[10/21/11] Mathewson strokes winner, strikes out Tigers in opener

BY JOHN JOHNSON / Grand National Tribune

DETROIT (Saturday, Oct. 21, 1911) — Christy Mathewson pitched 10 innings of 12-hit baseball to get the win and ensured there would be no 11th inning with his bat today in game one of the 1911 World Series at Bennett Park.

Donie Bush laced a two-out, two-run double into the right field corner to tie the game in the ninth inning, but the Tigers could not scratch out another run in the 10th inning and lost 4-3.

Art Fletcher and John Meyers had three hits apiece for the Giants, who recorded at least one hit in every inning. Murray scored three times and Meyers drove in two runs.

Jim Delahanty went 3 for 5 for Detroit and Bush added a pair of hits.

George Mullin started for the Tigers, allowing 11 hits and 3 runs over 9 innings before being lifted for a pinch-runner.

The Giants opened the scoring in the second, getting a double from Red Murray to lead into a Meyers single, before Detroit answered with a Cobb double and a Delahanty base hit in the fourth.

New York worked more one-out magic in the eighth inning when Murray singled and Meyers ripped a triple into left-center field. Devlin squeezed him home for an insurance run two pitches later.

Even down, the Tigers were not out. George Moriarty led off the ninth with a base hit and pinch-hitter Delos Drake moved him to second after legging out a one-out single. Bush doubled two batters later.

With reliever Ed Lafitte on the mound in the 10th, the Giants pushed out an unearned run. Red Murray reached base on a throwing error, prompting manager Hughie Jennings to call for the intentional walk to set up a force play. Art Devlin bunted both runners into scoring position for the inning’s first out.

Mathewson singled through the right side of a drawn-in infield to plate the go-ahead run, then erased the Tigers in order in the 10th. He finished with 4 strikeouts and 3 runs allowed.

Game two of the World Series will be played here at 2 o’clock local time (3 o’clock east coast time) on Sunday afternoon. Louis Drucke will pitch for the Giants against Bill Donovan of the Tigers.

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[10/18/11] Tigers need extras but advance to World Series

BY JOHN JOHNSON / Grand National Tribune

PHILADELPHIA (Wednesday, October 18, 1911) — Donie Bush hit the go-ahead single with two outs in the top of the 10th inning to allow the Detroit Tigers to advance to the World Series with a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Athletics at Shibe Park today.

The Tigers got four hits from Ty Cobb, three from Jim Delahanty and two from Bush as they tied the game in the ninth inning and held off Philadelphia in the 10th against the backdrop of a late-afternoon blue-gray October sky. Ed Summers worked into the 10th inning on the mound and Ed Lafitte got the save.

Eddie Collins, Rube Oldring and Bris Lord each had two hits for Philadelphia, which posted four doubles and had Eddie Plank pitch the entire game on the mound.

The Athletics sought to finish their comeback from two games down early, scoring in the first and fourth innings to take a 2-0 lead. Danny Murphy’s sacrifice fly to center opened the scoring and Oldring singled to knock in Lord and double the lead.

Detroit had hits in each of the first five innings before breaking through for the first time in the eighth. Delahanty led off with a single and took second on a wild pitch, allowing him to score on Cobb’s hit.

In the ninth, Oscar Stanage singled and scored on a throwing error to tie the score, with Charley O’Leary’s single providing the conduit between those.

Detroit pulled ahead for the first time in the 10th inning when Delahanty started the inning with a single and Cobb doubled to put both men in scoring position. An intentional walk to Sam Crawford loaded the bases, setting up a double play, and Stanage struck out before Bush singled on a 2-2 pitch.

The Athletics got one run back on Collins’ double and two singles, with Lord driving in the run and moving Frank Baker to second as the tying run, but a flyout by Amos Strunk ended the season.

Summers threw 149 pitches and allowed 10 hits to go with 6 strikeouts while Plank gave up 13 hits, 3 walks and 10 punchouts. Each man threw more than 140 pitches. Plank topped out at 165.

The Tigers will return to Bennett Park now and await the arrival of the New York Giants to begin World Series play. The Fall Classic will start Saturday at 3 o’clock east coast time, which is 2 o’clock in Detroit.

[10/17/11] Giants win pennant again behind Doyle’s eighth-inning blast

BY JOHN JOHNSON / Grand National Tribune

NEW YORK (Tuesday, Oct. 17, 1911) — Larry Doyle homered and Art Fletcher doubled as part of a five-run eighth inning for the New York Giants, who won the pennant in the minimum three games with a come-from-behind 8-7 win over the Chicago Cubs at Brush Stadium.

