You all know who they are!
The 1894 Philadelphia Phillies
Four .400 hitters!
Billy Hamilton CF .403 (Hall of Fame)
Tuck Turner LF .418
Sam Thompson RF .415 (Hall 0f Fame)
Ed Delahanty 1B-OF .404 (Hall of Fame)
Plus...Lave Cross 3B .386
Jack Clements C .351 (Last lefty-throwing catcher)
Mike Grady C .363 (Righty in one tough catching platoon!)
Team Batting Average .350!
The teams will square off for 154 games, alternating 5-game series. The 1894 Phillies home park is the Baker Bowl in Philadelphia, circa 1894. But The Yankees home field will NOT be 1927 Yankee Stadium! Surprise! The Yanks will host their games at 1903 Hilltop Park in Manhattan! Of course, this is the original site of the original New York Highlanders, who opened shop in nineteen-ought-three.
Why the change in venue?
"We want to see how things go with the deeper fences, pal?" Says the One and Only Bambino. "Everybody knows we hit a lot of homers in '27. We wanna see what happens when you push the fences back a little." The Babe grins. "Besides, we play half our games in Baker Bowl. Your younger readers probably have no idea what that was!"
Tell them, Babe...
"Certainly. It was a hitter's heaven. Left Field only 350 feet... 375 to the alley. Four-hundred or so to center. Then... 300 to right-center... to the alley! And two-eighty down the line. And a big, tall 60 foot high tin fence from RF all the way over to center! I might throw a few guys out at first! And Gehrig, they way he hits 'em... he might put holes in that thing - or knock it down!" But then the Babe winked. "But don't forget. Those Phillies? They can hit, hit, hit! Our pitchers are gonna need headache powder. And the rest of us... we're gonna be running a lot... in the field and on the bases!"
Anything else?
"Yeah, kid! Get your tickets early! Remember, Baker Bowl only seats 20,000 or so. Same with Hilltop Park. We'll allow standing in the outfield and in foul ground. That's what we did back then. But not too many! And if you DO get in, don't leave early! You'll miss something if you do!"
Thanks, Babe!
Then the Bambino's grin softened. And his voice did too, kind of like Doc Graham in Field of Dreams... "No, kid. Thank you."
Opening Day! Phillies Romp 17-4 with 10 in the 8th!
Baker Bowl, Philadelphia 1894.
Twenty-six thousand Philadelphians are shoe-horned into a ballpark built to hold 20,000. Some stand in front of the CF clubhouse. Most stand in foul territory. All fix their eyes on the field. Nobody leaves early. None are disappointed.
The Yankees seize control early. Lazzeri, Dugan and Lou Gehrig jump on Philly starter Jack Taylor for four runs early, three in a 2nd inning highlighted by a booming Gehrig triple to left-center. But Taylor settles down and battles the vaunted Murderer's Row. And his own mates show how they led the NL in hitting in 1894. The Phils score one in the 3rd and three in the 5th to tie it, knocking Yankee ace Waite Hoyt out of the box. By the middle of the eighth, Philadelphia has taken a 7-4 lead and the fans' cheers are deafening.
And Philly is just getting started.
In the 8th the first three Phillies all single to load the bases for Big Sam Thompson, a .415 hitter in 1894 and a .331 hitter for a sterling 15 year career. Yankee relief ace Wilcy Moore jams Big Sam, who pops up to shallow right-center. The Babe snares it and fires the ball back to the infield. But then Moore walks Big Ed Delahanty on a 3-2 curve, forcing in the 8th Philly run. Next is third-sacker Lave Cross. He belts one to deep center, back, back, back. The knowledgeable fans in CF move out of the way, forcing Earle Combs to give chase all the way to the wall. For Cross it's a 3-run triple, with Billy Hamilton, Tuck Turner and Ed Delahanty all denting the dish to put the Phillies in front 11-4.
To the roaring delight of the Philadelphia Faithful, Yankee skipper removes Wilcy Moore in favor of Joe Giard. Giard quiets the crowd somewhat by retiring catcher Mike Grady on a groundout to Gehrig unassisted for the second out. But the crowd gets noisy when SS Bill Hallman singles home Cross (12-4). After SS Joe Sullivan singles, Huggins then sends in Bob Shawkey. Philly relief pitcher George Haddock, who opened the inning with a single, does it again, singling home Hallman (13-4). A Lazzeri error, two more walks and a 2-run single from Big Ed Delahanty complete the carnage. Fourteen men bat in the inning. Ten runs score on Three walks and eight hits plus the Lazzeri error. The inning ends 17-4. As does the game minutes later. And 26,000 Philadelphians go home deliriously happy.
1894 Phillies Win First Series Over 1927 Yanks!
Phillies take decisive 5th game 13-12. Attendance 126,000 for 5 games.
After Philadelphia's shocking mauling of the '27 champs to open the season, demand for tickets reached a fevered pitch. Game two saw another packed house. Twenty-two thousand watched the first home run of the season leave the yard, smacked by (who else?) Babe Ruth. Ruth and Gehrig each hit safely three times... Gehrig with a double and a triple. BUT... Philly came away with the win again, 5-2. Young 21-year old Tuck Turner, a switch-hitting wonder from Staten Island, knocked in three himself.
Game three saw the Yanks finally break through, 6-0. Herb Pennock pitched a masterpiece, scattering eight hits over eight shutout innings over the powerful Philly line-up - only Bob Hallman got as far as second base. The Bambino was walked four times. The only time he got to swing he smacked his 2nd homer as many days. Gehrig and catcher Pat Collins each doubled twice. Game four? The Babe homered again (3rd in three days) as the Yanks won 5-3.
That set up the 5th game as the rubber match, and boy did the two teams rub! Nine innings, twenty five runs! And the Phils squeaked by in a baseball version of a pier-front brawl, 13-12. The Babe made it four homers in four days and Poosh-em-up Tony Lazzeri drove in four. But so did the white-hot Phillies third-baseman Lave Cross, whose four gives him nine for the young five game season. Hall of Famer Sam Thompson lines four hits and knocks in two... as does young Tuck Turner and Sliding Billy Hamilton. Philadelphia heads to the Big Apple with a 3-2 early season record.
Hilltop Park
Washington Heights, Manhattan, NY.
LF 365 ft LCF 378 ft CF 542 ft RCF 471 ft RF 400 ft
That's some power alley you've got there Babe!
"Actually kid... they didn't shorten the fences for me. They shortened the fences for everybody else because of me. Cobb was an SOB at times, but he was right. He wasn't against home runs. He was against cheap home runs... he felt making home runs too easy cheapened the game. He had a point."
So you like Hilltop?
"Like it? I love it! Beautiful view of the Hudson River behind the stands. Broadway behind me in right field. And actually, it's not much deeper than Yankee Stadium... just reverse. The righties get a little break. But Lou and me... we'll be alright. Actually Lou will do great... the way he hits those hard low liners... those Philly outfielders will be running their butts off. Of course, the way they all hit... so will we! It'll be great. Don't miss it pal!"
Hilltop Park view behind right-centerfield
Phillies Win 2nd Series... in Big Apple!
Yanks win 1st game 7-5.
The Yanks enjoy the homecoming and the home cooking, squaring the season in their home opener by winning 7-5. Waite Hoyt picks up his first win but relief ace Wilcy Moore gets roughed up. Bob Shawkey has to come on an pick up the save. Ruth and Koenig got three safeties apiece, while the Babe, Lou and Bob Meusel, the three-four-five hitters, drove in two each.
Phighting Phillies roar back and win three straight!
The scores... 10-4, 12-10, and 13-10... tell the rabid New York fans and the players themselves, what kind of a battle this season is gonna be. The Babe hits two long homers (numbers 6 and 7). But the Phillies savage attack lays the Yankee pitching staff (the AL best in 1927) to waste. Third baseman Lave Cross leads the way. He drives in 12 in the three games, on 12 hits! The Phillies clinch the five game series in Game 9 and boast a 6-3 record on the young season.
The Yanks salvage the wild 10th game, 12-11!
The Bambino is red hot, slamming his 7th bomb in 10 games. Phillie third-sacker Lave Cross collects four more hits and three more RBIs for a ridiculous ten game total of 26! But it's two Yankee 'super-subs', Ben Paschal and Mike Gazella, who step up. Paschal, spelling Hall of Famer EarleCombs in centerfield, goes only 1 for 6, but it's a big 'one'... a bases-loaded, bases-clearing double to deep right-center. Gazella, hitting second and spelling Mark Koenig, goes two for four with two walks and three runs. He triples in the 1st and scores ahead of a 500 foot Babe Ruth blast over the wall in deep right-center. Gazella homers himself in the 7th. Then with the Yanks trailing 11-10 in the bottom of the 9th he draws his 2nd walk of the game, and advances to third on a Babe Ruth single. Ruth then takes 2nd as the Phillie catcher holds Gazella, the tying run, at third. But then Bob Meusel lines a single to center. Gazella scores easily, and the Babe charges around third with the winning run in his spikes. With the crowd roaring, Billy Hamilton fires a strong, true peg from center. The Babe executes a nifty backdoor slide past the catcher, nearly upending umpire Bill Klem, who nonetheless sees Ruth's toe beat the ball. "SAAAAAAAFE!"
