No Contest?
Plus Day in Review, May 1, 1908
No Contest?
This was a mismatch.
If you’ve been paying attention to my 1908 replay, you’re probably wondering why I’d write about this game. Cincinnati is 2-14, off to one of the worst starts I’ve ever seen in a replay. The 1908 Pittsburgh Pirates, of course, are a clear contender for the pennant.
But baseball is a funny sport. You never know what’s going to happen.
Pittsburgh’s Rally
Cincinnati came into the bottom of the 9th with a 2 run lead, believe it or not. The score was 4-2 when the Pirates offense finally woke up.
Owen Wilson started off the rally:
That brought up Harry Swacina, who has been hitting pretty poorly so far in this replay.
Up came Pittsburgh catcher George Gibson, who is nobody’s choice for a clutch performer:
Gibson singled, scoring one and reaching second when the second runner was thrown out at home. That’s a bit of irony, by the way. Swacina was fast enough to steal second base, and yet was not fast enough to outrun the throw from center field.
I put in Danny Moeller to pinch run for Gibson, and then had Charlie Starr come in to hit for Beals Becker. If you don’t know about Charlie Starr, you can read a bit about him in this old post:
Starr came through:
Pinch running for Gibson really made the difference here. Gibson would have been thrown out. Moeller scored, and the game was tied at 4.
Warren Gill then pinch hit for pitcher Howie Camnitz:
That little c next to the 9 got Warren, however. He was thrown out trying to steal second.
Should I have played it safe with him? You let me know what you think.
Up came Honus Wagner with two outs. You’d think he would be able to drive in that winning run, right? I mean, everybody thinks of Wagner’s 1908 season as one of the greatest offensive seasons in the history of baseball. Surely he’ll come through, right?
Well, so much for that.
It All Falls Apart
Maybe Cincinnati isn’t all that bad.
Dode Paskert singled and Miller Huggins walked, bringing up Coakley’s spot. I decided to put Mike Mowrey up to pinch hit:
Well, I guess “pinch hit” isn’t the right phrase. This was more of a “pinch bunt.” It got the job done, whatever it was.
That brought up Mike Mitchell, the leadoff hitter. Naturally, the Pirates were going to walk him:
The next batter, Rudy Hulswitt, missed a bunt, leaving Paskert a dead duck at the plate:
And this, of course, is where writing this blog becomes frustrating.
Hulswitt was still up at the plate. He rolled an error number, driving in two runs and giving the Reds a 6-4 lead.
The problem, of course, is that I didn’t get that screenshot for whatever reason.
Anyway, that was it. The Pirates went down quietly in their half of the 10th, and the Reds earned their 3rd win of the season.
Deacon Phillippe was a big name before 1908, but was long past his prime by this time. Maybe I should have gone with a different relief pitcher.
Other Action
Doves 5, Superbas 1: At Boston, Patsy Flaherty only gave up 6 hits as Boston won easily.
Cubs 4, Cardinals 3: At St. Louis, the Cubs came from behind to win a thriller. Watch the game here. Read the summary here.
White Sox 7, Tigers 0: At Detroit, the Tigers made 4 errors en route to suffering a huge defeat. Watch the game here.
Giants 7, Phillies 3: At New York, the Giants overcame a 3-1 lead in the late innings to turn this one into a laughter. Watch the game here.
Athletics 5, Red Sox 4: At Philadelphia, the Athletics came back 3 different times to win a thriller. Watch the game here. Read the summary here.
Reds 6, Pirates 4 (10): At Pittsburgh, see above.
Highlanders 4, Senators 2: At Washington, the Highlanders come back to win. Watch the game here.
Standings
The American League remains extremely close. Meanwhile, the three big horses have started to create distance in the National.