April 21, 1914: American troops occupy the Mexican port city of Veracruz, in response to the Tampico Affair.
On April 9, 9 U.S. sailors came ashore to secure supplies, and were detained by Mexican forces. The Mexican government refused to release them, and, despite the country being in a state of revolution and civil war, all the factions united against the U.S.
President Woodrow Wilson sent troops to Veracruz, under the command of Admiral Henry T. Mayo, and taking the city turned out to be easy. The occupation lasted 6 months, and led to the fall of President Victoriano Huerta.
But this led to a renewal of the hatred of Americans by Mexicans, originally stoked by the Mexican-American War of 1846 and 1847. In 1916, Pancho Villa launched a raid on Columbus, New Mexico. This led to another American invasion of Mexico, which, while failing to capture Villa, sent him into hiding, leading to his downfall. It was also a convenient warmup for the U.S. Army for fighting in World War I.
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April 21, 1914 was a Tuesday, at the start of the 2-year experiment of the Federal League:
* The FL's New York franchise, the Brooklyn Tip-Tops, sponsored by Tip-Top brand bread, lost to the Baltimore Terrapins, 3-2 at Terrapin Park in Baltimore. Jack Quinn pitched 10 innings, and won the game himself with what we would now call a walkoff home run.
After the FL folded, the International League's Baltimore Orioles bought the ballpark, renamed it Oriole Park, and stayed there until it burned down on the 4th of July 1944. They then moved into Municipal Stadium, a 70,000-seat football stadium, got good crowds there, and showed the baseball establishment that Baltimore should be a major league city again. The St. Louis Browns became the Orioles in 1954.
* The St. Louis Terriers beat the Chicago Whales, 4-3 at Handland's Park in St. Louis. The Whales had tried to raid the roster of the National League's Cubs, but only came away with shortstop Joe Tinker, who went 1-for-4 with an RBI in this game.
* The Indianapolis Hoosiers beat the Kansas City Packers, 6-2 at Gordon and Koppel Field in Kansas City. The Hoosiers had Edd Roush, who would later build a Hall of Fame career with the Cincinnati Reds, but he didn't get a hit. They also had Bill McKechnie, who would later manage both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Reds to World Series wins.
* And a game between the Buffalo Blues and the Pittsburgh Rebels was postponed because it was too cold. Which is understandable for Buffalo, even that late in the year. Except it was scheduled for Pittsburgh, where it's usually a lot warmer by then.
The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on October 9. The Blues won the opener, 1-0 in 16 innings. Former Yankee Russ Ford went all 16, allowing no runs on 5 hits and 1 walk, for his 20th win of the season against 6 losses. His WHIP for the game was 0.375. The Rebels were leading the nightcap, 3-0, when the game was called due to darkness after 6 innings -- still, the 22nd inning played that day. Over the 2 games, the talented by scandalous Hal Chase went 3-for-9 for the Blues.
In the American League:
* The New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 3-2 in 10 innings at the Polo Grounds. Fritz Maisel went 3-for-5.
* The Philadelphia Athletics and the Boston Red Sox were tied 1-1 when their game at Fenway Park was called due to darkness after 13 innings. Bob Shawkey of the A's, later to be a Yankee ace, and Dutch Leonard of the Sox, both went the distance. Tris Speaker, one of the greatest hitters of all time, had a bad day, going 0-for-6.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Naps, 7-4 at Navin Field in Detroit. (That ballpark would eventually become Tiger Stadium, and the Naps became the Indians the next season.) Ty Cobb went 2-for-4 with a walk and 2 RBIs. For Cleveland, team 2nd baseman, manager and namesake Nap Lajoe went 1-for-4 with an RBI, and Shoeless Joe Jackson went 0-for-2, but drew 2 walks.
* And the Chicago White Sox beat the St. Louis Browns, 6-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.
In the National League:
* The New York Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers, 6-0 at Ebbets Field. This was the 1st season as Brooklyn manager for Wilbert Robinson, and, from then until his last season, 1931, they were officially the Brooklyn Robins, but most fans still called them the Dodgers. Al Demaree pitched a 4-hit shutout. Larry Doyle, famous for saying, "It's great to be young and a Giant," got 3 hits including a home run.
* The Boston Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3 at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-2 at Redland Field in Cincinnati. (The ballpark was later renamed Crosley Field.) Honus Wagner went 0-for-3.
* And the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals, not yet thought of as arch-rivals, were tied at 2-2 at Robison Field in St. Louis, when the game was called due to darkness after 15 innings.
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