Pandemonium! The Yanks triumph, 12-11. But the season goes back to Philadelphia, with Philadelphia sporting a 6-4 record. Big Sam Thompson is hitting .467, with Slidin' Billy Hamilton close by at .452. For the Yankees it's Columbia Lou Gehrig at .417. Meusel (14) and Ruth (13) pace the Murderer's Row in RBIs... great ten game totals. Yet together, they are only one ahead of the torrid Lave Cross, ripping the cover off the ball at a .551 clip and 26 ribbies!
Yankees Take Five in Philly!
Win 6 straight after 3-6 start.
Manager Miller Huggins sat slumping Earle Combs (.211) and Mark Koenig (.205) and slotted Ben Paschal and Mile Gazella in their places. He was rewarded for his moves. After 15 games, Gazella sits at .424 while Paschal rips the ball at a .364 clip - with power. Gehrig (.413 and 16 RBI) and Meusel (.388 and 23 RBI) are also red hot. And of course the Bambino has bombed nine HRs and knocked home 19 himself.
Game 14
Baker Bowl, Philadelphia. Attendance: 23,434
NYY - 5 5 0 0 0 6 0 3 1 - 20 23 2
Phila- 6 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 - 12 20 2
Pat Collins Rolls a Seven!
The game started quickly - and then picked up steam. Two powerful line-ups... one tiny ballpark... explosions! The Yanks struck first with five and said take that. The Phillies answered with six and said take that!
It never let up. By the 9th New York had things in hand with a 20-9 lead. No one told the Phils, who went down swinging with three to close it out. And in between, 23,00 Phillie Phans had a blast.
Yankee catcher Pat Collins, mired in season-long slumber, awakens with a 3-run homer in the first to give the Yanks that 5-0 lead. Meusel haad singled home super-subs Paschal and Gazella earlier.
But ten Phillies bat in the home 1st. Billy Hamilton made the 1st and 3rd outs. But in between, Big Ed Delahanty, 2nd baseman Bill Hallman, shortstop Jack Sullivan and even pitcher Jack Taylor each knock in runs, with Taylor's single putting the Phils in front 6-5.
In the 2nd inning Pat Collins didn't leave the park. But his bases loaded double plates three more just the same and gives the Yanks a 10-6 lead they would not relinquish. Phillie pitcher Taylor hangs in there as long as he can and even helps again at the bat with a run-scoring double. But the Yanks jump all over Taylor and two relievers, scoring 6 in the 6th with Collins, Paschal, Gazella and even Earle Combs (pinch-hitting) knocking home runs.
The Phils did not go quietly. After Delahanty, young Tuck Turner and white hot Lave Cross all knocked in runs, Bill Hallman ended the game by lining a rifle-shot right to his counterpart at second, Mike Gazella.
Game 16. Hilltop Park, Manhattan NY. 1903.
PHI 4 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 2 - 12 15 2
NYY 2 0 0 0 4 0 5 3 x - 14 11 1
With the two squads battling at huge Hilltop Park, home runs were hard to come by. But line-drives in huge gaps made for an entertaining game for 32,000 SRO NY fans, who lined the foul area and the deepest parts of the outfield. Lave Cross knocked in 5 for the 4TH time this season!), while supersubs Gazella and Paschal each drove in three. Down 10-6 after six, the Yanks roared back with eight, then held off Philly in the 9th.
Game 17. The game was pretty much decided by the 6th. New York held a 10-2 stranglehold on Philadelphia. After the white-hot Lave Cross gave the Phila a lead with an RBI single in the top of the 1st, the Yankees, even with the Bambino resting for the 1st time this season, slammed Philly pitching for six runs. Gehrig singled home Earle Combs, starting for the 1st time in 12 games. After Meusel walked to load the bases, Tony Lazzeri unloaded them with a long double to the huge Hilltop Park, CF. giving NY a 4-1 edge. Pat Collins fattened that up with a 2-run HR to left-center, clearing the 378 foot gap, which for Collins and all righty batters, is actually a relief from the Yankee stadium 470-plus death valley of 1927. The Yanks padded their lead until they led 10-1 after four.
Then in the 6th Miller Huggins decided that at 90 pitches, Dutch Ruether had done enough. So he looked around his bench for a pinch-hitter. His usual first choice, Ben Paschal, was in RF, due to his .375 average. Of course, that left the man he replaced sitting right near Huggins, enjoying the Yankee rout. “Babe! Wanna hit?”
“Sure, Hug!” Pandemonium!
There were no PA systems in 1903. No numbers on players backs. Yet when the big slugger from Baltimore grabbed his bat the ovation started. When he reache the on-deck circle it was a steady roar. And when Ruth brough his .323 average, 9 HRs and 20 RBIs to the plate, it was deafening.
“So…” says the Babe to home plate ump Bill Klem, “If I hit it into the crowd in the outfield, it’s only a double?” Klem grinned. The crowd Babe referred to stood 500 feet from home plate. “No one’s done that yet, Babe.”
Jack Taylor, who had relieved Gus Weyhing in the 5th, fired an outside fastball, hoping an over-anxious Ruth would reach for it. Taylor got his wish. Ruth swung. The audible crack was heard, followed by a collective (31,000) gasp from the SRO crowd. Then the crowd's roar built back up, as if carrying the ball on its flight, rocketing to dead centerfield… perhaps 50 feet over CF Billy Hamilton who at first gave chase… heading toward the fans standing in deepest CF… descending slightly but still with enough thrust to carry over the fans’ heads and the fence, approximately 542 feet away. The ball was still 25 or so feet high as it did. Hamilton had long since stopped giving chase, and now was just one of many spectators witnessing what many would have thought inhumanly possible… knocking one clear out of Hilltop Park in dead CF.
Game 18. The Yanks are enjoying an 8-game winning streak after a 4-6 start.
PHI 2 0 1 0 0 0 6 7 0 - 16 17 0
NYY 0 0 1 0 3 1 6 2 0 - 13 16 3
Hall of Famer Sam Thompson spearheads a six-run 7th with a 3-run double. They enjoy a 9-5 lead for exactly one-half inning. The Yanks answer with six of their own. They do not hit the ball particularly hard. After Gehrig bloops a run-scoring single, George Haddock walks three consecutive Yankees, forcing home two runs. Phillies skipper Art Irwin brings in right-hander Nixey Callahan. He fans SS Mike Gazella, who has seen a lot of playing time with Mark Koenig off to a slow start (.205 after 10 games). Gazella himself has seized the opportunity, batting .424 after 15 Yankees games. Today Huggins has slotted Gazella in at 3rd, spelling the aging Joe Dugan. After Gazella strikes out Callahan walks pinch-hitter Ray Morehart, forcing in yet another run and tying the game at nine. Leadoff man Earle Combs hits into a fielder's choice, scoring Tony Lazzeri with the go-ahead run. Mark Koenig, who is snapping out of his slump with a four hit day, bloops a run scoring single to left-center. NY leads 11-9.
Not for long.
Mike Grady hits Yankee reliever Joe Giard's first pitch into the huge Hilltop Park right-centerfield gap for a triple. SS Bill Hallman drives him in with a grounder to first. And the Phils are off and running... and hitting. Like the Yanks they do not hit the ball paticularly hard. Two infield singles and a walk to switch-hitter Tuck Turner score another run. Sam Thompson knocks one in with a sac fly. Manager Miller Huggins has .400 hitter Ed Delahanty intentionally walked to load the bases. White-hot Lave Cross then unloads them, lofting a double into that huge right-centerfield gap. Mike Grady, who started the scoring, finishes it, blooping a single to center to plate Cross with the 7th tally of the fame, and 13th in the last two. It's enough to hold off the Yanks for a final 16-13 score.
