox had their best chance when Harry Hooper lined to right-field, where Jimmy Walsh made a clever catch. Wagner then rolled a weak one down to Eddie Murphy at third and was thrown out at first. Speaker came to the plate, got a rousing cheer, and drew a pass and then stole second. Duffy Lewis ended it with a ground ball down to McInnis. The Athletics hoisted the pennant, a brand-new one, that is red, white and blue, with a dark center, red letters and a white border. Before the game both teams marched to center field headed by a band, as Harry Davis pulled the new pennant up the flagpole. The Red Sox arrived from Richmond at 7 AM this morning, pretty well tired out after a disagreeable night's ride. After a light breakfast the boys got in some good sleep. Wagner arrived at his home from New Rochelle around noon, only to learn that he was playing second base, because Hal Janvrin was still suffering from a cold. President Joe Lannin and his family occupied a box next to the Red Sox dugout. The party left for New York tonight and will meet the team in Washington on Saturday. |
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