1916 Red Sox-1937 Yankees!

"I wanna do it again!"

With that utterance, the young 21-year old left-hander who now calls Sudbury, Massachusetts home throws down the gauntlet. Of course, throwing down a challenge in front of the 1936-39 Yankees is kind of like throwing down a lamb chop in front of a hungry wolf. If the lamb chop ain't big enough...

Are you sure you want to do this, young man?

"Sure, I am!"

The young Red Sox southpaw continues to chop wood for his fireplace. The ease, power and efficiency with which he swings his axe speaks to his powerful shoulders and arms. It is the dead of winter, 1916. Snow is on the ground. A crisp chill bites the air. I suspect the young man before me could pack and throw a mean snowball too. This is a man for all seasons. Between swings of the axe, he continues to make his case.

"Look! I know the Yanks are a good team. I ain't sayin' otherwise. But we won back-to-back World Series too!" Evidently it's late 1916. Or maybe even early 1917. Better check my watch... er, timepiece.
"We beat Grover Alexander! Then we smacked Brooklyn around! Mister Carrigan didn't even let me pitch in the '15 Series! But this year, against the Dodgers..." And young George Ruth stood up. Even though he wore a heavy winter jacket, I thought I detected a brawny chest puff out a bit. "This year, he finally gave me a chance! And I beat those Brooklyn boys! Set a record too!"

The record young George refers to is winning the longest World Series game in history. He went 14 innings - the distance - to beat Sherry Smith and the Dodgers 2-1. Ruth gave up a run in the top of the 1st inning. And no more. Besides thirteen shutout innings, Ruth drove in the tying run in the third on a fielder's choice. And unbeknownst to anyone at the time, it was the beginning of another record - 29 consecutive scoreless innings in World Series play. The young axeman laboring in front of me did have a superlative sophomore season. All he did was throw 320-plus innings, win 23 ballgames, the ERA title, and toss 9 shutouts, an AL record for lefties which stands to this day.

Yes, George, you did have a great year... a spectacular year. But you don't get to pitch every day. You don't get to hit every day either. The boys you would be facing do! And they are good! That kid DiMaggio? He had a sophomore season for the ages. Gehrig... well, he's still Gehrig. And the Yanks even came up with anothe rookie star, a kid named Henrich... they had more hitters than positions to play them!

And then there's the matter of Speaker.

"Damn! Hadda bring that up!"

Tris Speaker, the best centerfielder of all time by some estimates, had been sold before the 1916 seasons began. All Spoke had done was anchor a great defensive outfield in center, batted .322, and led the Sox to the World Title. All he had done in a Boston uniform was hit .337, help the Sox win two titles, and set the standard in centerfield by which all glovemen were measured. And all he got was sold to Cleveland because he refused to take a several-thousand-dollar pay cut. Of course, Boston's problem was Cleveland's pleasure. Tris hit .386 in 1916, led the AL in hits and doubles (like he had for Boston in '14), and carved out the rest of his future Hall of Fame plaque, which includes the all-time doubles record of 792.

"We give away our best player for cash!" George Ruth swings the axe viciously... I wince, hoping he doesn't miss and catch a shin or something. "I mean, money's important, sure... but why be in baseball if you're not in it to win!"

But you did win George. Even without Speaker and his batting title.

"Yeah..." Ruth stops chopping and stands up again. He grins slyly. "We did win, didn't we?" The 21-year-old has tricked me into making his argument for him. His curves and change-ups are as good as his fast one. This is a smart southpaw, not just a strong one. But are you sure you want to do this, young man?

"Bring 'em on!"

Unfortunately for the husky left-hander from Baltimore by way of Boston... the 1937 edition of the New York Yankees proved too powerful for the 1916 Red Sox. The Yanks simply had too many weapons, while the Red Sox, having sold their best player, were severely hamstrung. Besides losing their superstar centerfielder, they saw the Yanks improve in centerfield, simply by watching Joe DiMaggio come of age in his sophomore season. In 1937 the Yankee Clipper drove in 167 runs, which would be a career high. He achieved this tremendous total despite playing in a cavernous Yankee stadium particularly hazardous to right-handed power hitters. In addition, the Yankees came up with a rookie, Tommy Henrich. All he did was hit .320 and knock in 42 in 206 at-bats. Gehrig was still Gehrig, actually having his last season as a healthy man. His 159 RBI, along with DiMag's 167 and Bill Dickey's 133, give the Bronx Bombers 459 from three men... only 91 less than the entire 1916 Red Sox team.

