My Favorite Game
April 16, 1908: Athletics at Highlanders
My Favorite Game
This hasn’t been the closest game in this project, but this one is clearly my favorite. The ending was absolutely amazing.
I chose not to record this game, figuring that neither the Athletics nor the Highlanders were likely to do much in 1908 in the end. I wish that I had, though. This game went smoothly and easily, and had an ending that was absolutely full of controversy.
Real Life
This was a close pitcher’s duel in real life. In fact, there was so much defense and so little offense that The Evening World could easily fit the entire description on the front page:
Isn’t it amazing that we can read this account with such clarity and ease 115 years later? The digital age truly is a remarkable thing. I love that quip about the spitball, too.
Of course, The Evening World didn’t provide much by way of detail. For that, we need to look to The Sun, which had the best baseball coverage in New York during this era (in my opinion):
As you can see, this was a close one no matter how you slice it.
However, mine was closer.
9th Inning
We’ll hop straight to the 9th, where the scoreboard looked like this:
Surely you’ll forgive me for not giving you the play-by-play account of all 7 hits we had up to this point.
Eddie Collins managed to get on for the Athletics, and Danny Murphy came up there with one out:
This is one of those times where the NPIII stealing rules are really helpful. Yes, I am happy that Murphy stole second. In fact, it looked for a moment like the Athletics might break this one wide open — especially since Bill Hogg was showing signs of fatigue on the mound.
But this is 1908. Don’t forget that.
Rube Oldring was up next, and I decided to put him on to set up the force play:
The bases were loaded now. The infield came in, and the other Collins, Jimmy Collins, came up to bunt:
Philadelphia got their run. The next man up hit a popup to the outfield, and on we went to the bottom of the 9th.
Jake Stahl reached on a base hit, and Neal Ball came up to bunt. He wound up walking:
Up next was Wid Conroy, and it was bunting time once again:
A quick look at the stats should tell you why we bunt so much in 1908, in case you were wondering. It’s hard to expect walks and hits from guys with on base percentages that are so low. You’ve got to take what you’re given, even if it doesn’t quite work, as was the case here.
One man was out now, and it was up to catcher Red Kleinow to try to make something happen. What happened next was extremely controversial:
That’s right — catcher’s interference was called on catcher Ossee Schrecongost as Kleinow tried to bunt.
I don’t know how you see this in your head. I imagine that Schrecongost tapped Kleinow’s bat as he squared to bunt. He might have actually touched it, or it might be that Kleinow just made it look like he was interfered with. I’m sure the fans (and the papers) will be arguing about it for weeks.
Anyway, Kleinow was now on first, the bases were loaded with 1 out, and it was time for a pinch hitter.
Hogg had pitched well, giving up only 1 run in 9 innings. The 4 walks he gave up were a blight, though it was better than the 5 that Jimmy Dygert had given up to this point.
I called on Kid Elberfeld, a veteran by this point, to come up. Elberfeld was there to swing the bat, too, not to bunt.
Of all the things to happen, I never would have dreamed that Elberfeld would be hit by the pitch — not in a thousand years. And yet that is what happened, and here we are again, bases loaded with one out, score tied at 1.
The stage was now set for Charlie Hemphill:
And there’s your ballgame. Highlanders 2, Athletics 1, with all 3 runs being scored in the 9th inning — and more than enough controversy to last for quite some time.
NPIII doesn’t tell you how long it took to roll the game out. This one was done in under 10 minutes.
In retrospect, I really wished that I had recorded this game. Yeah, I had no way of knowing from the outset that it would be this close. However, this one really was a joy to watch. The fielding was good, the pitchers were excellent, and there was more than enough excitement at the end to last us quite some time.
Other Action
Red Sox 6, Senators 5: At Boston, the Red Sox held on despite furious attempts by the Senators to come back. Read extended write-up here.
Superbas 2, Doves 1 (15): At Boston, my plans to get to bed on time are thwarted by an exciting extra inning game that simply wouldn’t quit. Read extended write-up here.
Tigers 2, White Sox 1: At Chicago, the White Sox missed several chances to add to an early 1-0 lead, and then missed more chances to come back against Detroit. Read extended write-up here. Watch the game here.
Cubs 10, Reds 1: At Cincinnati, the Cubs ran the Reds ragged. Joe Tinker wound up going 5 for 5 with 2 runs scored and 2 runs batted in. The Cubs stole 6 total bases in this game, and were caught stealing an additional 5 times: in other words, it could have been worse. Watch the game here.
Browns 4, Naps 2: At Cleveland, the Browns broke open a tense game with a 3 run 8th inning to turn back the Indians. Watch the game here.
Highlanders 2, Athletics 1: See above.
Phillies 6, Giants 1: At Philadelphia, the Phillies smash two home runs off Joe McGinnity en route to a laughter. Watch the game here.
Pirates 3, Cardinals 0: At St. Louis, the Pirates win their first game of the season behind a Nick Maddox 2-hitter. The only two hits for the Cardinals come from pitcher Fred Beebe. Watch the game here.
Standings
It’s technically still too early to care about these standings. The defending World Champion Cubs are safely in first, with numerous teams following them. And I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty surprised to see the Highlanders and Red Sox battling it out for supremacy in the American League.