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The Chicago Black Sox scandal added fuel for Red Sox owner, Harry Frazee, who still wanted to do away with the National Commission and appoint a single commissioner of baseball. The insurrectionists joined with those in the National League and threatened to form their own league, unless a single commissioner was appointed. In a contentious set of meetings that began in mid-October, the single commissioner proponents finally one out. In mid-November, Kenesaw Mountain Landis was named the first commissioner of baseball. Ban Johnson remained president of the American League, but lost his title as the most influential man in baseball. Frazee continue to run the Red Sox his way and when the New York Yankees made a pitch to hire manager Ed Barrow, Frazee let him go and hired Hugh Duffy, who batted .438 in 1894 with the Boston Beaneaters, on December 15th. He made another deal with the Yankees that sent pitcher Waite Hoyt, Harry Harper, Wally Schang and Mike McNally to New York for catcher Muddy Ruel, infielder Del Pratt, outfielder Sammy Vick and pitcher Hank Thormahlen. He was dumping one injury prone pitcher in Hoyt, another who just couldn't win in Harper, a poor defensive catcher who was also a regular hold out, in Schang and a backup infielder in McNally. Ruel was the game's best young catcher and the league's second-best secondbaseman was Pratt, who had hit .314 with 97 RBIs in 1920. Thormahlen was a solid young pitcher and Vick was a seasoned veteran. It seemed to be a good deal for the Red Sox and it was thought in the press, that it was a reward from the Yankees, for not getting enough in return for Babe Ruth the previous season. The tide against Frazee turned worse in the spring of 1921. Harry Hooper was upset for not being named the Red Sox manager. He was again complaining and wanting more money, threatening to retire if he didn't. On March 1st, he was traded to the Chicago White Sox for John Collins and Nemo Leibold. Hooper had been a long time favorite in Boston and although the players he was traded for, seem to be a good deal, the press was very upset and they skewered Frazee in the newspapers.
Stuffy McInnis hit .307 and honed his first base defense to a point of near-infallibility. He made only one error and 1549 put-outs in 152 games for a record .9993 fielding average. Even that single error was debatable. It occurred on May 31st at Fenway Park against the Athletics. Jimmy Dykes was leading off first and the catcher fired to McInnis on an attempted pick-off. He id have 1300 put-outs without an error during the year, which set the record for errorless chances in a season. Early in spring training, Everett Scott suffered a charley horse injury that lingered throughout the spring training schedule. However, the injury did not stop his consecutive games played streak. Stating a goal of attaining the 1,000 mark, he played in number 800 on September 2nd. Still esteemed by fans and press alike, Scott continued to be praised for his consistency in the field and at bat.
Del Pratt had been at odds with Yankee manager, Miller Huggins in 1920, and had planned to retire and coach the baseball team at the University of Michigan, before he was traded. Frazee offered Pratt a lot more money than he would get in Michigan. That, plus the prospect of playing with Scott, made Pratt's decision to come to Boston an easy one. He had a terrific season for the Red Sox, batting .324 and striking out only 10 times in 521 at-bats and leading the team with 100 RBIs. He and Scott also teamed up to make 90 doubleplays. Lauded as one of the best outfielders in the American League, Nemo Leibold had his best season, batting a career-high .306 in 467 at-bats and playing centerfield. Mike Menosky played leftfield and batted an even .300 with 77 runs scored and 45 RBIs. Sam Jones became a 20-game winner (23-16, 3.22 ERA), striking out 98 batters. Joe Bush also had a good year with a 16-9 won-loss record and a 3.50 ERA. He struck out 96 batters and also batted .325 with 39 base hits in 120 plate appearances.
For the second year in a row, the Red Sox surprised the baseball world. The club got off to a decent start, paced by Muddy Ruel and Del Pratt, both of whom hit well over .300 in the month of April. It started in Washington on April 13th, where in front of President Harding and General Pershing, Sam Jones bested Walter Johnson, 6 to 3. After splitting with the Nats, the Sox headed up to New York and were shut out by Carl Mays, 4 to 0. After two postponements, Babe Ruth's second homer of the season broke a tie ball game in the seventh inning on April 20th and led the Yanks to an 8 to 4 victory over the Sox. Then the Sox came home to open the year at Fenway, by beating Washington 1-0 behind Sam Jones. Jones allowed just two hits and gave the Sox their lone single run. With Everett Scott on second, via a fielder's choice and Ruel on first with an infield hit, Jones slammed a pitch down the third base line that hit the bag and bounced away from Howie Shanks, the Washington thirdbaseman. That allowed Scott to score the, what would be, only run.