After 20 Games Yankees hold 12-8 season record
PLAYER..... BA/SA HR RBI
Combs....... .242/.339 0 4
Koenig....... .303/.455 1 10
Ruth.......... .329/.756 10 25
Gehrig....... .453/.814 4 24
Meusel...... .415/.585 1 28
Lazzeri...... .337/.628 2 24
Collins....... .273/.442 2 27
Dugan....... .271/.357 0 3
Paschal..... .356/.610 2 11
Gazella..... .420/.620 1 1
(11 starts) .508 OBA 9W 18R
Hamilton...... .494/.658 1 10 11SB
Turner......... .347/.449 0 22
Thompson... .340/.429 0 22
Delahanty.... .372/.410 0 15
Cross.......... .452/.559 0 42
Clement...... .313/.458 0 9
Grady......... .425/.600 0 8
Fast forward to games 46-48.
The Yankees have seized control of the season. After 45 games they are 29-16. But they haven't seized control of the never-say-die attitude of the 1894 Phils. And both teams' fans know it, packing the Baker Bowl in Philadelphia and Hilltop Park in Manhattan. And the next three games illustrate why. Philadelphia outscores the Yankees 56-31, winning all three to open and clinch a 5-game series. Game 46 is a relatively routine 10-7 affair. Lou Gehrig goes four-for-four with three doubles, a triple and three RBI to give him 66 RBI in 46 games. Though quite a grand total, he trails teammate Bob Meusel (68). But Philly prevails. And they're just getting wamed up. They win 21-12 (game 47). Tuck Turner collects six hits. This helps Big Sam Thompson, hitting third in the order behind him, to drive in six runs with two triples and a home run among his five safeties.
Phila... 3 4 1 0 0 10 1 0 2 - 21 30 2
NYY.... 2 0 2 0 0 0 5 0 3 - 12 16 2
Thompson's triples both come in Philadelphia's ten run 6th. Both score Turner. And each time Thompson score on hits by clean-up man Ed Delahanty.
The next day Gehrig and Meusel resume their RBI battle, driving home three apiece. The NY crowd scarcely notices, of course, because the Yanks take an even worse beating at the hands of the Phillies.
Phila..... 1 8 2 4 0 4 3 3 0 – 25 25 2
NYY...... 4 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 5 – 12 12 5
Sam Thompson again goes five-for-seven, and again collects 12 total bases. This time it's three doubles, two triples and nine RBI. Tuck Turner knocks in five more. Jack Clements, the lefty-throwing, lefty-hitting catcher in a monster platoon, plates four more. The Philly attack is deadly, systematic and relentless. They lead 15-4 after four. When the Yanks show signs of life with three in the 5th, Philadelphia drops ten more on the Yanks to club them into submission.
The Phils make it four straight with a 14-1o win in game 49. This one is a back-and-forth brawl.
Phila 3 0 3 0 4 3 1 0 0 - 14 21 1
NYY 4 1 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 - 10 16 0
Lave Cross' 2-run homer gives Philly a quick 3-0 lead. The Yanks answer with a barrage of singles to go up by one. In the 3rd, Cross doubles home two more to put the Phils up 6-5. But again NY takes a page out of Philadelphia's playbook, scoring three on six singles. The four runs Philadelphia scores in the 5th all come after the first two batters, Delahanty and Cross, are retired. Clements draws a walk, steals 2nd, and ignites a 4-run rally. The Phils salt things away in the 6th. Again, all the scoring occurs with two away. Three consecutive RBI singles from SS Bill Hallman, P Jack Taylor, and CF Billy Hamilton prove enough to subdue the mighty '27 Yankees for the 4th straight afternoon.
The Yanks get some consolation by salvaging one win in the five game set. They do it in a big way, 16-7. Ruth hits his 21st home run. Gehri hits his 14th, along with his 9th triple and two singles. He drives home five to give him 75 in 50 games... one shy of teammate Bob Meusel. George Pipgras ups his record 6-1 with a 4.63 ERA, which against this Philadelphia bunch, is phenomenal. In a losing cause, Sam Thompson smacks out four hits including a double and home run. His 4 RBI give him 73, and he has finally over tied teammate Lave Cross for the team lead.
50 Games Yankees lead season 30-20
PLAYER BA/SA HR RBI
Combs.... .326/.511 2 27
Koenig..... .339/.484 4 42
Ruth..... .347/.752 21 65(15)
Gehrig... .433/.843 14 75(25)
Meusel... .364/.622 5 76(20)
Lazzeri... .318/.544 8 57
Collins.... .297/.436 5 57(12)
Dugan... .350/.460 0 23
Paschal... .379/.672 3 21 (17starts)
Gazella... .333/.522 1 13
(18 starts) .412 OBA 12BB 23R
Hamilton... .425/.539 1 25 24SB
Turner... .404/.482 0 58
Thompson.. .410/.644 3 73(28)
Delahanty.. .377/.498 2 43
Cross..... .396/.513 1 73
Clement..... .308/.419 2 19
Grady........ .394/.532 0 18
Hot Streaks:
Lou Gehrig - Last 11g; 10 HR 34 RBI (29-54) .537, 75 TB 1.389 SA
Sam Thompson - Last 12g; 2HR 32 RBI 2HR (32-62) .537 BA, 63 TB 1.016 SA
To recap, the Yanks started 3-6. They then ripped off eight straight. After that, the two squads split 16 games. The Yanks then went 13-8. Thus the teams are virtually even except for that 8-game streak.
Game 51 is the Lou Gehrig show. Six hits in six tries. Sixteen total bases. One double. Three home runs. And NINE (9!) driven in. His 6th hit is his 100th of the season. His average is a ridiculous .448. And his monster afternoon spearheads a 22-11 whipping of the Phighting Phillies. Waite Hoyt improves to 5-0 on the season. His 4.54 ERA, like that of Pipgras, must be respected in the context of the season. After all, relief ace Wilcy Moore, who led the AL in '27*, sports a 5.76 mark after working 2-1/3 innings this afternoon (and yielding 2 earned runs). After the game, Silent Bob Meusel wryly smiles. "If Lou wanted the RBI title so badly, all he had to do was say so."
*As a sidenote, and to re-iterate the '27 Yankees dominance over an overmatched league, the originally recognized winner of the ERA title in 1927 was NY ace Waite Hoyt, with a 2.56 mark. The rules of the time dictated a certain number of complete games to win the ERA title. Relievers were largely considered extras in those days, necessary also-rans. Wilcy Moore was much more than that. He went 19-7, pitched 200-plus innings, pretty much whenever Miller Huggins needed him to, and shut down the AL to the tune of a 2.28 ERA. The baseball stat gods went back and refigured things under the current rules, which required one inning pitched for each game played... 154 in 1927. Thus Wilcy Moore is now recognized as the 1927 ERA champ. As much as I am glad that Moore gets some much deserved applause, I am personally opposed to taking away titles from long-gone stars... but as a Yankee fan, delighted that they could boast two ERA champs on the same squad!
NYY 2 0 1 4 6 5 4 0 0 - 22 20 0
Phila 4 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 2 - 11 16 2
Lou Gehrig’s 3HR, 9RBI day
1st: 2-run HR to right-center. 2 RBI
3rd: Double down RF line.
4th: Solo HR to LF. 1 RBI (3 total)
5th: 3-run HR to left-center. 3 RBI (6 total).
6th: 2-run single to RF. 2 RBI (8 total).
7th: RBI single to RF. RBI (9 total).
9th: Walk.
Gehrig homered again the next day, but Philly prevailed 3-2 with Big Ed Delahanty plating two with a double ad Lave Cross plating his 75th o a single. Game 53 saw things get wild again as Philadelphia delighted the Baker Bowl bunch with a 15-11 win. Ben Paschal, another Yankee supersub, collects three hits including his 15th double. The other supersub Mike Gazella goes 3-for-5. But a balanced attack beats NY. Eight different Phillies drive in runs. 21-year old Tuck Turner, the wonder from Staten Island, leads with three, going 4-6 to raise his average to .406!
The details of game 53:
NYY 0 1 0 5 2 1 1 0 1 - 11 20 3
Phila 0 0 0 6 3 4 1 1 x - 15 20 1
In the 4th the Yanks put up a 5-spot to seemingly take control. Collins doubled in two. Ben Paschal singled home Collins. Mike Gazella, who lined out 3 hits subbing for Joe Dugan, scored on a wild pitch from hurlerGeorge Harper. And finally Koenig brought home Paschal with a line shot single to RF. The Yanks were up 6-0.
But in the bottom of the inning the Phillies delighted their crowd of 19,000 by fighting back. The big blow was a bases-loaded, bases clearing 3-run double from SS Joe Sullivan. RBI singles from Sam Thompson, Tuck Turner and catcher Mike Grade helped knot the game at 6-6.
The two offensive machines duked it out from then on. Reliever Myles Thomas and SS Mark Koenig put the Yanks back on top in the 5th with run scoring hits. But Philadelphia countered with three… their reliever Kit Carsey, Billy Hamiton and Tuck Turner all singling home teammates. Score: 9-8 Philadelphia.
