The Double Column Win
Highlanders at Athletics, April 25, 1908
The Double Column Win
This is going to be a pretty simple post, since I don’t have a ton of highlights to share.
There is something I want to mention first, though.
The photo I used for the thumbnail of this post comes from an original New York Tribune newspaper from April 26, 1908.
Here’s the entire article:
Now, this isn’t a secret. In fact, there’s a blurb about the early use of the Yankees nickname on Wikipedia:
This helps explain its use in the headline cited above. “Yankees” is a 7 letter word, 1 letter less than “Invaders,” 2 letters less than “Americans,” and a whopping 4 letters less than “Highlanders.” Then again, “Highlanders Lose” is much more concise than “Yankees In Defeat” — and takes up 1 less character if you count the spaces.
Anyway, keep that in mind when you think about old baseball team nicknames. As I’ve said before, we tend to be really concerned about this thing, while those who wrote these articles clearly didn’t see anything wrong with referring to the same team by multiple names.
The Big Rolls
I’ll be honest — I prefer single column National Pastime / APBA cards to the double column ones.
Double columns are great for pinpoint accuracy (well, as accurate as a 1/36 chance system will get you). However, there’s something nice about having the result instantly instead of having to roll yet again.
This time, though, it was all about the double column rolls.
Philadelphia came up to bat in a 3-3 ballgame in the bottom of the 8th. Two were out, nobody was on base, and up came Danny Murphy:
That initial 66 was followed up by a 31 roll, good enough for a clean 6 result and a double in a really important situation.
Up next came Rube Oldring. I’d normally want to bunt with Oldring, but, of course, that’s not going to happen with two men out.
And there it was again — a 66 roll initially, followed this time by a 24. The 24 usually spells a strikeout, but not when you hit the double column.
That made the score 4-3, and was enough for the Athletics to eke out the win.
There was only 1 stolen base all game, in contrast to 6 men who were caught trying to steal. And, though he’s been quiet about it, Jack Coombs has racked up a miniscule ERA.
The American League is still up for grabs. Nobody looks awesome, and nobody looks awful. Parity makes for a very interesting pennant race, even if it is still just April.
Other Action
Phillies 8, Doves 1: At Boston, the visiting Phillies exploded to knock George Ferguson out of the box before he could complete 5 innings.
Cubs 4, Reds 2: At Chicago, the Cubs came back for the big win. Watch the game here.
Tigers 5, Naps 3: At Cleveland, Ty Cobb spurred on a late comeback for the Tigers with a 2-run single in the top of the 8th.
Giants 3, Superbas 0: At Brooklyn, Joe McGinnity threw a 5-hit shutout for the win. Watch the game here.
Athletics 4, Highlanders 3: At New York, see above.
Cardinals 3, Pirates 1: At Pittsburgh, St. Louis got off to an early lead which it never relinquished. Watch the game here.
Browns 3, White Sox 0: At St. Louis, the Browns shut out the White Sox to move into first place.
Senators 7, Red Sox 4: At Washington, Jim Delahanty went 2 for 3 before being injured. Watch the game here.
Standings
The American League is still tight. Meanwhile, it’s nothing but the Cubs, Pirates, and Giants in the National.