Jack Chesbro takes the mound for the Buccos after a couple days off, we have not seen him since his relief appearance in Game 2. Rube Waddell has been on time & is looking forward to even having a bigger game (than Game 1) to keep Philadelphia's hopes alive. The Athletics have their backs against the wall, and are down 0-3 in this best-of-seven. The A's shortstop Monte Cross has been taken out in favor of Frank Bonner's bat (which is not much better), while Danny Murphy never playing short all season, will start there tonight (the APBA gods gave him a fielding 8). Lave Cross (Monte's brother), despite his excellent Game 2, has been hitless in the other two games. After the top 4 spots in the lineup, the production really drops off, so there has been a little reshuffling with the lineup as well -- Cross has been in the #5 (twice) and #1 slots this series, he will bat #2 after Topsy Hartsel in this one.
We'll see if the Athletics can pull it all together, there is a reason why the Pirates are the overwhelming favorites in this series -- they are simply better.
Bottom of the 1st -- Topsy Hartsel smacks one over Honus Wagner's head in center, Hartsel thinks about stretching this double into a triple, but wisely holds at second --Wagner does have a cannon of an arm.
Lave Cross draws a walk, first & second, no outs, the Pirates will be looking for a double-play. Socks Seybold surprises an unsuspecting infield with a sacrifice bunt, third baseman Tommy Leach nearly throws it over the Pirates' first baseman Kitty Bransfield's head, but Bransfield brings it down, and swipes a tag on Seybold in time -- one out, runners move up. Just early on and you get a sense that the Athletics are not going to go down quietly in this one. Chesbro with the delivery, Harry Davis smacks one down the line to the right, Bransfield dives at first, he's got it, gets up, flips it to Jack Chesbro covering first, two outs, but a run scores as Hartsel crosses the plate for the A's, Cross moves down to third, while Dave Fultz comes to the plate. Fultz batted .302 during the season, with an on-base percentage of .381 -- but he's been quiet with a .250 batting average & OBP this series. Chesbro with the pitch, Fultz grounds it up the middle, the second baseman Claude Ritchey is there, throws it to first, and that's three down. Philadelphia strikes first, 1-0.
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| Topsy Hartsel goes 3-for-4, 2 doubles. |
A little scare happens during the top of the second, as Rube Waddell walks off the mound shaking his arm, the trainers are out, they are in heavy discussion with MGR Connie Mack on the mound as well, it looks like he'll stay in the game, we'll see how this all plays out. There is always rumors that go around about this guy (Waddell), but one thing is for sure, when he's on top of his game -- Watch out! There is almost no equal. Socks Seybold on Waddell's often-eccentric behavior "That's just Rube being Rube"!
Waddell ends up walking lead-off batter Claude Ritchey. Kitty Bransfield pops up for first out. Jack O'Connor is up, Waddell throws it pass the catcher Ossie Schrecongost, and Ritchey is digging, he's trying for third, the throw from Schrec and Ritchey is safe; Waddell charged with the wild pitch. O'Connor hits a shallow fly to center, Seybold catches it, and Ritchey tags up, the throw, and he's safe-- just under the tag! Ritchey is not the fastest, nor does Socks Seybold have the strongest arm. Wid Conroy flies out to left-center to Seybold for the final out, but not before this one gets knotted up at one a piece.
Top of the third, Waddell has been a bit erratic, after striking out Pirates' pitcher Jack Chesbro, he plunks Fred Clarke in the ribs, Clarke was down for a minute, as the trainer checked him out -- but he'll be okay to stay in; Clarke didn't look happy as he gives Waddell a glare. Clarke ends up trying to test Ossie Schrecongost's arm behind the plate by stealing second with two outs, and gets thrown out. I guess the ribs are not that bad.
Bottom of the third, Topsy Hartsel smacks a single to right for his second safety. Jack Chesbro strikes out Lave Cross, by catching the corner. Chesbro to face Socks Seybold, this one is pulled left, it's fair, and this one is good for extra bases, Hartsel is around third... but puts on the breaks -- Seybold pulls into second with a double. Runners on 2nd & 3rd, with one out, as Harry Davis steps into the box to face Chesbro. Davis is only batting .083 in 12 at-bats this series, as Chesbro has a 0.68 ERA this series in 13.1 innings. The Pirates suddenly pull their infield in, for a possible play around the plate, the pitch comes in, Davis grounds it to short, Conroy looks Hartsel back to third, over to first with the throw, two down. Dave Fultz ends up grounding a one-hopper to the mound, Chesbro to first, and the A's come up empty.
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| The Bucs' Bransfield. |
Honus Wagner having a much-better series than in 1901 against the White Sox, draws a walk to lead-off the top of the 4th; Wagner is batting .333 in 12 at-bats, despite all being singles with just one ribbie. Rube Waddell catches Tommy Leach napping at the plate, for his 3rd strike out. Claude Ritchey matches Leach's output by striking out as well, a pair of K's here for Waddell in the fourth. Here is Kitty Bransfield, who is putting together an excellent World Series career in two seasons; Bransfield batted .363 in 30 at-bats in 1901, while he is currently batting .462 (6-for-13) in this one -- a grand total of 17 hits (43 at-bats) for a .395 batting average! Waddell comes with the pitch, and Bransfield pops it up behind the plate. Nothing for the Jolly Rogers!
