Boston's opponent in this series was the Brooklyn Robins. They carried this name starting in 1914, when they hired Wilbert Robinson as their manager. After firing him at the end of the 1931 season, they would go back to the name they had from 1911 to 1913: The Brooklyn Dodgers.
The starting pitchers were Sherrod "Sherry" Smith for the Robins, and George Herman "Babe" Ruth for the Boston Red Sox. Both were lefthanders. Smith was a 25-year-old native of Georgia, who would also help the Robins win the Pennant in 1920. He appeared in the major leagues from 1911 to 1927, and went 114-118 in his career. But this game would be his most notable appearance.
Ruth, from Baltimore, was only 21, completing his 3rd major league season, his 2nd full season. He had gone 18-8 for the Red Sox in 1915, but did not make an appearance in the World Series. In 1916, he went 23-12, and led the American League with a 1.75 ERA. Along with Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators and Grover Cleveland Alexander of the Philadelphia Phillies, he was already 1 of the 3 best pitchers in baseball. He had also hit 7 home runs in 228 at-bats over the last 2 seasons, a good ratio for the period now known as "The Dead Ball Era."
The Series began 2 days earlier, at Braves Field, and the Red Sox won, 6-5. Sunday baseball still being illegal in New England, they took the day off, and Game 2 was played on this day. Both starters went the distance. This was hardly unusual for the time period, but the distance turned out to be exceptionally long.
In the 1st inning, Hy Myers hits an inside-the-park home run, the only round-tripper hit off Ruth the entire season. Ruth, in most un-Ruthian fashion, ties the game with a groundout in the 3rd. After that, runs were very hard to come by.
The Dodgers got a leadoff walk by Jake Daubert in the 4th, a single by Ivy Olson with 2 out in the 5th, a walk by Jimmy Johnston in the 6th, and singles by Mike Mowrey and Otto Miller that gave them 1st and 3rd with 1 out in the 8th. But, despite having Zack Wheat, a Hall-of-Famer, and Daubert, a lifetime .303 hitter, they could not score again.
The Red Sox got a walk from Dick Hoblitzell in the 4th, a triple from Pinch Thomas with 2 out in the 5th, a leadoff walk from Hoblitzell in the 7th, and a leadoff double from Hal Janvrin and an intentional walk to Duffy Lewis in the 9th. But, despite having Ruth, Lewis and Hall-of-Famer Harry Hooper in their lineup, they could not score again, either, and the game went to extra innings.
Ruth walked Olson with 2 out in the top of the 10th, but stranded him. Everett Scott singled to lead off the bottom of the 10th, and was sacrificed over by Thomas. But Smith struck Ruth out, and when Hooper hit a grounder to 3rd, Mowrey, the Dodger 3rd baseman, tagged Scott out before he could get to the bag. Hoblitzell drew another walk with 2 out in the bottom of the 11th, but was stranded. Scott drew a walk with 1 out in the bottom of the 12th, but could not be brought home.
Finally, in the bottom of the 14th inning, Hoblitzell led off with his 4th walk of the game. Mike McNally was sent in to pinch-run for him. Lewis bunted him over to 2nd. Del Gainer was sent in to pinch-hit for Larry Gardner -- a bit of an irony since Gardner's sacrifice fly in the 12th inning of Game 8 had won the 1912 World Series for the Red Sox. This time, Gardner singled to left, and McNally scored.
The Red Sox won, 2-1, and Ruth was the winning pitcher, having gone the last 13 1/3rd innings without allowing a run. His streak of 29 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings pitched was underway, a World Series record that would stand until 1961, when Whitey Ford surpassed it.
This would be the longest World Series game by innings for over a century. Game 3 in 2005 and Game 1 in 2015 also went 14 innings. The record finally fell in 2018, when Game 3 went 18 innings. Again, it was the Red Sox and the Dodgers, by this point in Los Angeles. The joke on social media was that the game began at Ebbets Field and ended at Dodger Stadium.
In 1986, a National League Championship Series game went 16 innings. In 2005, an NL Division Series game went 18. And in 2014, we had another NLDS game go 18 innings. Through the 2021 World Series, 18 innings remains the postseason record.
The Robins/Dodgers won Game 3 of the 1916 World Series, but the Red Sox -- described by one newspaper at the time as "the carmine-hosed warriors" -- won Games 4 and 5, and repeated as World Champions. Ruth did not appear in the Series again, such was the strength of the Sox' pitching. But, with both his arm and his bat, he would help the Sox win the Series again in 1918.
That season, he led the AL with 18 home runs. In 1919, playing the outfield nearly full time, he set a new record with 29. He would finish his career with a record of 94-46, and an ERA of 2.28. It's been said that, had he stuck with pitching, he might have made the Baseball Hall of Fame with that.
Of course, he stuck with neither pitching nor the Red Sox. For the 1920 season, fed up with his salary demands and his carousing, the Red Sox sold him to the New York Yankees. The rest is history, and legend.
*
October 9, 1916 was a Monday. Football was in midweek. Hockey was out of season. And the NBA hadn't been founded yet. So there were no other scores on this historic day.
No comments:
Post a Comment