Pat Collins tied it in the 6th with a single bringing in Meusel, but the Phillies seized control with 4 runs on 4 hits in their half. Lave Cross snapped the tie by driving in Big Ed Delahanty, who had led off the game by greeting relif ace Wicy Moore with a triple near the CF clubhouse. The Phils roughed up Moore, and Bob Shawkey after him, with Billy Hamilton driving in the 4th tally. With the score 13-9 Philadelphia, hurlers Nixey Callahan and John Johnson are able to slow the NY offense down enough to hold on for a wild win.
Game 54 sees Philadelphia clinch the 5-game set in Philly. Thriller? Try 14-13... in thirteen innings. The Babe did not start. But he came off the bench to slam a two-run homer, 444 to straight-away center in the top of the 13th, seemingly to win it. It was his 23rd. Gehrig hit his 20th, smacked out three other hits and drove home three. It wasn't enough. Because Big Ed Delahanty had his biggest day thus far. The Hall-of-Famer slammed out six hits, including two doubles, and drove in eight! His last two came on a game-winning double to deep center in the home 13th. That magic hit put Ed at an even .400 on the year... the 5th Phillie to be at or above .400. Not really a stretch since they really had four in '94! The 'extra' .400 man here is Lave Cross, who limped home in '94 at a mere .386, but is raking at a .408 right here!
Philly wins again (9-7) to take the 5-game stint at Baker Bowl, 4 games to 1. Thus, Philadelphia again shows its resolve, getting off the mat after a 22-11 mauling and taking four straight from the greatest aggregate ever assembled. Back in NY, the Phils make it 5 of 6. Again an extra-inning slug-party... ten innings with a 13-12 final!
Phila 3 0 2 3 1 0 1 0 0 3 – 13 24 1
NYY 0 0 0 3 2 0 3 0 2 2 – 12 19 0
It was tied 10-10 in the 10th! Then...
Billy Hamilton opens the Philly tenth with his 5th hit, a single to center. He promptly swipes his 28th base of the year. Tuck Turner then lines a single to right-center. Ruth cuts it off and fires a relay to Lazzeri, who turns and fires home. The ball beats the swift Hamilton but a nifty back-door slide… SAAAAFE! Turner takes 2nd on the throw. Jor Giard relieves Bob Shawkey. Sam Thompson then lines a single to CF, and Turner scores the 12th run standing up. Ed Delahanty then singles to left-center. Thompson rounds second and tkes third. Delahanty then attempts to steal second but Pat Collins cuts him down. Thompson thinks about trying to score, but retreats to third. This pays off, as Lave Cross triples to deep CF, easily bringing in Thompson with run 13.
This proves critical. In the bottom of the 10th with Lazzeri and Collins on base, supersub Mike Gazella, hitting .357, pinch hits and doubles to deep LF, scoring them both. But when Koening pops to SS, the Yankee rally is thwarted.
As a sidenote, catcher Mike Grady, the righty in the platoon, collects four hits to give him 50 on the year, in only 125 at-bats. Thus, he becomes the 6th member of Philadelphia's Phour-hundred club (though Gehrig, the lone Yankee, sits high upon the mountaintop at .443).
Hot hitters? Or rather, the hottest hitters?
Cross: 10 RBI last 6 Games, 21 RBI in last 11 games.
Thompson: 30 RBI last 11 games.
Turner: 20 RBI last 10 games.
Philadelphia next smashes the Yanks 19-11 (game 57). And thus the Phillies have now split the last forty games since their eight game slide early on. Splitting 40 against a bunch that lost only 44 all year in '27!
Phila 0 0 7 6 1 5 0 0 0 - 19 28 0
NYY 0 2 2 0 3 0 3 1 0 - 11 19 1
The Phils send 12 men to bat in the third, including pitcher Kit Carsey, who singles twice, drives in a run and scores one of the 7 tallied by Philly in the frame. Delahanty, Cross, Grady and Hamilton also drive in runs. Carsey, Grady contribute to a 6-run 4th, along with Turner and Thompson, as 11 more men bat to put Philadelphia up 13-4. Grady singles in another in the 5th, and scores one of the five in the 6th as Delahanty, Cross, Sullivan, Hallman and Boyle all single in teammates to take a commanding 19-7 lead. They coast to their 10th victory in 12 games.
The magic continues. 36,988 squeeze into Hilltop Park to see a pitchers' duel! Phillies hurler John Johnson bests George Pipgras and NY relief ace Cy Moore, who takes the loss, yielding a game winning single to SS Bill Hallman in the 9th, giving Philly a 2-1 win. They win 9-4 (game 59), and then complete the unthinkable... a five game sweep of the mighty Yankees... in New York! Philadelphia does it convincingly, 10-1! Gus Weyhing goes the distance and even lines a 2-run triple. Sam Thompson goes four-for-four and drives in three.
And a left-for-dead Philadelphia squad is very much alive.
60 Games 31-29 (1-9)
BA/SA HR RBI
Combs .323/.498 2 31
Koenig .333/.465 4 52
Ruth .339/.736 24 76
Gehrig .425/.851 20 89
Meusel .359/.583 6 83
Lazzeri .310/.552 12 67
Collins .304/.448 5 63
Dugan .340/.452 0 27
Paschal .347/.604 3 23 (17starts)
Gazella .351/.531 1 15
(18 starts) .412 OBA 12W 25R
Hamilton .428/.543 1 32 28SB
Turner .416/.503 0 71
Thompson .421/.641 4 87
Delahanty .397/.534 2 60
Cross .413/.528 1 86
Clement .308/.419 2 19
Grady .424/.569 0 34
Tickets are sold out at a feverish pace in 1894 Philadelphia, where gaslamps were still lighted and StubHub and the internet were not. Rumors of scalping are rampant. The Baker Bowl only seated 20,000. "Hell..." grinned the Babe. "I'd buy all the tickets and sell 'em myself! That's why I don' mind Hug benching me once in a while. This is a great show, and I got the best seat in the house! And when I do sit... how 'bout that Paschal!"
Indeed. Ben Paschal is hitting .347 with 23 RBI despite only 17 starts! The other sub, Gazella, is equally potent... and both men are doing this at three positions, Paschal in the outfield and Mighty Mike on the infield.
But it is the Phillies, having taken 13 of 15 to climb back within two games of the mighty 1927 NY squad, who have everyone's attention.
Game 61.
NYY 1 0 2 0 0 6 0 0 3 - 12 15 0
Phila 0 3 1 2 1 2 0 0 5 - 14 21 1
Top of the 9th. Score knotted 9-9. And 25000 screaming Phillies Phans rocking the Baker Bowl to its very foundation. If anyone had bought a ticket and somehow got trapped in traffic until now, and managed to shoe-horn their way in just now… they’d be happy. Because the game is now just getting started. The two teams had already combined for 30 hits. The Bambino had already gone deep in the 3rd, tying the game 3-3 with a 2-run blast over the 60ft wall in right-center. Big Sam Thompson and Lave Cross, battling for the overall RBI lead as well as the honor of Philadelphia baseball, lined run scoring doubles in the 4th to put the Phils up 6-3. The Phanatic Phans had watched in distress and horror when the Murderers’ Row roared back with 6 in the 6th, the big blows being a pinch-hit 2-run triple from Earle Combs and a 2-run single from Bob Meusel. And the fans roared themselves when the Phils roared back as well in their 6th , as SS Joe Sullivan triple home Lave Cross, then scored himself on an infield roller from Jack Boyle that 3B Mike Gazella could only pick up and flip to the pitcher. Tie… 9-9.
And that’s how it remains until now, as Gus Weyhing sets to face the Yanks here in the ninth. First order of business… a big fellow waving his big stick 60 feet away. George H. Ruth. Pitching extremely carefully, Gus walks the Bambino and his 25 HRs… only to have to deal with the Iron Horse and his 20. Gehrig, who is hitless on the day, remains so, but not before putting heart attacks into 25000 fans by putting a charge into one… at first it looks like a HR or at least a double, but Billy Hamilton drags it down in deep right-center. The Babe retreats to first. But then Bob Meusel swings and crushes one. Hamilton races back and over toward the right-center field wall, but can only watch as Meusel’s shot does leave the park. The silence is stunning and deafening as Meusel circles the bases. The agony continues. Tony Lazzeri bounces to the pitcher, and Gus flips it to 1st, where Big Ed Delahanty bobbles the routine throw. Lazzeri, hustling all the way, is safe. After a single from Collins, super sub Gazella, spelling Dugan at third, doubles down the LF line, and the hustling Lazzeri cashes in, giving the Yanks a 12-9 lead. The Philly fans are morose as their team comes to bat in their last ups.