The first game played in May was against the Yankees on May 2nd. Sam Jones won his third straight in a tight pitching duel with Carl Mays that was scoreless until the bottom of the 8th inning. Mays had allowed only one hit when Stuffy McInnis reached with a single, to start and was bunted over to second. Then John Collins lined a two-bagger into left-center and scored Stuffy. But with the Sox holding a slim 1-0 lead going into the top of the ninth inning, Babe Ruth stepped to the plate and tied the game up with his 6th home run of the year into the right field bleachers. The Sox rallied however in their half of the ninth, when with two outs, Del Pratt lined a double off the scoreboard in left. Tim Hendryx was next and he sent the fans home happy with a line drive into left-center, scoring Pratt and giving the Red Sox an exciting 2-1 win.
After multiple rain-outs the Sox finally squared off against the Athletics in Philly. They lost the opening game, but bounced back to win the following day. Herb Pennock won his first game of the season, 6 to 2, and pitched a fine game. Ruel and Pratt led the Sox scoring attack with home runs, but John Collins' three hits produced three runs. In Washington on May 8th, Sam Jones won his fourth straight game, 4 to 3. The win came in the ninth inning, with the Sox down 3 to 2. Kid Foster, up as a pinch-hitter, lined a triple. Then Pratt hit an innocent pop-up that fell safely between three fielders and allowed Foster to score the tying run. Pratt made his way to second base during the confusion and moved to third on Hendryx's sacrifice bunt. He scored the go-ahead run when Stuffy McInnis hit a long fly ball to left. Jones struck out the side the in Nats' final at-bat to preserve his fifth win. On May 11th in Chicago, Mike Menosky's three hits put the Red Sox out front for Herb Pennock, who finished off the White Sox, 3 to 2. Two days later the Red Sox walked all over Chicago, pounding them, 16 to 8. John Collins had three hits that drove in four of the runs. Boston put up four runs in the first inning and Menosky homered with a man on in the fifth inning, putting the Red Sox up 13-2. The next inning, Sam Jones also homered, winning his sixth game of the year. Then in St. Louis, on May 15th, the Browns were able to close a four-run gap and the went up a run on the Sox in the eighth inning, but ended up losing to Boston, 11 to 7 in 10 innings. Menosky, again banged out three hits, but Del Pratt was the hitting hero. He too had three safeties, but his two-run homer in the tenth inning, gave the Sox the win. The next game was a 1-5 Sox victory. Led by Tim Hendryx, who had two doubles, good for 5 RBIs and Pratt's 3 RBIs, the Sox had knocked out 51 hits in their last four games and 43 runs to 28 by their opponents. After splitting four games in St. Louis, the Sox were only 1 1/2 games away from the top of the American League standings. They next moved on to Detroit. On May 18th, Sam Jones (7-1) gave up five hits and shut out the Tigers, 2 to 0. Pratt was the hitting star, going 3 for 4 with a double. One of the game's highlights was a triple play, pulled off by the Tigers. With Stuffy McInnis on first and Tim Hendryx on second, Everett Scott shot a line drive at secondbaseman, Ralph Young. Young tagged McInnis and threw to Donie Bush, the shortstop, who got Hendryx before he could scramble back to second. But then the roof caved in in the Red Sox. They lost the next three games in Detroit and three straight in Cleveland. In those six games, their bats went silent as they only scored twelve runs total. They limped into Washington, 6 1/2 games out of first place. The dependable Sam Jones proved to be the stopper, winning his eight game by beating the Nats 4 to 3. But then the team lost three straight before sweeping a Memorial Day doubleheader in Philadelphia on May 31st. Herb Pennock led the way, whiffing 10 of the A's in the second game, winning 5 to 3. Pratt collected five hits in ten times up in the doubleheader.
