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RED SMITH |
THE 1914 "MIRACLE" BRAVES
The Braves win easily and move into a first place tie
September 5, 1914
... By getting a jump on the Phillies this
afternoon, the Braves won the final game
of the series by a 7 to 1 score, and the victory carried
them into a tie with the Giants for first
place, as New York split a doubleheader in Brooklyn. It was about the
easiest game that the Boston team has had on the trip. At no time
after the first inning, did the Phillies
have what looked like a fighting chance to win.
Gene Cocreham was given an opportunity to show what he could do, and although
his was touched up easily in two innings, he pitched a very good game. The only
run scored against him was something of a fluke, but on the other hand, he was
given splendid support in the field. Four doubleplays executed by his teammates
helped him, but nevertheless he made a great showing against a slugging
Philadelphia team.
Erskine Mayer, who was on the mound against him,
had a very bad first inning and did not seem to work well with his catcher
Bill Killifer. Manager Red
Dooin went in to catch himself in the second inning, after
which Mayer did much better. It was in the opening inning however, that he was
put in a hole so deep he could not get out of it. Johnny Evers hit a double
against the right-field wall, and Joe Connolly popped in a scratch double, along
with two base on balls and Rabbit Maranville's slam to left for another two
bases, formed the combination that developed four runs for the Braves and put
the Phillies in that hole.
The Braves waited on Mayer to limit, and two men,
who were passed after that disastrous first inning, eventually scored
themselves. Butch Schmidt was one of them and Red Smith brought him over the
plate with a home run, a huge smash which sent the ball almost on a line over
Beals Becker's head into left field bleachers. Evers was the other man who was
passed in the last inning, and he was brought over with a double by Connolly and
Larry Gilbert's out at first.
Cocreham was very stingy with
passes, and two of the three times that he made a mistake, doubleplays followed.
Outside of the four doubleplays turned by the Braves, Smith provided the
fielding feature of the day. He plays deeper than any other thirdbaseman in
either league, but he came two thirds of the way to the plate to scoop up Hal
Irelan's slow roller with one hand, and in the same motion threw him out at
first base.
Three games out of the four
here, and 16 out of 22 on the road trip is a very good showing. The Braves have
a lot of doubleheaders to be played in Boston, and the outcome of these games,
as well as the three to be played with the Giants next Monday and Tuesday, will
have much to do with the Boston team's chances of winning the pennant.
The Braves left here tonight and will arrive in
Boston on the Federal Express in the morning. Rabbit Maranville left early and
will spend the night at his home in Springfield. Present Gaffney returned to New
York tonight, pretty well pleased with his team. He intends
to go to Boston tomorrow night. Brooklyn held the
Giants to an even break, bringing about the tie for first place in the National
League pennant race. The Giants walked away with the first game 8 to 5 by
hammering Jeff Pfeiffer five innings and hitting Bill Steele hard in the sixth.
Al Demaree was effective for the Giants until the end of the game. Nap Rucker,
who had been in the hospital came back and pitched the second game for Brooklyn
and showed his old time form by winning 4 to 1. The Giants escaped a shutout
when Rube Marquard singled and Fred Snodgrass tripled with two out in the sixth
inning. |
