Cicotte's Big Start
Game 1 of a doubleheader
Athletics at Red Sox — Game 1
We usually think of Eddie Cicotte in terms of what happened in the 1919 World Series. However, let’s put all that aside for a minute and think instead of how the young knuckleball pitcher fared in the early stages of his career.
The Red Sox came into this game at 5-0; the Athletics, at 0-5, were their exact opposites. But you never know what might happen!
Early Chances
The Athletics had several early chances to make something happen.
In the top of the 2nd, with no score in the game, Jimmy Collins came up with a man on first and nobody out. Naturally, I ordered the weak-hitting Collins to bunt:
Well, apparently Bill Staffa likes to put little jokes in his game. The 13 roll gave us a 22 result, leading to an error on Red Sox catcher Lou Criger. Suddenly, the Athletics had a real chance to do something, with runners on second and third and nobody out.
That’s where I made a mistake. I decided to let Simon Nicholls swing away instead of bunting. Nichols promptly hit a weak fly ball to right field that didn’t do anything at all.
Now there was one out, and I was forced to bunt with catcher Doc Powers:
Yeah, that 25 result is precisely what we were hoping to avoid. Powers wound up grounding out weakly to Cicotte to end the threat.
Philadelphia had another opportunity in the top of the 4th. It was Nicholls again this time, with a runner on second base and two out:
Once again, Powers had the chance to do something — and, once again, Powers failed:
Have I mentioned how much I like hitters who can actually get base hits?
The Athletics did tie it eventually. Eddie Collins provided the blow in the top of the 5th with two outs and a runner on second:
That made the game 1-1, and set us up for the drama that was to come.
Boston Goes Ahead
The Red Sox finally broke through in the bottom of the 7th.
Criger, the catcher, came up with runners on second and third and only one out:
Looks like another one of Bill’s practical jokes: a 38 result on dice roll 13, leading to an amazing double steal on a bunt attempt. I’m still trying to figure out how in the world Powers managed to miss the tag on the runner coming in from third after the failed bunt attempt.
Of course, that gave Criger another shot:
Another bunt resulted in an error role, leading to another misplay by Powers — this time dropping the throw from Rube Vickers. And now Boston was up 3-1.
Comeback
Even with the scant offense of the time, no lead was truly safe in 1908.
After Danny Murphy doubled with one out in the top of the 8th, Rube Oldring came up with a chance to do something:
Cicotte’s wild throw into center field sent Murphy to third base, giving Oldring another chance. And, of course, I’ve got to wonder what kind of card has a 22 on 35.
I had the infield in for this play. Murphy was put out in a rundown; however, Oldring was able to reach second base. And that set things up for Jimmy Collins again:
The score was now 3-2 Boston. Boston did get the final out in the top of the 8th, leading us to the 9th inning.
Powers drew a walk to lead things off. I decided to pull off a double switch, which was rare for the time. I put pitcher Nick Carter in as a pinch runner, since he was the only one on the bench with an “F” speed rating. I then put Shag Shaughnessy in to pinch hit for Vickers.
I tried a hit and run here, but it didn’t work. I was enticed by the two 31 results on Shag’s card, as well as that always tempting 44. We just missed it, getting the 45 instead, which did nothing.
Topsy Hartsel, the leadoff man, hit into a fielder’s choice, replacing Carter at first. Up next was Harry Davis:
This was it: the chance for the Athletics to finally win a game, and the chance for Boston’s winning streak to be broken. It was all down to Eddie Collins:
Well, you can’t win them all.
With 16 total hits, you could be excused for not recognizing this as a 1908 boxscore at first glance. There were 3 sacrifice hits, 4 stolen bases, and an amazing 5 men caught stealing. That’s the way the cookie crumbles!