Granted, the 1916 World Champs played in a run-scarce environment, while the 1937 guys played in a run-rich era (AL ERA was 4.62 that year) But then you have Lefty Gomez (21-11, 2.33 ERA) and Red Ruffing (20-7, 2.98) leading a staff whose lead leading ERA (3.65) was half-run better than the 2nd place White Sox.

Red Sox Home Games will be played at Huntington Avenue Grounds:

LF-350ft
LCF-440ft
CF-530ft*
RCF-424ft
RF-280Ft

These will simulate 1916 Fenway Park, which was 500 feet to center field then.

*According to several sources, CF was increased to 635 feet in 1908!

Once again, to simulate the conditions in which the Red Sox played, I played their home games at the Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds, the Sox' home before Fenway. The Sim League Baseball simulator is outstanding. But their 1916 Fenway dimensions are the same as they are today... which is simply not true. It was 480-plus to dead center and 400-plus to straight-away right! I did not know this until I read The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs by Bill Jenkinson.

But the 1937 Yanks proved as adaptable to the 1916 dead-ball game as their 1936 team was (against the 1915 World Champs). Actually more so.

The Yankees put the season away early. They took 9 of 10, 16 of 20, and 32 of 40. Lefty Gomez and Red Ruffing were lights out.

After 40 games:

Gomez...... 6-1.....72 innings.....1.63 ERA
Ruffing...... 6-0.....57-1/3 inn....0.90 ERA 7 RBI

Selkirk..... 2hr 45rbi .376/.536
Gehrig..... 0hr 30rbi .333/.400
Dickey..... 0hr 30rbi .281/.327
Lazzeri.... 1hr 19rbi .257/.316
DiMaggio. 3hr 49rbi .450/.626
Henrich.... 1hr 38rbi .318/.446

Lewis..... 14-2b 30rbi .303/.427
Ruth...... 1hr 5rbi .286/.536
Ruth...... 3-4 80-2/3 inn... 3.98 ERA

Ruth connects for his 1st long one in game 38, a two-run blast into the right-centerfield 1937 Yankee Stadium bleachers. He helps his own cause as he goes the full nine, scattering seven hits and allowing only RBI singles to Dickey and DiMaggio. The 6-2 win is only Boston's eighth, with the Babe earning three of the eight.

The Babe, despite his so-so record, is a horse. He won 6-1 on opening day, singling home two runs himself and allowing only a solo HR to that kid DiMaggio among 4 NY hits. The Babe gets two hits in his 2nd start but rookie Tom Henrich beats him with a 3-run triple, 4-1. He's also bested on the mound by Lefty Gomez, who had mabe his finest year in 1937. Game 16 would illustrate what the Babe and the Bosox face... Ruth goes eight and gives up only two runs. But Lefty goes nine and also yields only two. The Yanks win it in 11, though, 10-5.

The next day, however the Yankee Stadium crowd buzzes quietly as the young Red Sox southpaw enters the game in the 11th inning himself. With the score knotted at 1-1, Babe Ruth comes into the game with two out in the top of the 11th. After retiring the side, Ruth pitches 5 innings of shutout ball, yielding only a single to Bill Dickey in the 16th. Duffy Lewis wins it in the top of the 16th with a run-scoring single, and Ruth retires the Yankees to win 2-1.

Game 21. Huntington Grounds, Boston. Ruth yields only 4 hits, but two walks and a 2B by Rolfe cost him a bitter loss. He collects two hits including a triple, but it's no consolation in a 4-3 defeat.

Game 26. Yankee Stadium, the Bronx. Gehrig doubles and drives in three. That kid DiMaggio doubles and triples. And the Babe is again bested by Gomez, 5-1.

The frustration continues after game 40. Ruth loses 2-1 in game 46. He wins in Boston 5-3 (game 51) despite DiMaggio's 7th three-bagger of the year. And so it goes. The Babe wins some, drops some. And he comes into game 80 with a 7-7 record... pitching for a team that has otherwise gone 20-52.

Then comes game 80.

Yankee Stadium-
Bottom of the 9th:
With the Red Sox leading 1-0, Babe Ruth takes the mound to begin the bottom of the ninth, three outs from victory, and three outs from immortality. He has allowed three base runners in 8 innings:
-A walk to Lou Gehrig in the 5th.
-A walk to Tommy Henrich in the 8th.
-A walk to Tony Lazzeri in the 8th.
And that’s it.

Now in the ninth, Ruth stands on the hill. 53,345 paid attendees stand in the Yankee Stadium stands, cheering. It is hard to tell what they are rooting for. After all, the Yans are down by only one tally.

