October 16, 1912: The Fred Snodgrass Game

October 16, 1912: Game 8 of the World Series. Game 2 had been called due to darkness while tied – no lights at ballparks in those days – so this will decide it. The greatest pitcher the game had yet seen, Christy Mathewson, hero of the 1905 Series, squares off against Hugh Bedient in quest of his 1st win of this Series.

Matty takes a 1-0 lead into the 7th‚ but with 1 out‚ Boston manager Jake Stahl hits a pop-up to short left field. The ball drops among Art Fletcher‚ Josh Devore‚ and Fred Snodgrass. Heinie Wagner walks‚ and with 2 outs‚ pinch hitter Olaf Henriksen doubles home the tying run. Smoky Joe Wood relieves Bedient‚ and the 2 aces match zeroes until Red Murray doubles and Fred Merkle singles in the 10th to give New York a 2-1 lead. It looks like the Giants will win the Series.

But in the last of the 10th‚ pinch hitter Clyde Engle lifts an easy fly, a "can of corn," to center fielder Snodgrass. Interviewed about it in 1965, Snodgrass said, "Well, I dropped the darn thing." Engle reaches 2nd base on the error.

In the next at-bat, Snodgrass makes a great catch of a long drive by Harry Hooper. If only Snodgrass had made an ordinary catch of Engle's popup, and let Hooper's drive drop for a hit, the final score would have been exactly the same, but the perception of how the teams got there would have been totally different, and Snodgrass wouldn't have gone down in history as the man who made "The $30,000 Muff," a figure equivalent to the difference between the totals of the winning and losing teams’ shares. (About $877,000 in today's money.)

To be fair, though, Snodgrass wasn't a bad ballplayer at all, and dealt with it far better than teammate Merkle did with his "boner" that helped to cost the Giants the 1908 Pennant. As it is, Merkle has, for the moment, the RBI that will win the World Series, and stands to have been completely redeemed.

But Mathewson, for a decade the very definition of a control pitcher, walks Steve Yerkes, bringing up Tris Speaker. The all-time leader in victories by a National League pitcher, with 373, faces the all-time leader in doubles, with 792, a true classic confrontation.

"Matty" gets "Spoke" to pop a high foul along the first-base line. Catcher John Meyers -- a member of the Cahuilla Indian tribe and thus nicknamed "Chief" -- chases it‚ but it drops a few feet from Merkle‚ who could have taken it easily. Much more so than the 1908 "boner," this is something for which to fairly criticize Merkle.

Reprieved‚ Speaker didn't need a written invitation to put his .345 lifetime batting average to work. He singles in the tying run and sends Yerkes to 3rd. After Duffy Lewis is walked intentionally‚ 3rd baseman Larry Gardner hits a long sacrifice fly to a retreating Devore that scores Yerkes with the winning run.

Just as in the playoff necessitated by the Merkle's Boner game in 1908, Mathewson, often hailed as the greatest pitcher of all time (especially back then), did not get the job done.

The Red Sox win the World Series in their 1st season in Fenway Park. By the time Fenway has hosted 7 seasons, the Sox will have won 4 World Championships there, plus the 1st-ever World Series from when they were playing at the Huntington Avenue Grounds. In their next 85 seasons at Fenway, the Sox will win a grand total of no World Series.

If either Merkle or Meyers had caught Speaker's popup, the Giants might have held on to win. In fact, you can make a better case for Merkle being a "bonehead" on October 16, 1912 than you can for him being such on September 23, 1908. Ordinarily, both he and the Chief were very smart players, but they both blew it big-time on this one.

Then there's Mathewson. Even more than a century later, it seems like sacrilege to blame "The Christian Gentleman" for this loss. But, just as in the Merkle playoff 4 years earlier, if he had pitched like Christy Mathewson, the Giants would have won both games.

Most of all, the Red Sox were better. True, the Giants won 103 games and were defending NL Champions. But the Sox won 105, a record for Boston baseball that stood until the 2018 Red Sox won 108. And the Sox did win 3 of the 1st 4 decisions in the Series. While the Giants won the Pennant again in 1913 and again in 1917, the Sox would win the World Series again in 1915, 1916 and 1918 -- the Giants wouldn't win another until 1921.