Doyle drove in three runs and Fletcher two while Frank Schulte went 3 for 4 with a double and a home run on the losing side of the coin. Jim Doyle and Jimmy Sheckard each posted two hits for Chicago.

The Giants took the initial lead with a third-inning run before Schulte’s 3-run homer put the Cubs up 3-1 in the top of the fourth. Chicago would go on to score single runs in the fifth and sixth innings and hang a 2-spot in the seventh for a 7-3 lead at the stretch.

New York had more than enough artillery to answer in the bottom of the eighth, though. John Meyers was hit by a pitch, Art Devlin walked and Al Bridwell singled to load the bases with one out. Josh Devore hit into a force play, beating the relay throw to first to let Meyers score, before Fletcher doubled to bring in Devlin.

Doyle’s three-run fly ball down the right field line made the score 8-7.

The Cubs loaded the bases on a Sheckard single, an error and a walk in the top of the ninth, but Rube Marquard got three flyouts to end the threat.

Red Ames took the win for New York, allowing 10 hits and 4 earned runs with 4 strikeouts and 2 walks in 8 innings. Orlie Weaver started for Chicago and allowed 4 runs in 7.1 frames; Ed Reulbach took the loss and King Cole recorded the final out of the eighth in cleaning up the mess.

With the sweep, New York will have three days off before traveling to either Philadelphia or Detroit to begin the World Series on Saturday. The Giants will host games three, four and five of the Fall Classic next week with exact dates to be determined after the opponent is set.

[10/17/11] Philadelphia forces game five in game of comebacks

BY PETE PETERS / Grand National Tribune

PHILADELPHIA (Tuesday, Oct. 17, 1911) — The Philadelphia Athletics scored six times in the sixth inning and Frank Baker delivered another go-ahead single in the eighth in a 10-9 win over the Detroit Tigers at Shibe Park to level the American League championship series at two games apiece.

All eight position players in the Philadelphia lineup had hits. Danny Murphy went 3 for 4 with 3 runs scored and Stuffy McInnis drove in four runs with a single and a 3-run homer.

Detroit thought it blew the game open in a 6-run top of the first inning, which included three straight run-scoring hits by Ty Cobb, Sam Crawford and Jim Delahanty before a two-run triple by Oscar Stanage. Each of the first six Tigers recorded hits with Stanage eventually scoring on a groundout.

The Athletics got single runs back in the second and fifth innings, closing the deficit to 6-2 before unleashing their own 6-run frame. Baker, Murphy and Bris Lord started that inning with singles before a popout intervened. Ira Thomas added a single to make it 6-4, and two batters later McInnis flipped the lead with an inside-the-park homer to deep left-center.

Detroit responded to its 8-6 hole with three runs of its own, starting off with a single and a double to bring the tying run to the plate. Donie Bush reached on an error that scored the first run and Delahanty contributed a two-run single to make it 9-8.

Murphy scored the tying run in the bottom of the seventh, leading off with a walk and moving up on a sacrifice bunt before scoring on a throwing error. Baker’s single scored Eddie Collins, who had tripled to left-center on a two-out payoff pitch.

The Tigers went down in order in both the eighth and ninth innings.

Neither starting pitcher was involved in the decision. Bill Donovan threw 5 2/3 innings for Detroit, allowing 12 hits and 8 runs before being chased by the rally. Charles Bender gave up 6 hits and 6 runs for Philadelphia, striking out 6 in 6 innings.

Jack Coombs took the win with 2 innings of relief while Ralph Works allowed the tying run and Ed Willett gave up the winning score.

The decisive fifth game of the series is tomorrow afternoon at Shibe Park, with first ball slated to be pitched at 2 o’clock. Slated to start are Ed Summers for Detroit and Eddie Plank for Philadelphia. The winning team will host New York on Saturday in game one of the World Series.

[10/16/11] Morgan blanks Tigers, Philadelphia forces game four in AL

BY JOHN JOHNSON / Grand National Tribune

PHILADELPHIA (Monday, Oct. 16, 1911) — The Philadelphia Athletics got on the scoreboard early and Cy Morgan pitched a shutout as the team kept its World Series hopes alive with a 6-0 win over the Detroit Tigers in game three of the American League championship series at Shibe Park. Detroit leads the best-of-5 series 2-1.

