Hitless at Huntington Avenue
Athletics at Red Sox, April 18, 1908
Hitless at Huntington Avenue
This one might have been devoid of offense in my replay, but it was a bit different in real life. The Boston Globe had this nice Sunday illustration of the action:
It wasn’t quite the same here.
Early Chance
Philadelphia’s one big chance in this one came early.
Simon Nicholls led things off with a base hit, and stole second with catcher Doc Powers in the box. Powers proceeded to hit into a ground ball that forced Nicholls at third. Powers moved up to second base after pitcher Eddie Plank bunted him up. And that brought up Topsy Hartsel with 2 outs:
My years of APBA conditioning have made me forget to check for possible plays at the plate. Baserunning is a bit more hazardous in NPIII, and it shows here. Hartsel got the hit, but Powers was thrown out easily at home by Jack Thoney.
Game Winner
That set things up for the game winner in the bottom of the 9th.
Harry Lord reached base on an error by Athletics first baseman Harry Davis. Gavvy Cravath, playing that good brand of 1908 style scientific baseball, bunted Davis over to second.
And that brought up Doc Gessler with a runner on second and one out:
It was as simple as that: a base hit, a runner scoring, and a 1-0 victory for the Red Sox.
Plank got the loss without giving up an earned run. The ageless Cy Young wound up with the victory. And practically nobody managed a hit.