Snodgrass was a standup guy about it all for the last 62 years of his life, becoming a banker in Oxnard, California, and later being elected the city's Mayor. He died on April 5, 1974, at the age of 86.

The last survivors of this Series were: For the Red Sox, Wood, who lived on until 1985, at the age of 95; and, for the Giants, Hall of Fame lefthander Richard "Rube" Marquard, who lived on until 1980, at the age of  93.

*

October 16, 1912 was a Wednesday. It was the last game of the baseball season. Football was in midweek. Professional basketball barely existed, and the hockey season was a few weeks away. So there were no other scores on this historic day.

Clifford Hansen was born on this date. A Republican, he served the State of Wyoming as Governor from 1963 to 1967, and then as a U.S. Senator until 1978.

September 6, 1912: Smoky Joe vs. The Big Train

Joe Wood (left) and Walter Johnson

September 6, 1912: The most-hyped pitching duel in baseball history, to that point occurs at the brand-new Fenway Park in Boston.

Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators, not quite 25 years old, born in Kansas and raised in Southern California, was believed to be the fastest pitcher in baseball, and possibly the best. Certainly, the best in the American League, with Christy Mathewson of the New York Giants still regarded as the best in the National League.

But, as the man known, for his speed, as "The Big Train" told a reporter that season, "Mister, no man alive can throw a ball harder than Joe Wood." Two years younger, also a righthander, born in Kansas City but raised in Colorado, the ace of the Boston Red Sox threw so much heat that he was known as Smoky Joe.

When the Sun came up on September 6, the AL Pennant race was effectively over. The Red Sox led the 2nd-place Philadelphia Athletics by 14 1/2 games. (This would be the only season between 1910 and 1914 that the A's did not win the AL Pennant.) The Senators were also 14 1/2 back, trailing the A's by percentage points. But Johnson was always a big draw. And, on this afternoon, he would be starting against Wood. And each man would be going for his 30th win of the season: Wood was 29-4, Johnson and was 29-10.

Clyde Milan singled off Wood to begin the game, but was erased via a double play. Steve Yerkes singled off Johnson with 1 out in the bottom of the 1st, but was eliminated when Tris Speaker grounded into a force play, and then Speaker was caught stealing 2nd.

With 1 out in the bottom of the 2nd, Johnson allowed singles by Larry Gardner and Clyde Engle, but got out of the jam. Wood got in trouble in the top of the 3rd. George McBride led off with a double, and Eddie Ainsmith bunted him over to 3rd base. Johnson himself grounded into a fielder's choice, leading to McBride being caught in a rundown. He was finally tagged out at the plate by Sox catcher Forrest Cady, but Johnson, a good hitter for a pitcher, made it to 2nd. Wood then, unintentionally, walked Milan and Eddie Foster to load the bases. Then he struck Danny Moeller out to end it. It was still 0-0.

Speaker led off the bottom of the 4th with a walk, but was stranded. With 1 out in the top of the 5th, Wood walked Ainsmith, and gave up an infield single to Johnson. But he got Milan and Foster to fly out. Wood allowed a double to Frank LaPorte with 1 out in the top of the 6th, but he didn't score.

With 2 outs in the bottom of the 6th, Johnson finally buckled, allowing doubles to Speaker and Duffy Lewis, to make it 1-0 Boston. In the 8th, Foster singled and stole 2nd with 1 out, but couldn't score. LaPorte led off the top of the 9th with a single, and was bunted over to 2nd by Frank Moran. But Wood struck McBride and Ainsmith out to end it. Final score: Red Sox 1, Senators 0.

Wood finished the season 34-5, with an ERA of 1.91, and a WHIP of 1.015. He would win 3 games in the World Series, including the deciding Game 8 over the Giants. (Yes, Game 8.) But in the next year's Spring Training, he hurt his thumb, and was never the same. He was 81-43 before the injury, 36-14 after it. He switched to the outfield, became a good hitter, and stayed in the major leagues until 1922, before becoming the longtime head coach at Yale University.

Johnson finished the season 33-12, with a 1.39 ERA. The next season turned out to be his best: 36-7, 1.14 (still the lowest in the American League for a full season), and a WHIP that doesn't seem possible, 0.780. He finally won a World Series in 1924, and retired with an AL record 417 wins, a record 113 shutouts, and a since-broken career record of 3,508 strikeouts. He was 1 of the 1st 5 players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. However, he didn't get to enjoy it as long as he should have: He died of a brain tumor in 1946, only 59 years old. Wood lived until 1985, at 95.