The Yanks, having run through pitchers as the Phillies have, ask a starter to come in, and Urban Shocker takes the hill. He walks Bill Hallman and the fans cheer somewhat. But when Shock fans pinch-hitter Charlie Reilly on a dandy of a change-up, the fans gasp. The Yanks are two outs away from snapping a long losing streak. The Philadelphia faithful cheer a little when Billy Hamilton walks, forcing Hallman to 2nd. And they cheer loudly when young Tuck Turner lines a single to LF. Hallman scores as Meusel wisely throws to 2nd, keeping the tying run, Turner, at first. His wisdom is borne out as Sam Thompson bounces to 3rd. Mike Gazella fires to 2nd for the force as Hamilton scores. Lazzeri is upended by Tucker, preventing a game-ending DP as Hamilton scores the Phils’ 11th run. Two out. And 3B Lave Cross, with 87 RBIs on the season, stands in the right-hand box as Philadelphia’s last hope, with Delahanty and Thompson on 1st and 2nd respectively. Lave swings and lifts a high fly ball deep to right-center. As the ball rises higher and higher, so do 25000 Philadelphia voices, a roaring crescendo that follows the flight track of the ball. Ben Paschal in CF also follows it. But like his counterpart in the top of the inning, he can only watch as the ball and the game barely clears the same 60 foot barrier that Meusel’s shot had. Pandemonium erupts as the Phils win the frame 5-3, and the game, 14-12, to climb to within one game of the 1927 Yankees!
Twenty-five thousand fans, including 5000 standing in foul territory and centerfield, jam Baker Bowl... all wanting to see if the Phillies can tie the mighty 1927 Yankees. But instead the Yanks snap 10 game skid.
Gehrig singles in two in the 1st. He singles in two more in the 5th during a 6 run 5th. His single is followed by a two-run triple from Bob Meusel. He doubles yet another two in the 8th to put NY up 15-8. They hold on to win 17-10.
Though on the losing side, Sam Thompson hits for the cycle. He triples in the 1st (and scores on Delahanty’s single), HRs in the 4th, doubles home Tuck Turner in the 6th as the Phillies close the gap to three runs, and singles home Billy Hamilton in the 8th.
Incredibly the Phillies bounce back one more time, with a 17-10 win of their own.
NYY 0 0 0 0 4 2 3 0 1 – 10 16 1
Phila 7 4 1 0 3 2 0 0 x – 17 23 0
It was all over in the 1st, when the Phils rolled a lucky seven. But just to be sure, the Phils continued in the 2nd, boosting their lead to lucky eleven. When Tuck Turner beat out a slow roller to Lazzeri, enabling Bill Hallman to score the 11th run, it seemed like mere icing. It would prove to be the winning run as the Yanks would wake up, albeit too late.
As happens frequently, Billy Hamilton opens the scoring by walking, swiping 2nd, and scoring… this time on Turner’s double to left-center. The shaken Pipgras walks Big Sam Thompson and Big Ed Delahanty. Mike Grady and Joe Sullivan knock in three runs between them – Babe Ruth preventing a 4th by firing a strike to Pat Collins to gun down Grady at the plate. It would prove to be a temporary respite as pitcher Jack Taylor, Billy Hamilton and Tuck Turner would all single in runs.
In the second, Delahanty HRs to start the merry-go-round anew. Billy Hamiton, already batting for the 3rd time, picks up his 2nd RBI single. Turner gets his 3rd run-scoring hit, the aforementioned slow roller that makes the score 11-0, and ultimately, winners of the Phillies.
Game 64.
NYY 2 0 2 5 0 0 0 6 0 – 15 18 1
Phila 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 2 13 1
Waite Hoyt somehow scatters 11 hits through eight innings, tiptoeing through a landmime of Philadelphia hitters. The 4th and the 8th innings are where NY puts its stamp on the game. In the 4th Combs triples for the 12th time (he actually led the AL with 23 in ’27). After a Ruth walk, Gehrig doubles… as does Ben Paschal… and Tony Lazzeri. The barrage blows open a tight game, making the score 9-2. In the 8th Combs leads off with a fly ball homer over the 60 foot Baker Bowl right-field wall. After Gazella doubles, the Babe launches his 2nd bomb of the day to right-center. Paschal doubles again. Pat Collins, Lazzeri, and even pitcher Waite Hoyt swing hot sticks… Hoyt lining a triple to deep CF to bring home Collins with the 15th Yankee run. After retiring the Phils in the bottom of the 8th, manager Huggins shakes Hoyt’s hand and lets Myles Thomas close things out in the 9th.
Ruth hits 3 HRs, to give him 5 in 2 games.
One of Ruth’s three HRs is inside-the –park… a line-shot off the RF wall that eludes everybody.
But it’s Billy Hamilton who wins it for the home team. With the score tied 8-8 in the last of the 9th, Myles Thomas induces pinch hitter Mike Grady, hitting .420 on the year, to ground out to 2nd. But then Thomas commits the unpardonable sin of walking Billy Hamilton. The partisan crowd cheers as wildly as if Hamilton had lifted a pitch over the 60 foot RF wall… and for good reason. Hamilton steals 2nd on Thomas’ first pitch to Tuck Turner. Turner then pulls a ground ball to Gehrig, who steps on 1st, with Hamilton taking 3rd. It’s evident that Thomas has his sinker working, because he gets .415 hitter Sam Thompson to hit the third grounder of the inning. Unfortunately, it bounces between the outstretched gloves of both Gehrig and Lazzeri. Ruth can only flip the ball into the throng of cheering Philadelphians by the time he fields the ball… the fleet Hamilton having long since ended the game, crossing the plate with winning run number nine.
Once again the Phillies climb to within one game of the Yanks at 32-33. The two teams make the 90 mile trip back to the Big Apple, where Hilltop Park and 32,000-plus fans await. Lou Gehrig takes over one more time. He goes 4-for-4. His two doubles give him 40, which lead all hitters. His five RBI give him 102 as he becomes the 1st on either squad to surpass the century mark... and lead the way to a 15-10 NY victory.
Gehrig .431BA 20HR 102RBI
Thompson .414 5HR 95RBI
Cross .424 2HR 95RBI
Meusel .363 7HR 92RBI
Ruth .350 30HR 87RBI
Billy Hamilton has taken over the batting race with a .433 mark. He's also swiped 30 bases, putting him far in front of everybody, though he's still behind his 1894 pace, when he stole an even 100.
The next day.
Phila 3 0 0 1 4 1 0 0 0 – 9 17 2
NYY 0 1 0 2 2 1 4 3 x – 13 16 1
Tony Lazzeri triples in the 7th with two on, putting the Yankees ahead to stay, 10-9. Philadelphia leads the entire game up to that point. In the 5th Lave Cross, Jack Clements and pitcher Jack Taylor all furnish run scoring hits. Joe Dugan’s throwing error also allowed a run. Clements also doubles in Delahanty in the 6th to give the Phils a 9-5 lead. After Clements’ double Wilcy Moore comes into the game. He shuts down the Phillies, retiring two batters in the frame, then allowing no runs on two hits the rest of the way.
After 67 games!
NEW YORK’S Iron Horse
Lou Gehrig .433 (126-291) 20HR 104RBI
PHILADELPHIA’s Line-up ‘One-thru-six’
Billy Hamilton .429 (130-303) 30SB
Tuck Turner .414 (139-336) 79RBI
Sam Thompson .412 (134-325) 95RBI
Ed Delahanty .402 (119-296) 68RBI
Lave Cross .425 (133-313) 96RBI
Mike Grady .417 (68-163) 37RBI
Sam Thompson becomes 1st Phillie and 2nd overall to reach 100 RBIs. But his 5 RBI day can't prevent a Yankee win.
Phila 4 1 0 0 5 0 2 0 2 – 14 21 0
NYY 7 1 3 0 3 1 0 2 0 – 17 17 2
The Phils break out of the gate fast. Tuck Turner, Sam Thompson, Lave Cross and Jack Clements all drive home runs. But the Yanks strike back so quick and furiously that things get ugly. Philly hurler Gus Weyling hits Earle Combs in the back, during Combs' second at-bat of the inning. This draws a warning from umpire Bill Klem. The highly frustrated Weyling barks back. "The damn bases are loaded! I'm not trying to hit anybody!"
