[10/6/17] White Sox rally comes up short in ninth

BY JOHN JOHNSON / Grand National Tribune

CHICAGO (Saturday, Oct. 6, 1917) — A ninth-inning rally from the Chicago White Sox came seconds away from tying the game, but Tillie Walker threw out the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Boston Red Sox held on for a 2-1 win Saturday in the opener of the American League pennant playoff at Comiskey Park.

Harry Hooper scored one run and drove in the other for the Red Sox, who take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series. He reached base three times, including once on a walk, and Dutch Leonard allowed eight hits and two walks in his complete-game win.

Eddie Cicotte matched Hooper’s one-earned-run performance but allowed an unearned run in the fifth inning to fall behind 2-0. He allowed six hits and a walk while striking out five men.

The Chicago offense was led by two hits apiece from Collins, Happy Felsch and Buck Weaver, the last of whom drove in the team’s only run when Chick Gandil scored in the ninth. Shoeless Joe Jackson had Chicago’s other hit.

Hooper wasted little time getting the offense started after the game’s 2:08 p.m. first pitch. He singled to third, took second on a groundout and moved up to third when an infield single left runners on the corners. Walker’s sacrifice fly put the Red Sox up 1-0.

Chicago singled and left a man on in each inning from the second to the fourth before the Red Sox added an insurance run in the fifth. Pinch Thomas led off the inning by reaching on a throwing error before Leonard bunted him to third. Hooper’s second hit of the day made it 2-0.

The White Sox brought the tying run to the plate in both the sixth and eighth innings before threatening in the ninth, getting four straight singles to start the inning. Weaver’s shot into right scored Gandil to close the gap to 2-1, but Jackson had to hold at third and was tagged out on Leibold’s fly.

Fred McMullin grounded out to third to end the game.

Game two of the series is set for Sunday (Tuesday, April 14) at Comiskey Park, where the White Sox will seek to level the series before sending it back to Boston. Chicago’s Reb Russell pitches against Boston’s Babe Ruth at 2 o’clock central time, 3 o’clock on the east coast. I will live-tweet inning-by-inning action at @playoffdreams.

[9/26/17] Braves thwart Red hopes to give Cardinals N.L. West crown

BY JOHN JOHNSON / Grand National Tribune

COLUMBIANA, Ohio (Wednesday, Sept. 26, 1917) — The St. Louis Cardinals tied the game in the eighth inning and won it in the bottom of the twelfth today, edging the New York Giants 2-1 at Robison Field to wrap up the National League West and set the 1917 Playoff of Dreams field.

The Cardinals owe a debt of gratitude to the Boston Braves, who blanked the Cincinnati Reds 1-0 to make that clinching possible and added a 3-0 victory for a doubleheader sweep on the banks of the Ohio.

Red Smyth’s first hit of the day scored substitute catcher John Brock with two outs in the third extra inning to send Lee Meadows out a winner after four innings of hitless relief. Meadows struck out four men and walked five, but the Cardinals outhit the Giants 9-4 in the game.

Jack Smith and Bruno Betzel each had two hits for the Cardinals, including a Smith triple. Ed Hemingway smacked two hits and stole a base for New York, which relied upon the arm of George Smith for eleven and two-thirds innings. He allowed nine hits, walked two and struck out three.

At Cincinnati, the Braves got doubles from Johnny Rawlings and Chief Meyers as Rawlings scored the only run of the first game in the twinbill. Ray Powell hit safely three times and Jesse Barnes allowed six hits in the shutout while striking out three.

Pete Schneider suffered the loss for the Reds, giving up seven hits and two walks in eight innings before being lifted for a pinch-hitter. Mike Regan finished the game in relief. All six Cincinnati hits were singles.

Wally Rehg had an RBI double and Ed Fitzpatrick drove in two men one batter later as the Braves broke open a scoreless deadlock in the ninth inning of game two. Joe Kelly and Art Nehf scored the first two runs. Nehf tossed a four-hitter with two walks.

In the first meaningless game of their season, the Reds returned to Schneider for the start, allowing eight hits and three runs with eight strikeouts. Again, the Reds did not have a multi-hit game or an extra-base hit.

