|
“DIARY OF A WINNER”
|
THE 1914 "MIRACLE" BRAVES July 22, 1914 ... The Braves and Pirates put on a doubleheader today and when the smoke cleared there was an even split, although the Boston boys were thanking their lucky stars that they got away with an even break. However the Braves are not refusing anything these days and when Max Carey and Honus Wagner gave them an opening in the first game, they took advantage of it and romped home by a score of 1 to 0 in 11 innings. The Braves got three hits off Bob Harmon, who kept up the good work he showed against the Giants last Saturday. They got one in the first, one in the seventh and one in the 11th. Up to the fatal 11th inning the Pirates support was almost perfect, but then the break came and because of the cracking of their fielders the game went to the Braves. Charlie Deal, the Pittsburgh boy, was first up in the 11th inning and Honus Wagner made a mess of his little roller. Oscar Dugey then sacrificed and put him on second. Afterward Hank Gowdy hit safely into left field. The hit was short and Deal did not seem likely to be able to score, but Max Carey obligingly let it get away from him, and Charlie came across with the one and only run. The Pirates threw the game away in the sixth and it was then that the Braves made up their minds that they would not have another chance to score. Carey was the culprit. He led off with a single, but got lazy around first base and Bill James picked him off. Jim Viox and Wagner both followed was single after that but were left stranded on base. Pittsburgh never had another chance to score and the Braves won the game 1 to 0. The second game started off fine for Boston, and before the Pirates got their second wind, four big runs showed on the scoreboard to the Braves credit. They got two in the second inning off Babe Adams the Pittsburgh starter, on Rabbit Maranville's triple, Butch Schmidt sacrifice fly, Ted Cather's double and Bert Whaling's single. In the third inning they gave Adams an excuse to retire when they got three more hits for two runs. Singles by Johnny Evers, Maranville and Schmidt were the producers. Al Mamaux, the youngest pitcher on the Pirates staff, took up the burden and the Braves were halted, but they had a 4 to 0 lead. They got one more hit off Mamaux in the six innings he worked. However it did not seem to matter much if the Braves stopped hitting, for Dick Crutcher was putting up a pretty good game on the mound. The Pirates got a run in the third inning. Joe Kelly doubled, but the next two men could not advance. Eddie Mensor then hit one down to Maranville, who'd been playing great ball all day and was all set for it, when the ball took a funny bounce and went over his head. Kelly scored and it was a first run the Pirates had gotten off the Braves in 32 innings. Max Carey hit Crutcher for a home run in the fourth inning to make it 4 to 2, but that did not seem to upset him, because the next four men could not hit the ball out of the infield. Crutcher pitched great ball until the eighth-inning. As the fans were starting the leave the park, Jake Kafora, hit one safely to center, and when Mamaux followed suit, Kafora scampered around to third. Josh Devore, seeing this, tried to catch him but the throw went wild, allowing him to score. With Mamaux on third and now leading only 4 to 3, Stalling's boys and the infield crowded in to get the next man at the plate. But Mensor rapped the ball to center and scored Mamaux with the tying run. Crutcher's troubles were not over, however, and he couldn't get the ball over the plate, walking Carey. Joe Leonard came up and advanced both men with a sacrifice. Crutcher then walked Wagner to fill the bases. At that point manager Stallings brought in George Davis to face Jim Viox. Viox promptly doubled to score Mensor and Carey. Manager Clark now sent in Ham Hyatt to bat for Alex McCarthy the shortstop, and the big pinch-hitter cleared the bases with a triple, that scored Wagner and Viox. Davis struck out Kafora to end the rally but the score was 8 to 4. Maranville and Evers were simply support today with their work around second base. Evers had 16 chances in the two games, which he handled like the veteran that he is, while Maranville fell down on only one of his 18 chances. Coleman made a great catch on Devore's foul ball, near the wall in the sixth inning of the first game. He juggled the ball slightly and in making the second stab at it, crashed into the wall, but held onto the ball. Ed Mensor robbed Joe Connolly of a triple in the seventh inning of the first game when he ran back to the fence jumped and pulled down his long fly ball. Larry Gilbert hit in the first inning of the game today and then left for New Orleans to go to the bedside of his sick wife. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
 |
 |
