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THE 1914 "MIRACLE" BRAVES
Brooklyn whitewashes the Braves
April 25, 1914 ... It was a cold day for the Braves. The temperatures were low and there was a strong east wind blowing across the field, but no place was called her than the Braves bat rack. They did not hit an all,
nor have they been hitting since the season started. They have gotten one hit when it was needed, in four of the six games that they have lost so far. The Braves failed to produce and therefore there record stands at six losses and two wins.
To have a whole squad of free hitters all slump at the same time is rather provoking. Dick Crutcher pitched only two bad innings in the game today. Jake Daubert's lucky hit, followed by an error, made it look bad, but no pitcher can win a game unless the team behind him can score at least
one run.
Ed Ruelbach was the pitcher for the visitors and three widely scattered singles form the sum total of what the Boston batters could mount against him. He had good defense behind him also. Zack Wheat made a shoestring catch on Charlie Deal's line drive in the second inning which was one of
the feature plays of the game. Zack also contributed otherwise. In attempting to steal second in the eighth-inning, he slid into the bag in such a way, that Johnny Evers thought he was trying to spike him and the two exchanged words. Some of the Brooklyn players persuaded Wheat to go back to
the bench and Rabbit Maranville lead Evers back to his position.
Charlie Deal, still lame with a pulled muscle, played a fine game at third and Tommy Griffith made a great catch on Jack Dalton's fly ball over near the foul line in the first inning. Hank Gowdy also played a great defensive game behind the plate. The weather was cold, and an east wind blew
across the field.
Brooklyn scored their first run in the second inning, on a base on balls to Wheat, a sacrifice by Red Smith, and Casey Stengel's single. That was the only run that Ruelbach needed. Brooklyn scored three more runs in the sixth inning. Although the Robins got two hits in the seventh, one hit
and a walk in the eighth, two singles in the ninth, there was no more scoring.
The Braves were twice in scoring position. In the first inning Maranville drew a base on balls and went to second on Ever's sacrifice, but he was caught between second and third on Griffith's ground ball. In the seventh inning, Joe Connolly led off with a single. Griffith hit one back to
Ruelbach who unsuccessfully tried to force Connolly at second base. Joe was then forced at third on Butch Schmidt's grounder, and Les Mann then hit into a double play. These are the only two occasions when the Braves got a man is far as second base. |