Final Standings
National League East: New York (98-56) over Philadelphia (87-65) – 10 GB – clinched Tuesday, Sept. 25
National League West:  St. Louis (82-70) over Cincinnati (78-76) – 5 GB – clinched Wednesday, Sept. 26
American League East: Boston (90-62) over Washington (74-79) – 16½ GB – clinched Thursday, Sept. 20
American League West: Chicago (100-54) over Cleveland (88-66) – 12 GB – clinched Friday, Sept. 14

Postseason Schedule Unveiled
In this odd-numbered year, the western champions host the first two games of the pennant playoff series, which will begin Saturday (Monday, April 13) in Comiskey Park and Robison Field. The series will shift east on the off day Monday (Wednesday, April 15) through a pair of overnight train trips and resume the following day, with the decisive fifth games set for Thursday, Oct. 12 (Saturday, April 18).

The World Series will begin in the city of the American League champion on Saturday, Oct. 14 (Monday, April 20) and run from there. If Boston hosts, the following day will sit idle due to Sunday blue laws.

A Chicago-St. Louis or Boston-New York series would not include travel days, while a Chicago-New York series will not be played because that matchup actually happened in 1917. If the White Sox meet the Giants, we will advance directly to the 1918 playoffs.

Red Sox To Rent Field From Braves Again
With the Braves out of the running and their stadium available, the Red Sox will for the third straight year play their postseason games in spacious Braves Field. The concrete and steel monolith opened in 1915 to crowds of 46,000 – more than 10,000 above what Fenway Park can handle.

Playoff Arbiters Named By League Offices
The two league offices have announced the umpires who will work the postseason games, and seven of them are the same ones that have worked each of the last two seasons.

Hank O’Day and Ernie Quigley will call the National League pennant playoff in 1917. The same duo worked the World Series as their league representatives last season and also handled the N.L. series two years ago. On the American League side, Tom Connolly will work his 17th consecutive postseason alongside playoff debutant Clarence “Brick” Owens.

Last season’s pennant playoff umpires will handle this season’s World Series: Frank “Silk” O’Loughlin and Billy Evans from the American League and Bill Klem and Cy Rigler of the National League.

Tune In Live
Western correspondent Pete Peters will have the National League series on his Twitter feed (@POD_Peters). The American League pennant playoff and the World Series will each “air” on my main playoff feed (@playoffdreams) and both series’ recaps will appear on our website.

Upcoming Schedule

Saturday’s (Monday’s) Games
Red Sox at White Sox, 3 p.m.
Giants at Cardinals, 3 p.m.

Sunday’s (Tuesday’s) Games
Red Sox at White Sox, 3 p.m.
Giants at Cardinals, 3 p.m.

Monday’s (Wednesday’s) Games
None scheduled (travel day)

Tuesday’s (Thursday’s) Games
White Sox at Red Sox, 2 p.m.
Cardinals at Giants, 2 p.m.

Wednesday’s (Friday’s) Games
White Sox at Red Sox, if necessary, 2 p.m.
Cardinals at Giants, if necessary, 2 p.m.

Thursday’s (Saturday’s) Games
White Sox at Red Sox, if necessary, 2 p.m.
Cardinals at Giants, if necessary, 2 p.m.

[10/23/16] Fournier’s double-double gives Sox Series

BY JOHN JOHNSON / Grand National Tribune

BROOKLYN (Monday, Oct. 23, 1916) — Jack Fournier’s pair of two-run doubles broke open a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning and doubled the lead in the ninth today as the Chicago White Sox closed out the Brooklyn Robins with a 5-1 win in Game 6 of the 1916 World Series. Chicago won the best-of-7 series four games to two.

Fournier finished 3 for 4 with a third-inning single also to his credit. Eddie Collins scored a pair of runs for the White Sox. Mellie Wolfgang went the distance in the win, allowing one run on nine hits with six strikeouts.

The Robins got a pair of singles from Jake Daubert and a single and a double from Casey Stengel. Daubert drove in George Cutshaw for the National League champs’ only run in the second inning.

Larry Cheney suffered the loss on five runs and seven hits in nine innings, throwing 142 pitches and 85 strikes.