But when Frank Crosetti leads off with a walk, a good many faithful groan. It is the obvious that at least some want to see some history.

With the Boston infield at double play depth,
R.Rolfe squares and lays down a sacrifice bunt to the right side of the mound. Ruth fields it and throws it to Jack Barry covering first. Crosetti reaches second with one out.
There are more cheers, but it is still not clear why. After all, Rolfe’s successful sacrifice puts Crosetti in scoring position, with two powerful run producers due to get their hacks.

But George Selkirk swings at the first pitch and hits a routine three-hopper to Barry, who throws him out for the second out. The fans explode. Crosetti advances to third with the tying run, but it is apparent that many here are cheering the fact that the Bambino needs one more out to achieve the unthinkable. And the mighty Lou Gehrig stands in his way.

With Frank Crosetti edging off third in foul territory, Ruth pitches from the stretch. After looking over his shoulder at Crosetti, he nods to his catcher and fires a tailing fastball. Gehrig watches it go by. “Stee-riiiike ONE!”

Ruth takes the return throw from catcher Pinch Thomas. He then peers in for the next sign. He nods, checks the runner. He then fires another fastball. This one is a tad higher and a little tighter to Gehrig.

Gehrig swings mightily. The ball flies high in the air, straight up. “I-GOT-IT! I-GOT-IT! I-GOT-IT!” First baseman Dick Hoblitzel comes charging to the right side of the mound, frantically waving his arms as he looks skyward. Then finally he reaches up, and snares the falling ball.

PANDEMONIUM!

Gehrig has popped up for the 27th and final out. Hoblitzel squeezes the ball, and then squeezes his pitcher, hugging him tightly as the rest of the Boston infield quickly joins the fray, jumping, hollering and whooping it up.

And the fans in the Yankee Stadium stands are also jumping, cheering wildly for the arch-rival team’s left-hander. Last year, as a rookie, Ruth had carried a no-no into the 9th in Boston against the 1936 Bombers. As it is today, Ruth’s mound opponent was Lefty Gomez. Gomez was a worthy adversary, then, and he is today, yielding but one run and 7 hits himself. Now, today he yields the stage, his stage, to a fellow left-handed ace.
Amidst the throng of jumping, yelling teammates on the Stadium infield, Ruth manages to glance into the Yankee dugout, where most of the players still are. He spots Gomez, who nods quietly and slightly, touching the bill of his cap. On the mound, the Babe also touches his bill and nods.
When the Bambino finally begins to depart the mound and Yankee Stadium infield, the New York partisan denizens cheer loudly once more. And the Babe responds, tipping his cap in all directions and waving to the roaring throng.

TEAMS......................... 123 456 789 - R H E
1916 Boston Red Sox.... 001 000 000 - 1 7 0
1937 N Y Yankees.........000 000 000 - 0 0 0

A year earlier in this imaginary drama, the rookie Ruth had squared off against Lefty Gomez and the 1936 Yankees, and had come within three outs of no-hitting them in the 93rd game of the season. Now he's a second year left-hander who would win 23 in the actual 1916 season. He would fire 9 shutouts, an AL record for lefties which still stands. He would win the longest game in World Series history 2-1, going the 14 inning distance. And here, he would use the no-hitter as a springboard, turning a 7-7 record into a 22-9 mark with a 3.11 ERA… against the finest aggregate of hitters ever to take the field.

80 Games NY record 52-28 .650
PLAYER........HR.....RBI............BA/SA
Selkirk - 6hr 58rbi .319/.427
Gehrig - 0hr 44rbi .299/.357
Dickey - 4hr 54rbi .306/.394
Lazzeri - 5hr 39rbi .247/.341
DiMaggio - 3hr 75rbi .397/.558
Henrich - 4hr 68rbi .331/.451

Lewis - 30 2b 54rbi .294/.416
Ruth - 2hr 10rbi .290/.500
Ruth - 8-7 166-1/3 innings 3.52 ERA
Gomez - 12-4 129-2/3 innings 1.62ERA
Ruffing - 8-4 115-1/3 innings 2.89 ERA 7 RBI

The two teams travel to Boston, and back 21 years, for game 81. Joe DiMaggio goes 3 for 5, leaving the 2nd year center-fielder at an even .400. Red Ruffing goes 8-2/3 and gives up five runs, but he wins, because Dutch Leonard has a nightmarish outing. By the 5th frame the score is already 8-0. The game was lost. So apparently is the season. And in the 5th, the slaughter continues. Dutch Leonard opens the frame by walking the bases loaded. Then he walks Red Rolfe to force in a run. The Boston faithful boo loudly. Buoyed by the news of Babe Ruth’s no hit classic in New York, they have packed the brand new Fenway Park to see their team. But they have seen only despair. The booing continues as Leonard walks Myril Hoag.