Morgan allowed 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out 1 and throwing 110 pitches. He got 14 groundouts and 9 outs through the air.

Five Athletics batters posted two hits and the team finished with 13. All six Tiger hits came from different players and all of them were singles.

Philadelphia opened its scoring in the first inning with singles by Jack Barry, Frank Baker and Danny Murphy. Three straight hits in the sixth inning brought in four more runs after Ira Thomas’ leadoff single. Eddie Collins’ double would go on to score an insurance run in the seventh as he advanced on a pair of groundouts.

George Mullin took the loss for Detroit, allowing 9 hits and 5 runs in 6 innings of work before being lifted for a pinch hitter. Clarence Mitchell allowed 4 hits and a run in 2 innings of relief to finish the job.

With the Athletics’ win, game four will now be necessary on Tuesday afternoon at 2 o’clock. Slated to start are Bill Donovan for the Tigers and Charles Bender for the Athletics.

[10/15/11] New York comes through late, takes 2-0 lead with comeback win

BY PETE PETERS / Grand National Tribune

CHICAGO (Sunday, Oct. 15, 1911) — Josh Devore snapped out of an 0-for-7 slump to start the playoffs with a 3-run homer in the top of the eighth inning Sunday and the New York Giants moved within a win of the World Series after an 8-3 drubbing of the Chicago Cubs at West Side Park.

The Cubs started the game on the right foot, scoring twice in the bottom of the first inning for a 2-0 lead, before digging themselves a hole with 5 fielding errors. Two of the Giants’ runs were unearned.

Red Murray and John Meyers each had two hits for New York, with Meyers scoring a run and driving in two. Murray scored a game-high three runs.

Heinie Zimmerman and Joe Tinker both hit safely twice for the Cubs, who did not have an extra-base hit all afternoon. Frank Schulte scored two of the team’s three runs.

Chicago built its advantage on the back of three singles and a wild pitch after Solly Hofman reached base with one out and Schulte singled with two out in the first inning. Jim Doyle whacked the next pitch into right field to put men on the corners, allowing Schulte to race home on a wild pitch.

New York started its answer with an unearned run on a Meyers single in the second and tied the proceedings on hits by Snodgrass and Christy Mathewson in the fourth inning.

Murray started the eighth-inning rally with a one-out double; Meyers was walked to set up a force play, but that backfired when Art Devlin singled to break the tie and Mathewson bunted the runners into scoring position. Devore homered to deep right-center on a 2-1 pitch for a 6-2 lead.

Mathewson took the win after 9 hits, 3 runs and 2 strikeouts on 143 pitches. Harry McIntire got the loss behind 6 earned runs in 8 1/3 innings.

After a travel day on Monday, the teams will reconvene Tuesday at New York’s rebuilt Brush Stadium for game three of the series at 2 o’clock (1 o’clock in Chicago). Chicago sends Orlie Weaver to the mound against Red Ames.

[10/15/11] Detroit breaks game open in second to earn second straight win

BY JOHN JOHNSON / Grand National Tribune

DETROIT (Sunday, Oct. 15, 1911) — A four-run second inning and the 6-hitter twirled by Ed Summers were all the Detroit Tigers needed to move within a win of the World Series on Sunday in a 6-2 win over the Philadelphia Athletics at Bennett Park.

The Tigers recorded 13 hits with five men getting two safeties each; the volume made up for the fact that every hit except one was a single.

George Moriarty made a scoreless game into a 2-0 one with one out in the second inning, lacing a single to center field to score Sam Crawford and Donie Bush. Ed Summers would single to put men on the corners, then hits by Jim Delahanty and Davy Jones moved the runners around to make it 4-1.

The Athletics got a run back in the fourth inning on a Danny Murphy single followed by a Bris Lord double, then scored again on Stuffy McInnis’ solo home run in the eighth. In both cases, though, the Tigers scored again in the bottom of the inning to maintain their lead.

Lord and Rube Oldring each had two hits for Philadelphia, which now needs three straight wins to advance to the World Series despite posting the best record in the American League.

Summers struck out 6 men and walked 1, throwing 109 pitches in his complete-game effort. Eddie Plank went the distance for Philadelphia, allowing 13 hits and 6 runs without a walk over 8 innings and 126 pitches.

The series now shifts to Philadelphia for its balance with game three slated for 2 o’clock tomorrow afternoon. George Mullin of the Tigers will oppose Cy Morgan of the Athletics.