Lead-off single for Ossie Schrecongost in the bottom of 4th off Chesbro. The Pirates drop their guard, as Danny Murphy bunts one past Kitty Bransfield, Claude Ritchey (the second baseman) with the throw to second in an attempt to get Ossie, and he's safe! Both runners are safe, with no outs -- the Pirates knew Schrecongost was slow, so you would think they might have suspected a bunt coming. Jack Chesbro to face Frank Bonner, the pitch, it's grounded to Conroy at short, no play at second, the throw to first, out -- the runners advance. Chesbro now to face Philadelphia's ace Rube Waddell, and Waddell goes down swinging -- Chesbro is pumped, getting a big K when it was needed most. Topsy Hartsel comes to the plate, who already has two hits, Chesbro delivers, and it's grounded to short for a routine out at first, three down. The A's have now left six men on, early in this one -- you really don't want to waste any opportunities against these Pirates.
A quick 5th inning for both Jack Chesbro (Pirates) and Rube Waddell (A's).
The top of the 6th, after two quick outs, Honus Wagner hits it deep in the shortstop pocket, and Danny Murphy (playing short) throws it in the dirt for 1B-Harry Davis, Wagner is safe! They score this one as a single, but we'll see how this plays out -- remember Murphy is playing out of position, normally playing at second. Waddell to face Tommy Leach, and it's strike three! Leach is hopping mad, no wait! He was hit by the pitch, a second opinion from the first base ump, he was hit by the pitch! Waddell shakes his head in disbelief, the ump verifies that Leach has indeed been hit on his right forearm during the swing, with the evidence of a red welt. Nothing comes of all of it, as Claude Ritchey follows by flying out to center. A bit of drama, going on with this 1-1 game, playing out like a good chess match.
Bottom of the 6th, Ginger Beaumont robs a HR attempt by the A's Ossie Schrecongost at the right field wall. During the top of the 7th, Dave Fultz does the same (by robbing) Jack O'Connor in the very same spot in right. That fan in right is hoping to get a HR ball at some point in this game -- good luck! There has only been one HR in the history of the World Series at this point, Tommy Leach's Game 7 HR in a losing effort to the Chicago White Sox.
Two-out double for Topsy Hartsel in the bottom of the 7th, a gapper that fell between Honus Wagner and Ginger Beaumont in right-center. Lave Cross fails to get him in, as he is caught looking for Jack Chesbro's 4th K of the night. Chesbro and his opponent Rube Waddell are putting together microscopic ERA's in this 1902 World Series.
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| Enter: Honus Wagner (Pirates). |
The bottom of the 8th, Fred Clarke tries to dive for a line drive hit by Harry Davis, and comes up short as the ball skips by him in left, Honus Wagner gives chase to it, coming in from center, as Davis rounds second, and he's going to reach third, on a one-out triple. Dave Fultz comes to the plate, he squares, Davis is coming in full steam for home plate, and it hits him, Fultz is in pain, and the umpire quickly throws out Jack Chesbro! What in the world?! Fred Clarke comes running in, to argue with the umps, I believe the home plate ump now understands he may have over-reacted, but no over-turning the decision, as he lets Clarke scream his case. Clarke has now settled down, and normally would have been thrown out for an explosion in behavior, I think that alone, is the ump admitting to his mistake. Davis has to go back to third, Fultz is now on first, runners on the corners -- one out. This game is turning into a strange one, and the Bucs will have to go to the pen, who will it be? It appears to be Deacon Phillippe, the right-hander to face the right-handed heavy A's lineup; Phillippe enters with 10 scoreless innings, 2 hits allowed with a win & save for this World Series -- Chesbro & Phillippe have been excellent, Chesbro exited with a 0.49 ERA, and is responsible for the runners. Ossie Schrecongost hits a deep fly to right, it's caught by Beaumont out in right, Davis tags up & scores, as Fultz retreats back to first -- tie game! Phillippe to face Danny Murphy (batting .143), the pitch, and Fultz is off & running, strike, the throw from catcher Jack O'Connor & he's out -- they nail him, for the third out!
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| Let the madness begin! |
Top of the ninth, Rube Waddell still on the mound, as the speedy Kitty Bransfield leads off with a single to right. Jack O'Connor squares and drops a successful bunt towards third, Lave Cross has only one play, and that's at first, one out -- the go-ahead run Bransfield is now on second. Fred Clarke goes to his bench, and sends out Jimmy Burke to hit for Wid Conroy, who is 2-for-4 this series with 2 RBI. Burke hits one deep to right, this one will be caught, Bransfield tags up, Fultz has a weak arm, the throw, and Bransfield is safe in-standing. Two outs, and the batter is Deacon Phillippe, Clarke will wave Phillippe back to the dugout, he will send up former pitcher George Merritt -- Merritt, if you recall has been used before by Clarke, in a clutch situation in the 1901 World Series, which paid off, Merritt of course was a reliever for Clarke, that had a great bat. He only batted 3 times this season, going 1-for-3. This will take Phillippe off the mound for the Bucs, which could help the A's chances if they get out unscathed here in the ninth. Merritt hits a routine grounder to short, and that makes it the third out.
