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“DIARY OF A WINNER”
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THE LAST ONE FOR 86 YEARS June 30, 1918 ... Babe Ruth hit the longest home run ever hit in Nationals Park this afternoon in Washington, to give the Red Sox a 3 to 1 victory over the Nationals in 10 innings, and it also put his team back into first place. The Babe had not made a hit until the 10th inning, but the stage was all set for him. Dave Shean was on first, having singled with one out, before Ruth's big bat faced Walter Johnson. He took a healthy toehold in the batters box and swung heavily at the first ball Johnson pitched, driving it across the Bull sign, located midway between center and right field. It rained practically all the time during the game, and play was halted three times, on account of intermittent downpours. The Red Sox put men on the base paths in every inning except the first two, while Carl Mays did lot not let a Nationals runner see first base until there was one down in the sixth inning, and the ninth was the only inning where he found himself in a real tough spot. Washington had tied the count in the ninth inning on three hits, after trailing by one run from the third inning on. Carl Mays, who outpitched Johnson all the way, made short work of the Nationals in the 10th. Burt Shotton, pinch hitting for a Eddie Ainsmith, got a hit after Doc Lavan fanned. Then Mays sat down Johnson and Howie Shanks on strikes to end the game. Everett Scott scored the Red Sox first run in the third inning. He got a lead-off hit and rookie Jack Stansbury, playing in his first game, sacrificed him to second base. Harry Hooper hit cleanly to right, sending Scott home. To give the Red Sox a one to nothing lead. While the Red Sox nicked Johnson continuously they failed to take advantage of the opportunities that he gave them. Washington did some clean hitting to deadlock the count in the ninth inning. Howie Shanks rapped a base hit to start the inning, but was forced at second by Kid Foster. Joe Judge hit one to center, but Foster was held at second. Clyde Milan forced Judge, and then Frank Schulte hit one to right, scoring Foster. In the 10th, with the Sox up, Ray Morgan threw out Mays and Hooper flew out to Schulte. Dave Shean got a safe hit, setting the stage for Babe Ruth. The 15,000 people who saw the game were Washington fans, but they gave the Babe a great ovation for his record smash. Jack Stansbury, the Red Sox young thirdbaseman, didn't look too bad at bat, although he failed to hit safely. His stop on Lavan's shot at him in the ninth inning, was a neat piece of work. Had he failed on that hard chance, Clyde Milan would have scored and Washington would have won the game. Everett Scott played a wonderful game, excepting 11 chances, many of them very difficult, and getting two hits in four trips to the plate. Mays put an end to Milan's hitting streak. Clyde went into the game having hit safely in 15 consecutive games. |
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