Weyhing has a point, and Klem lets it pass. After all, Weyling has self-destructed. With a 4-0 lead he walked three straight batters to force home Combs, who had blooped a single in his first at-bat. Lazzeri bloops a Texas Leaguer to rightfield to score Ruth. Pat Collins bounces one to Lave Cross at 3rd. Cross fires home but Gehrig barely beats the play... SAAAAFE! Now the score is 4-2 and the Yanks have yet to hit the ball hard. That changes when Joe Dugan lines a single to left-center, scoring Meusel and Lazzeri to tie the game. The torture continues as Yankee hurler George Pipgras and Mark Koenig both bloop singles... sandwiched around the aforementioned Combs hit-by-pitch. Koenig's single makes it 7-4. The score would have been 8-4, if not for George Pipgras being cut down at the plate on an outstanding peg from center by Billy Hamilton. It's only the 2nd out of the inning. Weyling walks yet another, his 4th of the inning... though it is Babe Ruth. Lou Gehrig pops out to finally end the inning.
In the 3rd the Yanks load the bases with one away. Pat Collins lifts a fly down the LF line. The three NY runners, Ruth, Gehrig and Lazzeri all read the ball perfectly off the bat and run hard. All score standing to make it New York 11-5.
The Phillies score 5 in the 5th. SS Bill Hallman, starting pitcher Jack Taylor, LF TuckTurner and RF Sam Thompson all drive in runs, with Turner picking up two mates on a double to deep CF. The Phils close the gap. NY leads 11-10.
But the Yanks answer with a three-spot. Lazzeri, pinch-hitter Paschal and Mark Koenig single in runs to give the Yanks a 14-10 lead. And we’ve still got four innings to play.
Tuck Turner, a 21-year old local boy making good, is having a great game. As part of a 5-RBI performance he doubles home two more runs in the 6th. New York still leads 15-12, but no one on either squad, and no one in the 36,000 SRO throng at Hilltop Park thinks the game is secured.
Supersub Mike Gazella pinch-hits in the 8th and gives the Yanks some padding by doubling home Bob Meusel and Pat Collins. NY leads 17-12.
That padding comes in mighty handy. Bob Shawkey starts the 9th for the New Yorkers. None of the 36,000 have left, and all are standing. Shawkey gets two outs, but not before fleet Billy Hamiton beats out an infield single. Then Sam Thompson, a future Hall-of-Famer and current run producer extraordinaire, lines a shot to deep RF. Ruth gives chase but watches as the tremendous drive lands behind the 400-foot-plus RF barrier and bounces on Broadway. New York’s lead shrinks, 17-14. After Big Ed Delahanty lines a single to left-center, edging his batting average over the .400 mark (.4006), Miller Huggins relieves Shawkey with Joe Giard. Giard faces Lave Cross, with catcher Jack Clement, Philly’s tying run in the on-deck circle. Giard jams Cross with a fastball on the fists, and Cross lofts a short fly to RF. Ruth runs in this time, snags the 27th Phillie out, and flips the ball into the crowd with a grin.
Game 69
Phila 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 4 2 – 9 15 2
NYY 3 7 2 0 4 4 0 0 x – 20 17 1
Bob Meusel hits for the cycle and knocks home seven. Five Yankee hitters (2 thru 6) hit triples. Two come in a seven run 2nd where all the scoring occurs with two out. Koenig triples in two. Ruth reaches when Delahanty boots his grounder, with Koenig racing home. Gehrig triples to deep right-center (444 feet) to score the Babe. Meusel doubles home Lou. Catcher Pat Collins singles in Silent Bob. And Mike Gazella, spelling Joe Dugan, singles home Tony Lazzeri, who had walked. The barrage puts New York up 10-0. Of course, the Yanks would need every bit of that bulge.
Game 70.
Phila 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 – 5 14 5
NYY 4 0 3 5 3 0 3 0 x – 18 18 1
Ben Paschal starts in place of Hall of Famer Earle Combs in CF. In the 3rd he puts a charge into a Kid Carsey fastball and drives it over the fence in left-center, 393 feet away. The 3-run haymaker bounds onto 168th street and increases the Yanks lead to 7-2. It proves to be the winning runs in a contest which blown open soon thereafter. Paschal, like his counterpart Tuck Turner, is an outstanding 4th outfielder. After the Phils had scored two in the top of the 1st , Big Ben had led off the Yankee 1st with a triple, and scored when Delahanty kicked Koenig’s easy grounder. The 1st featured a booming 475 foot double by Lou Gehrig which bounced over the fence in deep right center onto Broadway. Gehrig likely would have circled the bases had the ball stayed in play… but he scored moments later when Lazzeri laced a double of his own.
After 70 games the Yankees have opened up a 38-32 lead in games by taking 6 of 7.
PLAYER BA/SA HR RBI
Combs......... .341/.540 3 38
Koenig.......... .336/.481 4 68
Ruth............ .355/.793 30 88
Gehrig........ .439/.856 20 111
Meusel........ .376/.624 8 106
Lazzeri........ .328/.587 14 87
Collins......... .301/.448 6 78
Dugan........ .329/.435 0 30
Paschal........ .378/.708 6 36
Gazella....... .355/.551 1 21
.447 OBA 23W 38R
Hamilton....... .428/.560 1 40 32SB
Turner.......... .423/.517 0 87
Thompson.... .415/.641 6 104
Delahanty.... .404/.554 4 72
Cross............. .427/.555 2 97
Clement........ .317/.437 2 24
Grady........... .417/.558 0 37
The teams split the next ten. The two squads decide to play the next five in Philadelphia's Shibe Park (1909), where the 30,000-plus capacity allows more fans to watch the two exciting offensive juggernauts slug it out. The Yanks take 4 of 5 to open up a nine-game lead.
After 75 games Lou Gehrig is:
1st Batting Average .450
1st Total Bases 283
1st Slugging .879
2nd Home Runs 23
1st RBIs 119
1st Doubles 45
3rd Triples 12
But as they have all year, Philadelphia bounces right back, winning 4 of 5 in Manhattan. They win two one-run thrillers, 9-8 and 8-7, the latter in 11 innings. Then in game 78 Philly's bats come alive.
Phila 9 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 – 17 19 2
NYY 1 2 1 3 1 1 1 0 0 – 10 15 3
Billy Hamilton leads off the game by slamming Waite Hoyt’s first pitch into RF for a double… his first of two in the inning. He also scores twice. And the Phils never look back. They send 14 men to the dish, hit safely 8 times and score 9 times before the Yanks get to swing a bat. Sam Thompson also gets two hits in the inning, and 2 RBIs. After that they let NY creep back into the game. By the 5th the 9-0 lead is only 9-8. Gehrig doubles in the 1st and triples in the 5th, both blows producing runs. Gehrig would also homer in the 6th, but by then Philadelphia would have control of the game. The Phils score 8 more in the 5th. Sam Thompson’s bases loaded triple is the big blow. Left-handed catcher Jack Clements singles twice in the frame, scoring and driving in runs. And the Phils cruise to their 4th straight, and 3rd at Hilltop Park.
Game 79. Billy Hamilton sparks rallies in the 1st two innings as Phillies win their 5th straight, 15-3. He reaches on a Mark Koenig bobble in the first and a fielder’s choice in the 2nd. Each time he swipes 2nd and scores. Thompson drives in runs in the first three innings; an RBI triple, a run-scoring single and a 2-run double in that order. He and Big Ed Delahanty drive in four each as the Phillies roll. The Yanks salvage their only game of the five, 11-8, to close the series and up their record to 43-37.
The next ten games see the Yankees open up a lead on the Phils. They go 8-2 despite some heroic performances on the Phillies behalf. Lefty catcher Jack Clements drives in six on four hits, including a home run in game 81. But the Yanks win 15-12, led by Lou Gehrig's five RBI day. He hits his 26th HR, his 48th double, and is backed by the Babe's 36th bomb. Sam Thompson also goes 5-for-5 with 2 doubles and a triple.
Ben Paschal, the 1927 Yankees outstanding 4th outfielder, is seeing more playing time. Getting a chance to show what might have been, Ben goes 4-for-6 with 3 doubles to help the Yanks win game 82, 15-6 (Ruth helps with five ribbies and homer number 37). His next start isn't until game 86... where he collects three hits and four RBI in a 18-3 shellacking. Of course, he has help. Ruth slams number 39. Catcher Pat Collins drives in five. Tony Lazzeri's two RBI put him at 101, the 4th Yankee to surpass the 100 mark.
The next day, Paschal is back at it. He collects four doubles, a homer, and five RBI as the Yanks wallop Philadelphia 20-10.