*

September 6, 1912 was a Friday. These other baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Highlanders lost to the Philadelphia Athletics, 4-2 at Hilltop Park in Upper Manhattan. Two errors by Hal Chase in the top of the 9th inning cost the game for the team that would become the Yankees the next year. Chase must have had a bet going.

* The New York Giants swept a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-0 and 9-8 at National League Park (later Baker Bowl) in Philadelphia. Jeff Tesreau pitched a no-hitter in the opener, coming within 2 walks of a perfect game. For all the hype that Wood and Johnson got on the day, neither man had the day's best pitching performance.

The nightcap wouldn't be so simple. It was 3-0 Giants after 4 innings, 6-3 Phillies after 6, and 8-6 Giants going to the bottom of the 8th. The Phils made it 8-7 in the bottom of the 8th, and Christy Mathewson had to come in to relieve. The Giants scored a run in the top of the 9th, but the Phils could only come back with 1 in the bottom half, and lost.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Boston Braves, 2-1 at Washington Park in Brooklyn. This would be the last month that the Dodgers used it. The next April, Ebbets Field opened.

* The Cleveland Naps beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Joe Benz made a bad throw on Joe Birmingham's bunt, opening the door for 3 Cleveland runs in the top of the 11th inning. Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie, the manager and 2nd baseman for whom the team was named, went 1-for-4 with a walk. So did Shoeless Joe Jackson. The Naps became the Cleveland Indians in 1915, and the Cleveland Guardians in 2022.

* The St. Louis Browns beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-2 at the new Navin Field in Detroit. Ty Cobb went 1-for-3 with 3 stolen bases. The ballpark would be renamed Briggs Stadium in 1938, and Tiger Stadium in 1961.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-5 at the new Redland Field in Cincinnati. It was renamed Crosley Field in 1934. It closed in 1970, whereas, of its fellow 1912 debutants, Tiger Stadium closed in 1999, and Fenway Park is still open.

* And the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-0 at Robison Field in St. Louis. Wilbur Cooper allowed 9 hits, but kept the shutout. Honus Wagner went 1-for-5.

January 27, 1927: Cobb and Speaker Are Cleared

Ty Cobb (left) and Tris Speaker, 1927

January 27, 1927: Two of baseball's greatest players ever are cleared of wrongdoing, in what could have become the greatest scandal in the game's history -- worse than the Black Sox Scandal of a few years earlier, and worse than the Pete Rose gambling scandal of 1989.

Let's take a step back: On November 3, 1926, two of the top baseball players of the last decade -- in the case of one, of the last 2 decades -- resign as player-managers. George Sisler, arguably the greatest 1st baseman who has ever lived to this point, resigns as manager of the St. Louis Browns, but will remain a player. Dan Howley is named his replacement.

On the same day, Ty Cobb resigns as manager of the Detroit Tigers, and announces his retirement from playing baseball. Soon after, a 3rd legend retires as a player-manager, Tris Speaker of the Cleveland Indians.

Cobb still holds the all-time record for highest lifetime batting average, at .366. He had 4,189 hits, which was a record until 1985. A re-check of the records in 1981 forced corrections, as one of his games had previously been counted twice, giving a .367 average and 4,191 hits. However, Pete Rose was still celebrated as breaking the hits record with his 4,192, not his 4,190th. Cobb also stole 892 bases, which was considered a record until broken by Lou Brock in 1977.

Cobb was not, however, celebrated for his defense. He wasn't a liability in center field, but he wasn't great out there, either. Tris Speaker was, considered the best at playing the position until Joe DiMaggio came along. And he was also a great hitter, batting .344 lifetime, collecting 3,514 hits, including 792 doubles, which is still the all-time record. (Before the 1981 revision, he was listed at .345, 3,515 and 793.)

Sisler, known as "Gorgeous George" and "the Sizzler," batted .340 for his career, but just 2,812 hits, albeit 257 of them in the 1920 season, a record until Ichiro Suzuki got 262 in 2004. For his leaving of his managerial post, whom everything seems to have been above-board.

