LOOKING BACK AT THE 1914 "MIRACLE" BOSTON BRAVES ...
THE GREATEST COMEBACK IN MLB HISTORY ... 110 YEARS AGO

George Allen Davis Jr. was from Lancaster, New York, just east of Buffalo. He graduated from St. John’s Military Academy, near Syracuse, and entered Williams College in Williamstown, Mass, in 1908.

There George began to shine in the classroom, on the diamond, and in the gym. A righthanded pitcher, he pitched brilliantly and was captain his senior year. He had an intimidating fastball, a blazing curve and many strikeouts. He had 20 Ks against Wesleyan in 1910, also had 18 against Trinity and 15 against both Princeton and Dartmouth.

He was considered the strongest man on campus, having set a Williams weightlifting record that stood for years. To improve his dexterity he participated in fencing. When he graduated in 1912, he was vice president of his class.

While he pitched for Williams, his work caught the eye of the New York Highlanders, who signed him. Four days later he made his major-league debut, losing to the St. Louis Browns 3-1.

In the spring of 1913, he joined the Highlanders’ (now Yankees) spring training junket to Bermuda. The Yankees ticketed him for Jersey City of the International League. There he was 10-16, fanned 199 in 208 innings, but exhibited the wildness that plagued him throughout his career.

In late August, the Yankees, more concerned about his wildness than impressed with his strikeouts, released him to Rochester, also of the International League.

George Stallings had a close relationship with the Rochester team and before he made a single pitch for Rochester, he was on his way to Boston, where he appeared in two late-season games with no decisions.

George, who had enrolled in Harvard Law School, agreed to go, but grudgingly, saying he did not like the minors and did not have to play ball for a living.

Because of obligations at law school, he would report to the Braves late in 1914. For most of the season, he would be used in mop-up roles. After one sharp relief performance, Stallings would give him a start. That moment would come on September 9th, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Phillies.

The Braves would be in first place but just a game ahead of the Giants. The Harvard law student, using a spitball that Stallings had urged him to learn, no-hit the Phillies.

He had one rough moment, when he would pass the first three batters, but would work his way out of that jam with a strikeout and a double play.

George would not see the action in the World Series. For all practical purposes, this was the end of his baseball career. He would make two appearances for Providence of the International League in 1916 and then be released by the Braves. If he had any hopes of a comeback after his release by the Braves, they were dashed by the onset of World War I.

George gained his degree from Harvard and became a lawyer. Early in 1918 he reported to Fort Lee, Virginia, and in ninety days he was a second lieutenant.

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George Davis (pic)

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