June started by splitting a doubleheader in Philly. Sam Jones pitched and won the first game, 6 to 3. Del Pratt homered in the fourth, then John Collins tripled, Stuffy McInnis doubled, Roxy Walters singled and Jones plastered another home run for a five-run inning. Then the Sox came home and after losing the first game, took three straight from the Indians. Pratt had three hits, good for 2 RBIs on June 3rd, with the Sox winning 7 to 6. The Sox won the game in the ninth inning on a walk, an error, a hit batsman, and a base hit from Sammy Vick. Jones won his tenth game the next day, 6 to 0. He allowed only two hits, one was a double by Tris Speaker, pinch-hitting in the ninth inning. Pratt (.331 BA) had two more hits, including a double. The fourth game was another exciting one, with the Sox scoring a run in the bottom of the seventh to break a tie and win, 7 to 6 on June 6th. Collins scored the tie-breaker on a wild pitch, after doubling off the wall. The Sox won their fourth straight off a new opponent, the St. Louis Browns, the next day bringing their record back up to .500 (21-21). The score, again, was 7 to 6 and the game was won in the bottom of the sixth this time. With the score tied at 6-6, Ossie Vitt doubled to center, was sacrificed to third and scored the go-ahead run on Pratt's fly to right. Then Jones lost a tough one, being on the wrong end of a 2-1 game against the Browns. Up until the ninth inning, only two hits were made against him. It was 1-0 and he had driven in that run himself. A single, a bunt and another single tied-up the game for St. Louis. Then Dud Lee hit a blooper that scored the Browns' game-winner. Pratt had two hits that produced three runs on June 10th. The Sox won and split the series with the Browns with a 7-3 victory. They scored five runs to do it in the sixth inning on five singles sandwiched around a walk and a wild pitch. The next game was against the White Sox on June 11th. The Sox were down 2-0 going into the bottom of the eighth inning. Pratt started with a double to left. Hendryx scored him with a base hit and went to second when McInnis reached on an error. McInnis moved up on Collins ground-out. Everett Scott singled and brought Hendryx home and then McInnis was thrown out at home on a shot down to Eddie Mulligan at third. Herb Pennock won the game for himself with a single that scored the game winning runs, 4 to 2. The White Sox who hadn't beaten Sam Jones in two years, took the next two games from the Red Sox. Jones lost both games leaving the Red Sox 7 1/2 games out of first. In came Detroit to Fenway for four games and the Red Sox swept them all. The first game, was an 8 -3 decision. Scott had three hits, including two doubles, scoring two runners. The second and third games were played as a doubleheader on June 17th. The first game was a come-from-behind 10th inning walk-off, 5-4 win. Mike Menosky had a big day at the plate, as he singled, doubled and tripled in the opener, scoring three of the six Sox runs. In the second game he slugged a homer and banged out a triple.
Down a run, Menosky's triple in the eight inning of the first game just missed being a homer. Del Pratt brought him in with a sacrifice fly that tied things up. Then in the 10th inning, Tim Hendryx beat out an infield hit and McInnis sacrificed him up to second. Muddy Ruel slashed a line drive past third, Hendryx scored and the Sox won. The Sox jumped out front in the first inning of second game and won it 6 to 4. Pratt had three hits and 2 RBIs. Menosky (.311 BA) scored four of the six runs. Joe Bush also chipped in with two hits in his second win of the season. Next into Fenway were the Yankees for six games. The first game on June 20th, found the Red Sox on the losing side of a 7-6 score. Babe Ruth's 24th home run went over the center field bleachers in the 10th inning and won the game for the Yanks. Down 6 to 3, the Sox tied things up with three runs in the eighth inning. Two base hits and a triple by Everett Scott produced two runs and then a wonderful squeeze play by Muddy Ruel brought home Scott to tie the game up. The first game of a doubleheader on June 21st, belonged to the Sox, 8 to 3, from start to finish. The red hot Mike Menosky (.322 BA) collected three hits, but Herb Pennock delivered the big blow, with an inside-the-park homer in the second inning. The Sox, behind Joe Bush who allowed just five hits, took the afternoon game game 6-1. Menosky had two more hits that drove home two runs. Bob Meusel and Babe Ruth pounded Sam Jones with three hits apiece in the fourth game, an 8 to 2 Yankee rout, in the first game of another doubleheader, the next day. Del Pratt had two hits in the nitecap, that brought home four runs while Allen Russell limited the Yankees to six hits in winning, 6 to 1. The Yankees took the finale on June 23rd, 6 to 1, as the Babe hit and another homer, two thirds of the way up, in the right field bleachers. It was his 25th of the season. The cellar-dwelling Philadelphia A's next came to town and won three straight, before the Sox could pull themselves together and win two games. On June 27th, down 5-2 in the eighth inning, the Sox staged a comeback, scoring two runs and two more in the ninth, coming back to win 6 to 5. Stuffy McInnis collected three hits and two RBIs in the next game, as the Sox again beat the A's 8-1, behind Elmer Myers. At the Polo Grounds, the Yankees swept the Sox in a doubleheader the next day, 8 to 5 and 5 to 3. The second game was won by the Yanks in the 10th inning with a walk-off homer, hit by Roger Peckinpaugh. Ruth slugged his 28th homer off Joe Bush in the first inning of that game.