Hoag hadn’t even in the starting line-up. He entered the fray in the bottom of the third 3rd inning. George Selkirk had been ejected in the top of the 3rd for arguing with umpire Bill Klem, after being called out on strikes… and after hitting a two-run homer in the 1st to start the Boston beating.

The five consecutive walks have made the score 10-0. And still a Yankee has yet to hit a ball safely in the frame. Lou Gehrig ends that streak. Swinging at an off-the-plate offering from Leonard, Gehrig, who had a still-record 23 grand slams in his career, nearly hits one now, lining a double to deep right that clears the bases. It would have been a triple except Lou, with a healthy respect for baseball, glides into second standing up and stays there. Joe DiMaggio then swing at the first pitch and hits a dribbler to SS Everett Scott. Scott can do nothing with it, so DiMag reaches first, and Gehrig stops at third. Then Bill Dickey draws the 6th walk of the inning to reload the bases. In the dugout, Rough Carrigan fumes. Then Tommy Henrich swings at the first pitch from Leonard and lines out to short. It’s a frozen rope, but the first out of the inning. “Who wants to pitch?” Barks Carrigan in the dugout.
“Me!” Barks back a husky voice.

“Babe… you can’t pitch. It’s only been two days!”
“It’s only been five for Dutch!” shot back the Bambino. “How’s he doing? He might need police protection if he tries to leave the mound!” Carrigan smiles, for the 1st time since the 1st inning.
“How long you need to loosen up? I’ll tell Klem that Dutch is injured…”
“I’ll warm up against Lazzeri!” Barked the Babe again. Again Carrigan smiled. “Bill…go easy on Dutch. We’ve all had those days.”
“I know Babe.”

The Babe grabs his glove and heads out of the dugout. At the first sight of him, the Fenway faithful roars, their booing turning to joyous pandemonium. Ruth walks slowly out to the mound. There he takes the ball from Dutch Leonard.
“It might not look like it, Babe. But I was trying. Trying hard.”
“I know, Dutch. Pitching to these guys is like tossing lamb chops to a pack of lions. When you leave the mound, walk like you struck out the side.”
Ruth took the ball from Leonard. As Dutch departed there were mixed boos and cheers. Leonard indeed walked with his head up, and indeed tipped his cap unsmilingly at the Boston throng. Amazingly enough, the booing lessened, as if the Red Sox fans knew that Leonard was acknowledging his responsibility for the mess.

On the mound, the 21-year old Ruth began to warm up. And the Fenway fans began to cheer once more. Ruth threw only five warm-up tosses. Then he waved to Klem that he was ready. With the bases full of Yankees, who were now leading 13-0, Ruth went to the full wind-up.

Tony Lazzeri settled into the batters’ box. He swung at a tailing fastball and hit a grounder to second baseman Jack Barry. Barry, who won 3 World Series emblems with the Philadelphia Athletics and two more with the Red Sox, fumbles the grounder. Gehrig scores the 14th run as all hands are safe. Barry dejectedly brings the ball to Ruth on the mound.

“Relax, Jack. Either we’ll retire the side or it’ll get dark.” Barry grinned and trotted back to second. Pitcher Red Ruffing, a good hitter, was next. “Hey, Red!” Ruth shouted to the plate. “You know what this is like, don’t you?” Ruffing, a hard-boiled competitor who indeed toiled for lousy Red Sox teams before he found success as a Yankee, grinned and nodded. Then he lifted a fly ball to left field. Hooper caught it. Lou Gehrig ran home as Hooper’s throw was off-line. Yanks 15, Sox 0. Two out. Then Frank Crosetti also hit a fly to left. Hooper again squeezed it. The Fenway faithful rose and gave the 21-year old southpaw a standing ovation as he departed the mound. But he headed toward the visiting Yankee dugout.

“Fellas! I want your word. You’re gonna play your damnest! Got it?” Yankee manager Joe McCarthy nodded. “You heard him, boys!”
Ruth finished the game, pitching four more innings of two-hit, shutout ball. He also hit a run-scoring double in the 9th to close the gap to 15-4. Moments later the game was over, final, 15-5.

