The Game Nobody Wanted To Win
Cardinals at Reds, April 27, 1908
The Game Nobody Wanted To Win
This one was always going to be brutal to play through.
The Reds came into this game in dead last, with a 1-11 record. The Cardinals, meanwhile, have a tight grip on seventh place with their 4-8 record.
It was the sort of game that you don’t really want to play, and also just so happened to be the sort of game that neither team wanted to win. Both the Reds and the Cardinals left numerous men on base and let numerous chances get by them, all to no avail.
It was pretty ugly, too, with 6 errors in all: 4 by the Cardinals and 2 by the Reds.
And, of course, it went to extra innings as a scoreless tie.
Breaking Through
Now, it’s kind of a big deal to see the 1908 Reds actually playing competitively for a change. Usually the Reds are completely out of the game by the 5th inning.
Not so today.
This one went into the top of the 10th. Reds starting pitcher Andy Coakley, who came in with an 0-3 record, managed to record two outs before the shoe fell.
Joe Delahanty was on first base when Cardinal starting pitcher Bugs Raymond came up there. And that famous Skeetersoft NPIII “little e” reroll bit the Reds:
That brought up Patsy O’Rourke. I thought that Coakley might have a chance at still getting out of this. However…
That made it a 1-0 lead. I suppose that wasn’t necessaily insurmountable. However, the Reds still had one more out to get, and Red Murray stood in their way:
That double-column triple spelled “game over” for the Reds.
It’s hard to believe, but the Reds managed to go scoreless despite leaving a whopping 12 runners on base. Raymond, meanwhile, got it done both with his arm and with his bat.