George Sisler

But with Cobb, "the Georgia Peach," and Speaker, "the Grey Eagle," it soon came out that they were coerced into retirement, because of allegations of game-fixing brought about by Hubert "Dutch" Leonard, a former pitcher managed by Cobb.

Not to be confused with the later pitcher Emil Leonard, also nicknamed "Dutch," Hubert, also nicknamed "Hub" (but pronounced "Hyoob"), was a lefthander who, with the Boston Red Sox in 1914, had an earned run average of 0.96. This was long listed in major league records as 1.01, but later revised and corrected. But even at 1.01, it was the lowest ERA for a single full season in major league history, and remains so. The closest anyone has come since is Bob Gibson, with 1.12 for the 1968 St. Louis Cardinals.

Dutch Leonard

Leonard helped the Red Sox win the 1915 and 1916 World Series, and pitched 2 no-hitters. However, he was hurt midway through the 1918 season, and did not pitch in that year's World Series. The Sox traded him to the Yankees, who soon traded him to the Tigers, with whom he played, alongside Cobb and, from 1921 onward, under him.

They already didn't like each other: In 1914, Leonard had hit Cobb in the ribs with a pitch. In his next-at-bat, Cobb dragged a bunt, and Leonard raced him to 1st base, where Cobb spiked him. They openly feuded, with Leonard once calling Cobb a "horse's ass" in front of the other players. Finally, on September 14, 1925, with permission from team owner Frank Navin, Cobb put Leonard on waivers. No team picked him up. He was only 33 years old, with a decent career record of 139-113, but his career was over.

Leonard claimed proof of Cobb and Speaker attempting to fix a game in 1919, so that the Tigers would finish 3rd and qualify for additional postseason money, existed in letters written to him by Cobb and Smoky Joe Wood, the former ace pitcher and hero of the 1912 season before injury wrecked his career, who'd been Speaker's teammate on the Boston Red Sox and again with the Indians.

Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis held a secret hearing with Cobb, Speaker and Wood. A second secret meeting among the American League directors led to the unpublicized resignations of their managerial posts by Cobb and Speaker. Rumors of the scandal led Judge Landis to hold additional hearings, in which Leonard, interestingly, refused to participate.

Was he bought off? Or intimidated into silence? Maybe he had been lying all along, and he realized that Landis, a former federal judge, would see through him. It's also worth noting that Leonard waited an entire year to make his accusation.

Cobb and Wood admitted to writing the letters, but claimed that a horse-racing bet was involved, nothing to do with baseball, and that Leonard's accusations were in retaliation for Cobb's having released him. Speaker denied any wrongdoing.

And so, on January 27, 1927, Judge Landis cleared Cobb and Speaker of any wrongdoing, because of Leonard's refusal to appear at the hearings. Landis allowed both Cobb and Speaker to return to their original teams, but each team let them know that they were free agents, and could sign with any club they wanted.

Speaker signed with the Washington Senators for 1927, and Cobb with the Philadelphia Athletics. Speaker then joined Cobb in Philadelphia for the 1928 season, the last in the majors for each of them. (Sisler played on until 1930.) Cobb said he had come back only to seek vindication, and to say that he left baseball on his own terms.

Cobb's replacement as Tiger manager was George Moriarty, a former Tiger infielder who was, until then, an American League umpire. He remains the only man to hold the positions of player, umpire, scout and manager in Major League Baseball. He will also become the grandfather of Michael Moriarty, who becomes an actor, best known for playing a baseball player in the film Bang the Drum Slowly. Speaker's successor in Cleveland is Jack McCallister, and having succeeded Speaker is about the only noteworthy thing about him.

Leonard became a successful fruit farmer and winemaker in California, living until 1952. Speaker died in 1958, Cobb in 1961, and Sisler (remember, he was never accused) in 1973. Smoky Joe Wood, the other man involved in the alleged conspiracy, lived all the way until 1985.

*

January 27, 1927 was a Thursday. Baseball and football were out of season. Professional basketball was still very minor-league. But there were 4 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Detroit Cougars, 3-1 at the Ottawa Auditorium. The Cougars became the Detroit Falcons in 1930, and the Detroit Red Wings in 1932.

* The Montreal Maroons beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-3 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* And the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 4-2 at the Duquesne Gardens in Pittsburgh. The Pirates were done in by the Depression, first moving in 1930, becoming the Philadelphia Quakers, and then going out of business after one season.