“Babe, that was even more impressive than the no-hitter in New York.” Said Yankee manager Joe McCarthy.

“Joe, these fans have been through a lot. They paid to see our best. Today our best was awful. I just thought they deserved a little something back…”
“You gave ‘em plenty.” Then McCarthy’s voice got a little husky as the men shook hands. “And I know you gave us plenty too.” McCarthy gestured toward the Yankee dugout. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Skip!” Ruth grinned and winked. Maybe we’ll re-unite the ’32 gang. That was fun wasn’t it?”
“Yep. You helped me get even with the Cubs for canning me. I never thanked you properly.”
“You’re welcome.” Babe winked again. “Let’s do it again real soon!”

Game 93. Huntington Avenue Grounds, Boston. Joe DiMaggio goes 4 for 6 to push his average back up to .398. But the game goes into overtime knotted 6-6. The Beantown faithful cheer when George Ruth takes the mound to start the 11th. They cheer more when he sets down the Yanks in the 11th and the 12th. And they cheer the loudest when the Babe sigles home the winning run in the bottom of the 12th.

Game 115. Huntington Avenue Grounds, Boston.
“That was some of the smartest, gutsiest pitching you’ll ever see from anyone, let alone a 21-year old.” Mused Yankee skipper Joe McCarthy. With two out and two on in the 1st, Ruth intentionally walked Joe DiMaggio to load the bases. Then the Babe induced Bill Dickey to hit a bouncer to Larry Gardner at 3B. Gardner picked up the grounder, stepped on third, and the Yanks did not score. Boston goes onto win 4-2. Ruth improves to 16-7, winning his 9th straight since tossing the no-hitter at Yankee Stadium (game 80).

Game 123. Huntington Avenue Grounds, Boston.
Joe DiMaggio drives in half-a-dozen. The Yankee Clipper might have had even more. In the top of the 1st with the bases jammed, Joe hit a mammoth shot to deep left. But deep left in the Huntington Avenue grounds is really deep… 424 to left-center. What might have been a grand-slam or at least a double was just a very loud sac-fly. Nevertheless the 23-year-old belts his 17th triple to go with a single and double. The Yanks win big, 13-3. Lefty Gomez goes 18-5, goes the distance, and his ERA actually rises... to 1.87.

Game 140. Yankee Stadium, the Bronx. The Babe wins his 20th game in unorthodox fashion. He enters the game in 9th with the Red Sox trailing 9-6. He singles as part of a two out, four run rally to overtake the Yankees. Then he retires the Yanks for the victory. Despite the Red Sox sporting a dismal 52-88 record, the sophomore southpaw has beaten the two NY aces to the 20-win plateau. The workhorse lefty has thrown 283 innings. He's batting .330, and his slugging mark of .547 is the highest on both squads. True, it's in limited plate appearances. But also true, it's also while going 20-9.


154 Games (Final)
1937 Yankees defeat 1916 Red Sox 99-55 .643

Selkirk - 13hr 117rbi .307/.414
Gehrig - 3hr 108rbi .323/.409
Dickey - 9hr 101rbi .305/.399
Lazzeri - 8hr 69rbi .262/.344
DiMaggio - 8hr 138rbi .367/.527
Henrich - 8hr 114rbi .294/.417
Lewis - 56db 6-3b 103rbi .304/.417
Ruth - 4hr 20rbi .327/.558

Ruth - 22-9 309 innings 3.11 ERA
Gomez 22-7 287-1/3 innings 2.35 ERA
Ruffing 18-5 233 innings 2.96 ERA 14 RBI

In the final analysis, Joe DiMaggio leads the NY attack as he did in 1937. Coping with two massive ballparks, the young Clipper hits only 8 homers but smacks 21 triples. Duffy Lewis manfully tried to take up the offensive slack left by Hall-of-Famer Tris Speaker's departure. Fifty-six doubles and six triples make for a great season. But off course the 1915 Sox had Lewis AND Speaker. Even in our imaginary matchup, Lewis had 115 RBI in 1915 and 103 RBI here a year later. But Speaker's 24 doubles, 83 RBI and .327 average are no longer available to help.

The Boston faithful don't know it at this time, of course, but their dynasty is crumbling. And contrary to popular legend, the destruction didn't all happen when Harry Frazee bought the team and sold off all its stars. For most of the 1st half of the 20th century, baseball's all-time consensus dream-time outfield was Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker and Babe Ruth. Unbeknownst to the Red Sox fans at the time, they had in their midst two-thirds of this mythical outfield right under their noses... only to be sold for cash.