2-2, entering the bottom of the ninth -- The Pirates will send out the right-handed Sam Leever, the hero from Game 2 that helped keep the Pirates in the game, after a disaster of a start by Jesse Tannehill. The Pirates are showing they have a lot of faith in Leever, who is more than capable. Jimmy Burke stays in and plays shortstop, lacking a little glove. Leever with the pitch, and this one is popped up behind the plate, one out. Frank Bonner sends a liner out to center, Honus Wagner on the run, he reaches up and catches it, two away -- bringing up Rube Waddell, the A's starting pitcher, who batted .286 in 112 at-bats. Waddell hits a pop-fly to Fred Clarke in left, he has it, and oh! It pops out of his glove, Clarke looks around, retrieves it, as Waddell will reach second on a error by Clarke in left. Leever will now have to face lefty Topsy Hartsel (.283, 5, 58 for the season), who is only batting .188 for the A's. Leever will intentionally walk him, to face righty Lave Cross. The strategy pays off as Cross pops up in foul territory to Tommy Leach at third.
We go to extras, just like last time for Rube Waddell, who was out on the mound in Game 1, during the 1-0 loss on the sacrifice fly RBI by Al Davis. Top of the order, Fred Clarke gets his second safety, a single to right -- I don't think we will see him stealing since Oz behind the plate for Philly has picked him off twice now. Ginger Beaumont squares, and he gets hit -- and what's this?! Rube Waddell has been thrown out of the game by the home late umpire, Connie Mack comes running out, and jaws with the umpire, and he's been thrown out of here as well. Are you kidding me? The Philadelphia fans are in a ruckus, bad time for the ump to make things even, did he forget where he was? Mack and Waddell, are heading off to the locker room. There will have to be a delay, as the fans are littering the field, even the players had to come off the field for a good solid five minutes in this one. This game keeps getting stranger by the minute.
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| Mack's face after, ejections & all hell broke loose in the 10th. |
Okay, order has been restored (somewhat), we have runners on 1st & 2nd for the Pirates, no outs -- with the dangerous Honus Wagner up at the plate, facing Fred Mitchell (who replaced the ejected Waddell). I'm sure this was going through Mack's head -- You throw out my best pitcher, while they got Honus coming up?! A player considered by some to be the Majors' first superstar. Mitchell sets, delivers, and it nails him! Mitchell is now ejected! Bases loaded, and some of these fans are heading out of the stadium to the parking lot in disgust, some officers have waived one of the umps over, probably telling them to tell the home ump, to not throw any more players out -- 3 players & one manager ejected overall, but three being from the home team, in a crowd that's invested many emotions into this long game. One thing is for sure, the commissioner's office is going to be getting a lot of angry mail from the city of Philadelphia, and the home umpire is going to have to answer many questions to the press.
The righty Bert Husting has got his warm-ups done, and he will face Tommy Leach. Leach hits a grounder to Frank Bonner at second, he bobbles it, throws quickly to home and they get the force at home, go to town locals! Now Husting will have to pray for a double-play here, he will face the switch-hitting Claude Ritchey. Husting with the pitch, Ritchey piles into this pitch, it could be trouble, Dave Fultz catches it at the wall, Ginger Beaumont is tagging up, the throw comes into the cut-off man at second, they cut it to third, Beaumont scores, Wagner is... safe under the tag! Runners on the corners, with two outs, as the Pirates take a 3-2 lead. Kitty Bransfield steps up to the plate to face Husting -- the delivery, and this one is looped over the shortstop Danny Murphy's head, Wagner scores, Leach holds as second, as Socks Seybold's strong throw comes into third. Husting sets up to face Jack O'Connor, the runners take their lead, cranks & fires, this one is hit past a diving Murphy at short, Topsy Hartsel is running in from left, Leach is heading for home, the throw comes in, Bransfield is heading for third, the throw is cut off, Leach scores, the throw to third, and Bransfield is out by inches, they trade a run for an out. The nightmare of a half-inning is over, but not before the Pirates can tack on three runs, for a 5-2 lead.
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| Chesbro named World Series MVP. |
What a great feeling for the Pirates after coming so close to sealing the deal last season, winning the 1902 World Series with a sweep of the Philadelphia Athletics. Jack Chesbro wins the World Series MVP, pitching 18.2 innings, with a 1-0 record, shutout, 2 quality starts, with a sparkling 0.98 ERA, with 12 K's. The pitching in general for the Bucs was terrific, Deacon Phillippe was 1-0, with a Save (10.2 scoreless innings, allowing only 2 hits), and Sam Leever won two games in 4.2 innings of scoreless relief, allowing only one hit. The Pirates' World Series team ERA was 2.13!
The team's lineup batted .290, led by Kitty Bransfield (.471 in 18 AB's), Honus Wagner (.467 in 15 AB's) & MGR Fred Clarke (.400 in 15 AB's).
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