After a pair of brief comments on the current World Series contenders, it’s time to get back to the world of 100 years ago.
Braves Field in Boston
On 12 October, the 1914 World Series resumed in Boston. The Braves were up two games to none against Philadelphia. Because the Braves home park (Southend Grounds) was smaller and older than the Red Sox new home in Fenway Park, the games in Boston were played in Fenway, not the Braves home park (Braves Field, pictured above, was opened in 1915 and so unavailable for use in the ’14 Series).
Game 3
Game three was one of the longest games in World Series history. The Braves started Lefty Tyler, who was 16-13 for the season, against the Athletics’ Bullet Joe Bush (17-13). The A’s got one in the first on Eddie Murray’s leadoff double. A bunt sent him to third and he came home on an error by left fielder Joe Connolly. The Braves got it back in the bottom of the second when, with two outs, Rabbit Maranville walked, stole second, and came home on a Hank Gowdy double. Philadelphia got the lead back in the top of the fourth on a Stuffy McInnis double and a run scoring single by center fielder Jimmy Walsh. Not to be outdone, Boston came back to tie it up on a Butch Schmidt single, a sacrifice, and a Maranville single.
And it stayed 2-2 for the rest of the regular innings. Through the end of the ninth, Tyler had given up two runs, two walks, and six hits, while striking out three. Bush was about as good and the game went into the 10th. Wally Schang led off the top of the 10th with a single. Bush then struck out. Then Tyler hashed a bunt and Schang went to second with Murray safe at first. A Rube Oldring ground out sent Schang to third and Murray to second. An intentional walk to Eddie Collins loaded the bases for Frank “Home Run” Baker. He didn’t hit a homer, but Baker lashed a single that scored both Schang and Murray. McInnis hit a fly to center to end the top of the 10th. Bush needed three outs to put Philly back in the Series. Gowdy started the bottom of the 10th with a home run to narrow the score to 4-3. Then a strikeout, walk, and single later Connolly made up for the earlier error. His sacrifice fly to center scored Howie Moran to knot the game.
During the bottom of the 10th Tyler was lifted for a pinch hitter. Braves pitcher Bill James replaced him. He got through the 11th and top of the 12th despite giving up three walks (but no hits). Bush, still pitching for the A’s, had a perfect 11th. In the bottom of the 12th, Gowdy led off with a double. Les Mann replaced him on the bases. An intentional walk later, up came Moran who hit the ball back to Bush. The pitcher fielded it and tossed to third to get the lead run. He missed the base and Mann trotted home with the winning run.
The A’s had a couple of chances to win, but Boston kept the score tied and won on an error. There’d been total nine runs scored. All but one were earned-the last one.
Tags: 1914 World Series, Bill James, Bullet Joe Bush, Butch Schmidt, Eddie Collins, Eddie Murray, Hank Gowdy, Home Run Baker, Howie Moran, Jimmy Walsh, Joe Connolly, Lefty Tyler, Les Mann, Rabbit Maranville, Rube Oldring, Stuffy McInnis, Wally Schang
Verdun2's Blog 
October 20, 2014 at 10:53 am
V, to the best of your knowledge, did the Braves EVER draw well in Boston? I would guess that they did in 1914. Did they draw well before the American League Red Sox came along and cut into their fan base?
Kind of ironic— the only game I ever went to at Fenway was the Red Sox versus the Braves. Well, no, that’s not really irony. In fact, irony is an over-used word. In fact, now that I think of it, it’s not even INTERESTING. So forget I said that. I’m just shooting the bull (or chewing the fat, or shooting the breeze) over the computer keyboard. In fact, I believe that it was Bill James himself (the writer and Sabermetric guy, not the baseball player) who said that irony is an over-used word. And he’s right.
Another question about the Boston Braves. Did any of the Braves fans put up much of a fuss when they moved to Milwaukee, the way the Brooklyn fans did when they lost the Dodgers? (And rightfully SO, in my opinion). Just wondering.
V, I guess the reason that you stayed with the Dodgers when they moved to the land of “Fruits and Nuts and Taco Huts”, as New York disc jockey Dickie Heatherton used to refer to Los Angeles, while my grandfather from Brooklyn dropped them like they were poison is because you grew up in the Southwest and therefore had no regional loyalty.
I still don’t understand why you rooted for the Dodgers and not the Cardinals or Browns.
Glen
October 20, 2014 at 11:29 am
The Beaneaters (the Braves of the 19th Century) drew pretty well, but when the Sox came along they took over as Boston’s favorite. My guess is that the Red Sox did well from the beginning (winning pennants in 1903 and ’04, while the Braves languished when their best players bolted to the American League.
As for staying with the Dodgers, my loyalty was to the team and players, not the town, so when they moved Reese, Snider, Furillo, Newcombe, etc all went to LA and so did my loyalty. Didn’t have that that “town” loyalty that your grandfather had.
v