Red Sox left-hander throws a few pitches close.
"I didn't hit anybody, did I?"
The usually genial rookie is truculent as he posts his rhetorical question. But the 20-year old southpaw makes a valid point. He threw close enough to shave every starter in the Yankee line-up... even pitcher Lefty Gomez... but plunked no one.
"How many did I walk today?" Ruth queries. The answer is six. All appear intentional, unorthodox. On each of the six bases-on-balls issued, the Babe misses inside. Several hitters spin away or move back. Some even come on ball four. But none of the Yanks are actually hit. All just glare at the big kid on the mound as they take their base. He glares back, not blinking, just rubbing up the baseball. Then he returns to the rubber, takes the stretch position, and awaits the next sign from catcher Forrest Cady.
"How many of them runners scored?" The Babe grins for the first time. The answer as he knows - as everyone knows - is none...zero...zilch. None of the six men walked even got as far as second base. Young Babe Ruth was in complete control through seven innings. When Bill Carrigan came out to remove him with two out in the eighth, he did so with the game secure, a 6-0 Boston lead. By then, the rookie southpaw had thrown 115 pitches. Several of them were message senders to the New Yorkers... 'purpose' pitches. Which is why Carrigan is smiling when he comes to the mound and takes the ball from his young hurler.
"Great job, Babe. Take the rest of the afternoon off. We've got this one."
The Babe hands the ball to his skipper, who says, "And thanks for standing up for Duffy." The Babe departs the Yankee Stadium mound to loud boos. The 34,898 New York partisans do not like seeing their line-up brushed back, unsettled, uncomfortable... and unproductive. Ruth resists the temptation to tip his cap to the booing crowd. Instead he is content to walk into the Red Sox dugout. To a man, the Boston bench stands up to shake his hand, recognizing that the youngster from the Baltimore streets had gone to bat for his oft-plunked teammate and RBI leader, Duffy Lewis. And had sent a message to the other side without, as Carrigan had requested, costing his team the game, which ended 6-2 in Boston's favor.
"You all saw a boy-wonder come of age today," said Bill Carrigan after the game. "That 'big kid from Baltimore' stuff won't work any more. He's a big man from Boston now. And he is no longer a rookie."
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