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DICK CRUTCHER |
THE 1914 "MIRACLE" BRAVES
The Braves
pound St. Louis' pitching
July 12, 1914
... The Boston Braves walloped the Cardinals this
afternoon. Miller Huggins used 16 players and Stallings was more
considerate, using only one extra pitcher. There was a lot of good
batting, some good fielding and pitching, and a lot that was not.
Possibly the scorching sun dried up the wetness on Bill Doak's spitball before
it could take effect. If it didn't, something else must have happened. Anyway,
Doak could not get the ball over the plate, and when he did, somebody smacked
it. He came out in the fourth inning to allow ex-Brave Hub Perdue to get in a
work out. Hub indeed got the work and is probably several pounds lighter now.
When Boston got through with him, Reese Williams was sent in. Williams should
have been sent in first. He was so wild, that he had the Boston batters afraid
to stay in the box.
Southpaw Lefty Tyler lasted three innings for
Boston. Dick Crutcher took his place and St. Louis might never have scored on
him, had not the Braves piled up a lead, which was so high, that the Cardinals
could not see over it. Then they hit him just hard enough to get over one run in
the eighth and another in the ninth.
With the Braves out 3 to 0 in the third inning, Art
Butler drew a walk and was safe when Johnny Evers made a mess of Doak's ground
ball. Huggins walked to load the bases and Lee Magee drove the ball far to
right-field for a triple. He was thrown out trying to score on a suicide squeeze
as Cozy Dolan fanned. Zinn Beck ended the inning by lining out to Possum
Whitted, but the Cardinals had tied the score.
After this the Braves batters got busy with Doak in
the fourth inning, and made three more runs before Purdue was called in to
retire the final batter. The Braves started it again in the fifth, until poor
baserunning by Butch Schmidt ended in a double play after a line drive to Chief
Wilson. Down now by a score of 6 to 3, Perdue was lucky to get by in the sixth
without being scored upon, but in the seventh he was responsible for four more
runs. Williams came into pitch the eighth and was untouched. In the ninth he
gave up three base on balls and a couple balls with hit where his fielders could
not get to them. This, along with a wild throw by Ken Nash at shortstop,
accounted for the final Boston two runs.
The first three innings in which Crutcher was on
the mound, the Cardinals did not get a hit. Then they got one in the seventh.
Two hits in the eighth scored a St. Louis run. In the ninth, two more hits along
with a sacrifice fly, resulted in the final St. Louis tally, making it an
afternoon with the Braves winning 12 to 5. |