The White Sox opened the scoring in the second inning, getting a Buck Weaver double and a Ray Schalk single to take a 1-0 lead on foreign soil. After the Robins tied the score in the bottom of the inning with a Cutshaw hit, another single, a sacrifice and a groundout, Brooklyn stranded runners in each of the next four innings.

Schalk’s walk and a free pass to Collins put two on with two out in the seventh, when Fournier broke the tie and added an insurance run with a two-bagger to left field. Brooklyn brought the tying run to the plate in the eighth, but Cutshaw took strike three.

In the ninth, Chicago shortstop Zeb Terry singled and Collins was hit by a pitch to set up another double from Fournier. Jimmy Johnston, Daubert and Zack Wheat all reached base in the bottom of the inning to load the bases for Stengel, but the right fielder grounded out on a 1-1 pitch to end the game..

With the 1916 playoffs completed, we will unveil the 1917 playoffs in due course on Sunday evening. Play will begin on Monday, April 13, 2020.

[10/21/16] Cicotte fires 2-hitter in Game 5

BY JOHN JOHNSON / Grand National Tribune

CHICAGO (Saturday, Oct. 21, 1916) — Shano Collins singled home Ray Schalk for the only run of the game in the bottom of the eighth inning and Eddie Cicotte needed 86 pitches to finish a complete-game shutout as the Chicago White Sox blanked the Brooklyn Robins 1-0 at Comiskey Park in the fifth game of the World Series. The victory put the White Sox ahead three games to two in the best-of-7 series.

Cicotte gave up a leadoff single in the first inning, then set down 26 of the next 27 Robins, working around a second-inning walk to George Cutshaw, before Hi Myers doubled in the ninth. With the tying run on second base and the go-ahead run at the plate, the hurler got Zack Wheat to line out to end the game.

Cicotte finished a two-hitter with a walk and three strikeouts, finishing the game in three batters more than the minimum after all three batters were left on base. Jake Daubert and Myers had the hits for Brooklyn.

The Robins’ Rube Marquard also turned in a quality start, just not one of quite the same quality, going eight innings with five hits and a run on 122 pitches. He walked four men and struck out five.

Chicago left a man on third base in the second inning after a Happy Felsch double and left Cicotte shivering at first when he singled in the third. A hit and a walk left two men aboard in the sixth.

Schalk singled to center with one out in the seventh inning, then stole second and took third on a ground ball. After a pair of walks loaded the bases behind him, Collins laced a base hit to left and Shoeless Joe Jackson flied out to center.

With Chicago a game away from claiming victory for the junior circuit, the series returns to Brooklyn after a travel day for the final two games – the Robins need a win Monday to force a decisive seventh game. Any games that are played will start at 2 o’clock east coast time and @playoffdreams on Twitter is your home for the inning-by-inning action.

[10/20/16] Russell, Sox hold off Brooklyn to level Series

BY JOHN JOHNSON / Grand National Tribune

CHICAGO (Friday, Oct. 20, 1916) — Reb Russell took the win and Jack Fournier knocked in Shano Collins and Ray Schalk for the go-ahead runs in the eighth inning today as the Chicago White Sox topped the Brooklyn Robins 2-1 in the fourth game of the 1916 World Series at Comiskey Park. The victory leveled the series at two games apiece after the Robins had taken the last two.

All the scoring happened in the last two innings as Casey Stengel scored the Brooklyn run in the top of the ninth inning and George Cutshaw and Ivy Olson each had one of their two hits then as well. Mike Mowrey drove in the run on a groundout.

Russell allowed ten hits and did not walk a batter in his victory, holding on with the tying and go-ahead runs on base as he threw his 103d and final pitch. Schalk was the lone White Sox player with two hits and all seven of their hits were singles.

On the Robin side, Jake Daubert and Mowrey made it four players with two hits apiece. Jeff Pfeffer suffered his second loss of the series with a seven-hitter and a walk against two strikeouts.

The Robins left runners on base in six of the first seven innings, with five of those six stranded in scoring position. The White Sox left men on the corners in the third, but that was their offense until a three-hit eighth.