The Sox lost two more games to the Yankees in another doubleheader on July 2nd and them lost five of the six games played with the Nats in Washington. The losing streak, left them 14 1/2 games behind the first place Cleveland Indians. For the second year in a row, the club was decimated by injuries as first Pratt went down on July 5th, then John Collins on July 9th and Mike Menosky on July 12th. The Sox lost eight straight games before winning the first game of a doubleheader on July 6th. Allen Russell had only one bad inning for the Sox that let the Nats tie the game in the first contest. Both he and George Mogridge then pitched flawless ball into the 12th inning. With the score tied 1-1, Nemo Leibold singled in the 12th, went to second on Menosky's sacrifice and to third on Collins' ground out. Stuffy McInnis' single to center brought him home with the winning run. The excellent pitching of Bush, Pennock and Jones was next responsible for three straight wins from the Detroit Tigers at Navin Field, but they subsequently lost three straight to the Indians.
Win three and lose three seemed to be the current pattern, as the Sox took two to finish the Cleveland series and went on to Chicago and won the next game. In this game, on July 16th, Joe Bush blanked the White Sox, 10-0, giving up just five hits. Joe, himself, had three hits. Then they lost the next three to Chicago. In Bush's next start on July 19th, he pitched another shutout against the White Sox. The score was 1-0 and he only allowed another five sparse hits. A bloop hit to centerfield scored Ossie Vitt with the only Red Sox run in the third inning. True to form, the Sox then lost the next three. They were in St. Louis losing those games, before winning the series finale, 10-2. Nemo Leibold was the hitting star in this one, banging out four hits, including two doubles. They finished their western road trip, winning eight games and losing nine, but lost three games in the standings. Three out of four were lost to the first-place Indians at Fenway, to finish the month. Although the pitching held up during the month, the Red Sox were a dismal 9-20 in July and were 18 1/2 games behind in sixth place.
When everyone got healthy and returned to the lineup, they started winning again. Joe Bush spun another shutout to start the month of August, beating the Browns, 2 to 0. He gave up just one hit and that came in the first inning, while allowing only one base on balls. Del Pratt had two hits and drove in one of the runs. Pratt (.326 BA), with four hits and 5 RBIs, led an assault on the White Sox on August 5th. Joe Bush won his sixth game out of his last eight starts as the Red Sox won, 10-1. Stuffy McInnis (.301 BA) led the attack the next day with three hits and a 9-4 Sox win. Nemo Leibold had two hits, giving him 12 in 22 times, up over the last five games. In Washington, Sam Jones shut out the Nats, 2-0, allowing them four hits on August 14th. It was his 16th win. Then the Sox traveled to Detroit and on August 18th, they swept a doubleheader. The first game was won 6 to 5 in 11 innings. Bennie Karr was the winning pitcher, winning his own game when he cracked a double and scored the winning run. Then Jones won his 17th game by blanking the Tigers, 5 to 0. The Sox made it three straight with a 12-8 win in the first game of another doubleheader the next day. Mike Menosky and Nemo Leibold each had three hits that produced three runs apiece. Leibold had two triples and Menosky, McInnis and Bush also had three-baggers. Against the first place Indians in Cleveland, the Sox could only manage one win in three games. It was Sam Jones who was on the mound, winning his fourth straight, 6 to 5, on August 22nd. The Sox broke a 4-4 tie in the ninth inning on a triple by Everett Scott that scored John Collins. Scott scored an insurance run when ex-Soxer Larry Gardner couldn't handle Muddy Ruel's smash to him at third. Joe Bush, almost single-handedly, beat the St. Louis Browns in the next game, 15 to 2. He drove in five runs and scored two others on three hits (including a double and a triple) in five times up, knocking two pitchers out of the game. Pratt lined out two doubles and two singles and McInnis had three more that brought home two, to help him out. The Browns and the Sox knocked each other around the next day, with the lead changing six times. The Browns won the battle, 12-11, with a tenth inning walk-off homer from Ken Williams. Pratt and Menosky each had four more hits and McInnis had three hits, that scored five runners. In his last 16 times up, Del Pratt (.330 BA) had delivered 10 hits.