Phila 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 5 0 – 10 13 1
NYY 4 2 2 4 5 2 1 0 x – 20 24 3
Ben Paschal leads the way with 5 RBIs, 5 hits and 4 doubles. He leads off the Yankee 1st with a double and scores on a passed ball to Mike Grady. Phillie starter Kit Carsey does not help himself, walking 3 of the 9 batters he faces. All three score; Koenig on a ground out to short from Lazzeri while Gehrig and Meusel tally on a Pat Collins double. Big Ben doubles in the 3rd, 4th and 7th, scoring each time and driving in Lazzeri and Collins in the 4th. In between the doubles Paschal manages to line a 400 foot home run to deep left, scoring Pipgras and Mike Gazella ahaead of himself. In the last three games, Ben Paschal has driven in 12 runs, even though the 1st of the three was a pinch hitting appearance… in which he drove in two runs on two hits.
Game 89 sees Paschal give Babe Ruth a rest in rightfield. He homers and drives home four in a NY 9-4 win. The next day Paschal homers again.... but the Phils win 15-10. Billy Hamilton collects four hits, including a double and triple, drives in three, and swipes bases 39 and 40.
The Yankees continue to put space between themselves and the Phighting Phillies. They take 3 of 5 at the Baker Bowl to go up 54-41 on the year. Gehrig doubles for the 51st time in game 91, as the Yanks win 13-4. The next day the Bambino knocks three out of the park, but the Phils eke out a win, 8-7 behind Tuck Turner's four hits and Ed Delahanty's three RBI. Game 93... it's Big Ben Paschal again. His three hits give him 101 hits and a .385 average. Oddly he's the only Yankee in the starting eight not to drive in a run in a wild 14-10 win. The Yanks clinch the series with a 6-1 win in game 94. They go 14 games up (54-40) on Philadelphia for the 1st time.
Are the Phils finally a beaten bunch?
The next day, the Phillies are down 12-5 going into the 7th inning stretch at the Baker Bowl... except it hadn't been invented in 1894. Gehrig has hit two homers and his 52nd double, tying his league-leading total for 1927. But Philadelphia does the unthinkable:
NYY 0 3 4 2 0 0 3 1 2 – 15 18 4
Phila 0 1 0 4 0 0 11 0 x – 16 14 1
The Phils pepper Yankee relief ace Wilcy Moore with a barrage of singles and doubles. Sam Thompson's two-run two-bagger whittles the deficit to two. Big Ed Delahanty is the next hitter, the 9th of the frame. He makes the 2nd out... a sac fly that brings home young Tuck Turner. Then Lave Cross, who made the 1st out, singles home Sam Thompson. PANDEMONIUM! The Phils have come all the way back to tie it at twelve. Joe Giard relieves the battered Moore, but he can't halt the Phillies threshing machine. Two more doubles and a single by pinch-hitter Dick Buckley (his 2nd RBI pinch-hit of the inning)... and the barrage is complete! Philadelphia leads 16-12! They hold on, playing through a non-stop ovation for the final two frames.
The two squads travel back to Manhattan. A large contingent of fans travel the 90-plus miles and nine years (to 1903). No one is prepared for what awaits.
Phila 10 5 7 1 0 1 0 0 7 – 31 31 4
NYY 0 2 0 1 2 0 0 11 0 – 16 16 3
“God Bless those boys. They are the greatest bunch I’ve ever played. The greatest I’ve ever seen!” Muses Hall-of-Famer Big Sam Thompson. “We had these SOBs down 15-0, 22-2, and 24-5 after seven. A nineteen run lead! And theses SOBs put a scare into us. For a few minutes, standing there in the outfield, I’m thinking, ‘Are these SOBs really gonna come back and beat us? We got 24 blankety-blanking runs? And we might LOSE?’ And the Ruth comes up. These SOBs are now only down by eight and Koenig is on third… his second triple of the inning, both with the bases jammed. Gehrig is on deck, loosening up… he’d ALREADY homered in the inning. Ruth is up… he’d already doubled! I’m thinking we damn well better get him out. And damn if we didn’t.” And then Sam Thompson leans forward, his voice lowered. “We scored seven more in the 9th... because we felt we needed every damn one!”
Mark Koenig and Sam Thompson each drive home six. But Thompson has two teammates plate five each, Lave Cross and second sacker Bill Hallman (who hit .353 in '94). As Thompson noted, the Phils jumped all over starter George Pipgras early and often. They bat around in the top of the 1st before most of the crowd has settled in. Lave Cross clears the bases with a 3-run double... then Philly pitcher Jack Taylor does it four batters later, making the score 8-0 and driving Pipgras from the Hilltop hill without retiring a batter.
Sam Thompson's three run homer highlights a seven run third to seemingly ice the game. Though it does provide the winning bulge, the Yankees, as Sam says, show some championship heart themselves. Trailing 24-5 in the 8th, no one makes much of a ruckus when Pat Collins leads off with his 11th homer. A lot of the remaining fans are the huge contingent that travelled from Philadelphia. The Yanks load the bases on two walks and an infield single. No sweat. But then Mark Koenig lines a triple to deep left-center, unloading the bases and making it 24-9. The smiles seem a tad more tight... but it's still a 15-run bulge. But then the Babe hits a flyball double in front of Billy Hamilton (that's how deep Billy plays the Babe). And Lou Gehrig laces a tremendous homer over that deep right-centerfield wall and onto Broadway. The Phillies manage to retire two batters, but they also walk Joe Dugan and Wilcy Moore. For Moore, one of the most inept hitters in history, it's his second free pass of the frame. Then Ben Paschal bounces one to 3rd, where the usually reliable Lave Cross boots it. Tony Lazzeri scores and the bases remain loaded as Mark Koenig comes to the plate for his 2nd time. He had tripled home Dugan, Moore and Paschal the 1st time. Incredibly he does it again, lining one to deep right-center this time. Suddenly the score is 24-16. As Big Sam says, the Babe and Lou are loosening up again. And no one is laughing any more.
The Babe grounds to 2nd. Joe Sulliva flips it to 1st. Ruth kicks the bag angrily and proceeds to RF (players left their gloves at their positions in the field in 1903). The crowd gasps, a collective sigh of relief, or maybe fatigue. Then a gradual applause begins, building to a loud, sustained roar. The fans acknowledge the mighty Yankees... not so much today for their talent, but for their heart.
But the Phils show heart too, winning the next three as well. Tuck Turner's four hits and three RBI pace a Philadelphia 10-8 win, along with Hamilton's three hits and three stolen bases. Turner collects four more safeties the next day. This time he drives in four in a 10-4 win. Then it's Lave Cross with 4 RBI leading Philadelphia past NY, 14-11. In a hard fought losing cause Babe hits his 45th homer, and Gehrig his 34th. Lou's two RBI give him 155, which leads everybody.
NY salvages the fifth game of the set, 10-9. But the Philly Phaithful who made the trip are rewarded as their heroes take 4 of 5 at Hilltop park... and highly thrilled by the 31-run performance in game 96.
Gehrig at 100 Games
.444 (191-430) 1st overall
.902 Slugging 1st overall
388 Total Bases 1st overall
34 Home Runs 2nd overall
157 RBIs 1st overall
53 Doubles 1st overall
21Triples 1st overall (tied with Sam Thompson)
BATTING LEADERS:
HRs: Ruth 45 Gehrig 34 Lazzeri 17
RBI: Gehrig 157 Thompson 152 Ruth 134
BA: Gehrig .444 Turner .414 Thompson .413
TB: Gehrig 388 Ruth 322 Thompson 318
The Yankees finally take hold of the season for good. But that doesn't stop the Phils from smacking the ball around. Nor does it dim the interest of the fans in both cities. By now everyone knows that no lead (and no pitcher) is safe. The '27 Yanks go 15-5 over the next 20 game stretch. That gives them a 70-50 record, needing only eight wins to clinch the season.
There are still thrills aplenty.
Game 101, Baker Bowl.
NYY 1 1 1 8 3 1 0 1 0 – 16 20 1
Phila 1 0 4 1 0 4 5 0 0 – 15 22 3
When the Babe popped out of the Yankee dugout to pinch-hit for George Pipgras, the overflow Philadelphia crowd of 31,000 roared. When the Bambino slammed a Jack Taylor fastball clear OVER the CF clubhouse, the denizens cheered wildly. After all, the mighty blow only made the score 15-6 vice 14-6.
It would prove vital. Turner, Thompson, Del and Lave Cross would rally the troops for 4 in the 6th, each driving one in. Hamilton, Thompson and Cross would strike again in the 7th. Pitcher Jack Taylor would also chip in at the plate, starting the 5 run rally by singling home battery-mate Mike Grady. After Hamilton knocks in two more and Big Sam another, Lave Cross singles with two away, scoring Turner. Sam Thompson tries to score from 2nd but Bob Meusel rifles a strike to Pat Collins. Thompson bowls Pat Collins over, but Collins tumbles upright and holds the ball in the air triumphantly. As it turns out, he holds the ballgame, literally, in his hand.