Collins and Schalk led off the inning with singles before Zeb Terry bunted them into scoring position. Russell grounded out and Eddie Collins walked to load the bases before Fournier’s base hit made it 2-0.

In the top of the ninth, Stengel doubled and moved up 90 feet on two groundouts before hits from Olson and Cutshaw put the tying run on third. Pinch hitter John Meyers took strike three to end the game.

Chicago’s Eddie Cicotte will pitch against New York’s Rube Marquard tomorrow in the first game of a de facto best-of-three series for the world title. The fifth game overall will start at 2 o’clock local time, 3 o’clock east coast time, and @playoffdreams on Twitter is your home for the inning-by-inning action.

[10/19/16] Robins break out to first lead of 1916 Series

BY JOHN JOHNSON / Grand National Tribune

CHICAGO (Thursday, Oct. 19, 1916) — The Brooklyn Robins scored the first four runs of the game and never looked back Thursday in a 4-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox to take a two-games-to-one lead in the 1916 World Series at Comiskey Park.

Zack Wheat tripled and homered for Brooklyn, scoring the second and third runs as one of four players to post a two-hit game. Lew McCarty singled and doubled before scoring the other two tallies. Jake Daubert and George Cutshaw each also had two hits.

Larry Cheney won the game on the mound, allowing one run on seven hits and striking out a pair. The losing pitcher was Mellie Wolfgang, who allowed twelve hits and three walks against a single strikeout.

The Robins stranded four runners on two hits in the first three innings before McCarty doubled and Cutshaw singled to break the scoring ice in the fourth inning. Four outs later in the fifth, Casey Stengel singled after a Wheat triple to double the lead.

Wheat launched a homer to left-center to take a 3-0 lead in the seventh before a McCarty single and a Mike Mowrey triple wrapped up Brooklyn’s scoring later in the inning.

The White Sox got their run with two outs to spare when Shano Collins homered to right. His double and home run outdid Eddie Collins for the team’s offensive lead.

The fourth game of the series is set for tomorrow at 2 o’clock local time, 3 o’clock on the east coast. Chicago’s Reb Russell will pitch against New York’s Jeff Pfeffer in a rematch of the opener and @playoffdreams on Twitter is your home for the inning-by-inning action.

[10/16/16] Robins come back and level series with 6-run second

BY JOHN JOHNSON / Grand National Tribune

BROOKLYN (Tuesday, Oct. 17, 1916) — The Chicago White Sox opened the game with three straight runs to stretch their World Series advantage to 18-4, but the Brooklyn Robins responded with 11 unanswered runs to level the series with an 11-3 victory Tuesday at Ebbets Field.

Zack Wheat smacked three hits, including an inside-the-park home run, and drove in three runs, while Casey Stengel had the other three kinds of hits with three runs batted in.

Rube Marquard went the distance on 142 pitches, allowing five hits in the first two innings and two more the rest of the way. He walked one and struck out five.

Happy Felsch’s triple put the visitors on the scoreboard after an Eddie Collins leadoff single in the first inning. Felsch crossed the plate on a Jack Fournier single to run the lead to 2-0 and Shano Collins doubled in Zeb Terry for a 3-0 lead in the middle of the second.

Brooklyn loaded the bases on two hits in the first inning, but the offense came unshackled for a six-spot in the second. The Robins sent ten men to bat and got four singles, a double and a triple in addition to a hit batter and a sacrifice fly.

Wheat’s homer made it 7-3 through four innings before three extra-base hits from Ivy Olson, Jake Daubert and Hi Myers stretched the lead to 9-3 in the fifth. A Wheat single and a Stengel double finished the scoring in the ninth.

Eddie Collins led the White Sox with two hits. They split pitching duties among Eddie Cicotte, Ed Walsh, Red Faber and Jim Scott. The White Sox did not get a runner past second base in the final seven innings.

After the teams travel west Wednesday, game three will be Thursday (Monday) at the White Sox’s Comiskey Park stomping ground. If neither team sweeps the three games there, the series will return to Brooklyn for its sixth and seventh games. Larry Cheney will pitch for the Robins against Chicago’s Mellie Wolfgang. Because Chicago observes Central time, the game will start at two o’clock there and three o’clock on the east coast.