The road trip was completed with three straight one-run wins in Chicago, giving them nine wins and six losses. On August 28th, Sam Jones won #20, his sixth straight victory. It took 11 innings to win. In the 11th, Pratt reached on a base hit, went to second on McInnis' sacrifice and scored the game winner on John Collins' fourth hit of the 6 to 5 game. The Red Sox ended up treading water in August (16-20). They started the month 17 1/2 games out of first and finished it, 17 games behind. On September 2nd, Everett Scott played in his 800th straight game, as the Sox beat the Philadelphia A's 4 to 3 at Fenway Park.
The Sox and first place Yankees fought in a five game home and away series next. There were over 28,000 fans, making it the largest attendance ever seen at Fenway Park as they split a Labor Day doubleheader on September 5th. The Yankees pounded the Sox in the first game, 8 to 0, and the Sox bounced back with an 8 to 2 win in the afternoon. Bob Meusel banged out five hits for the Yankees in the morning game. In the second game, Del Pratt's three hits brought home three runs for the Sox. In the ninth inning, Babe Ruth hit his 51st home run high into the centerfield bleachers. That was only one of the four hits allowed by Sox pitcher, Bennie Karr. The next day was a fine pitcher's duel between Joe Bush and Waite Hoyt. Bush won out, beating the Yankees, 2 to 1. The Sox broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning. Scott got on base with a base hit and was forced at second when Roxy Walter's bunt bounced right to Hoyt. Roxy drove in the run that tied the game in the fourth inning. With Nemo Leibold at the plate, Walters stole second and scored the eventual game winner on Leibold's single to center. Then, on September 7th the two teams traveled down to the Polo Grounds for another doubleheader, where the Yankees prevailed 6 to 2 in game number one. Carl Mays won his 23rd game of the season, although he gave up 12 hits, with McInnis and Scott each collecting three of them. Babe hit his 52nd homer off Pennock in the fourth inning, with a runner on base in the second game, that the Yankees also won, 7 to 2. John Collins had three doubles on the Sox side. After quickly traveling down the road to Washington, where the Sox and Nats split a pair of games, the Sox went back up to New York and played a make-up doubleheader at the Polo Grounds. It was a split, but more importantly, when Bob Meusel homered in the second game the Yankees tied the team home run record for a season, with 115, which they had set last year. Herb Pennock pitched his best game of the season on September 14th. He held the Detroit Tigers to only two hits and won the game 1-0 at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox took five straight games, mostly at the expense of the White Sox, who lost four straight at Fenway. On September 16th, John Collins and Mike Menosky each produced three hits, that scored three runs in a 10-4 win. Collins banged out three more hits in the next game, a 6-3 victory that gave Sam Jones his 22nd win. In the first game of a doubleheader on September 19th, Joe Bush won his 15th game and went 3-for-4 at the plate, leading the Red Sox to a 6 to 2 win. The concluding game in the afternoon, was led by Pratt, who had three hits and 3 RBIs and another victory, 8 to 5. A September highlight came on September 27th in Philadelphia. The Sox split a doubleheader with the Athletics. The Sox lost the first game, but Nemo Leibold collected three hits, Pratt homered and Collins slugged two home runs. In the second game, Joe Bush held the A's to four hits and won his 16th game, 8 to 1. Collins had three more hits including a triple giving him a 5-for-9 afternoon. The season ended at the Polo Grounds on October 2nd. Babe Ruth blasted his 59th home run, in his second trip to the plate, beating his own record of 54, set last year. It was a very exciting game with the Yankees jumping out to a quick 5-0 lead, and the Sox bouncing right back and tying it up in the 5th inning. In the eightth inning, the Yankees gave the Sox took a 6 to 5 lead on two walks and an error. But in the bottom of the ninth a double and a walk with one out, allowed Roger Peckinpaugh to bring home the walk-off 7-6 game winner, with a double that scored both runners. The Red Sox finished in fifth with a record of 75-79, 23 games behind the Yankees. Del Pratt led the Sox regulars with a .324 BA. and Sam Jones won 23 games. But in addition to the Babe, former Red Sox players, Carl Mays won 27 games and Waite Hoyt won 19 for the Yankees. With the Boston Braves falling into the second division every year since 1914, Boston fans seemed to be disinterested in big-league baseball and had turned out for the semipro twilight leagues in huge numbers. At the end of the year, the 279,000 attendance at Fenway Park ranked last in the league. For the first time the rumors began to swirl that Harry Frazee was going to sell the team, as his frustrations began to show. |