It remains for the Iron Horse to decide things, lining a single into right-center in the 8th to score Earle Combs. It’s the second time Gehrig gives New York the lead; in the 4th with the Yanks trailing 5-3, Lou had homered over the left-center field barrier with two on to give the Yanks a 6-5 lead. Now he gives them a 16-15 edge. This one they would hold.
Offensive milestones begin to get passed, and records are endangered by these two juggernauts. Gehrig reaches 400 total bases in game 104. Mark Koenig, who got off to a terrible start (.205 with 2 RBI in 10 games) drives in his 100th in game 106, the 6th Yankee to do so. Lou Gehrig hits his 23rd triple in game 110, a 11-4 win. He ties teammate Earle Combs' 1927 league-leading mark... and gives him one more than Combs has here and now. Two games later Gehrig matches his AL leading 1927 RBI total (175), while hittig his 58th double and 25th triple. The Yanks win 13-6.
Game 116, Manhattan.
NYY 2 6 3 1 2 3 2 2 0 – 21 18 1
Phila 1 1 2 3 0 1 2 0 1 – 11 18 5
Ben Paschal scores four and knocks home three. And he’s not even close to being the ‘star-of-the-game’! His 1st run is the 1st run, scoring on the Babe’s 1st HR, a 370 foot fly to left on the games 7th pitch. Paschal then ignites a big 6-run 2nd, singling in Dugan and Pennock. If Paschal is the 6th inning fuse then Lazzeri is the dynamite, lining a 3-run shot over the LF wall… part of his 5 RBI day.
Ruth, who walks in the 2nd, swings in the 3rd and lines a two-run triple to deep center. He swings again in the 6th , belting his 2nd four-bagger 477 feet to center with two onbaoard. He swings yet again in the 7th , fouling out to short left with the bases loaded to end the inning. He then smashes his bat to splinters in frustration. The Yanks already have a 19-8 lead at that point, with the Babe driving home seven of the the runs himself, so there is no further need for his bat anyway.
Sam Thompson has gotte hot, and with 173 RBI he has closed the gap with Gehrig (176). Then in game 118 he overtakes Lou with a 5 RBI day. All five are crucial in a 14-13, ten inning Phils win.
120 Games Yanks record 70-50
Yanks go 32-31, then 38-19.
PLAYERS BA/SA HR RBI
Combs .359/.574 5 66
Koenig .329/.472 5 110
Ruth .357/.855 59 170
Gehrig .443/.903 41 179
Meusel .374/.586 10 153
Lazzeri .337/.578 20 150
Collins .313/.502 13 131
Dugan .300/.386 0 55
Paschal .391/.688 12 87
Gazella .326/.485 1 36
.431 OBA 42W 54R
Hamilton .383/.500 1 75 52SB
Turner .419/.515 0 138
Thompson .420/.668 13 181
Delahanty .407/.554 4 118
Cross .387/.499 3 156
Clement .330/.458 5 50
Grady .382/.492 0 44
Game 121. Baker Bowl. Phillies win 18-11.
In the 9th, trailing by nine, the Babe puts a charge into a George Harper curve and lines hos 60th HR over the 60 foot high RF wall at the Baker Bowl. Normally such a drive would not be considered a line-drive due to its height.
“It’s a line drive alright…” says right-fielder Sam Thompson, who watched it, albeit briefly as it rocketed out. “And if it had been any lower, it would have taken a piece of the wall – or me – with it!”
Thompson led all comers with 5 RBIs. His two-run double in the 5th helped blow the game open (12-0). His bases-loaded, bases clearing double in the 6th help blow the game even wider open (17-3). Thus, when the Bambino launched HR number 60, the Phillie fans were able to be magnanimous and accord Ruth a standing ovation for equaling his famous 1927 total.
The next day...
NYY 0 5 1 3 1 8 0 0 8 – 26 30 1
Phila 0 0 2 0 0 2 2 3 0 – 9 18 2
The Yanks jumped out to a 10-2 lead after five. And then they got serious. Really serious. In baseball lingo and eight run inning is called putting up a snowman, a relatively rare occurrence. The Murderer’s Row put up two in four innings.
The winning (10th) run was rather undramatic. Mark Koenig, who has become an offensive force, grounded a single between 1st and 2nd, scoring Mike Gazella. Koenig’s 111th RBI would be key… the Yanks would need every bit of those ten runs.
“Any other team, I might describe what happened as rubbing it in or pouring it on…” Lou Gehrig says behind the BP cage the next afternoon. “But these guys have proven that no lead is safe. Nobody is trying to humiliate anybody. It’s a tribute to these guys, the Phillies, that we take nothing for granted. It’s a tribute to our guys too… everybody is busting their can until the 27th out.”
Then Gehrig grinned wryly. “Remember. There was one game not too long ago, where 26 runs would not have been enough!” Not too far from Gehrig was his chief competition in the RBI race, Phillie right-fielder Big Sam Thompson. “Ain’t that right, Sam?” Thompson just grinned. The Iron Horse is referring of course, to Game 96, where the Philadelphia Phillies of 1894 thrashed arguable the greatest team ever to take the field by a stunning count of 31-16… in front of a NY crowd of 33,000 no less.
John Johnson entered the game to start the 6th, relieving starter Kid Carsey. His 1st fastball landed 388 feet away, in the LF seats, deposited there by Tony Lazzeri. His 5th pitch, to the next hitter, NY catcher Pat Collins, landed closer to the LF foul pole, 369 feet away. Johnson then was relieved after only the five pitches. It didn’t matter. After Jack Fanning’s warm-ups, the barrage continued. Eleven more Yankee batters and two more Phillie hurlers later the Yanks had an 18-2 lead. By the 9th the Phillies had closed the gap some (18-9), so New York did it again. Three run Homers from Ben Paschal and Earle Combs punctuated this 2nd 8-spot. When Gehrig singled home Koenig, it was New York’s 30th hit and 26th run.
The late inning pyrotechnics overshadowed somewhat the Bambino’s launching of HRs 61 and 62, in the 2nd and 4th innings.
Game 124 sees Gehrig match his single season high RBI total (184), which also still the AL record. He also hits two doubles to give him 63. Ben Paschal, again spelling the Babe in RF, strokes doubles 57 and 58, tying him with teammate Bob Meusel. The Yanks win 4-1 as Waite Hoyt goes the distance, improving to 12-7, and lowering his ERA to a mere 5.06. The next day the Yanks stomp the Phils 17-5. Tony Lazzeri doubles three times and homers, driving home five. Ben Paschal slips below .400, but Sam Thompson's two hits give him exactly 250 hits in exactly 600 tries (.417). His 188th RBI also keep in front of everybody.
But in game 126, Lou Gehrig goes for the cycle! He knocks home five to help the Yankees win 13-8... and snatch the lead from Thompson.
Early on It had disaster written all over it for the home team. The Phillies jumped all over Herb Pennock, scoring four and driving Pennock from the box in top of the 1st inning.
Then came Gehrig. He doubled home Earle Combs and scored another himself in the bottom of the inning. He singled home Combs to make it 4-3 in the 3rd. Gehrig tripled home Combs and Paschal in the 8th.
But it was in the 5th that The Iron Horse got everybody up and yelling. With one out and no one on, Gehrig lined a rifle-shot just to the left of CF Billy Hamilton. Slidin’ Billy took one step and dove – that’s all the time he had. The ball rocketed past. Hilltop Park’s CF fence is 542 at its deepest. Hamiton got up quickly and gave chase. But with the NY fans (and the Yankee bench) roaring like a Kentucky Derby race-crowd, Gehrig circled the bases and scored standing as Hamilton finally caught up to the ball in deep centerfield. Larrupin’ Lou’s cycle and 5 RBI gave the Yanks back the game and gave Gehrig 190 RBIs for the season.
As a side note, Gehrig’s blast past Hamilton may have had one small consequence. In the 6th, with two away, the Bambino came to the plate to pinch-hit for pitcher Urban Shocker, who had relieved the battered Pennock and somewhat stemmed the tide. As the Babe came to the plate, to a long, loud standing ovation, Billy Hamilton backed up… backed up some more, and still more after that. Some of the fans laughed when they noticed. Sliding Billy was a good 470-80 feet from the plate. The laughter stopped when the Babe swung and cracked a tremendous drive to the deepest reaches of Hilltop Park. Hamilton calmly drifted back and snared the 500-plus foot bomb in stride for the 3rd out. Flipping the ball to a standing room only fan in front of the CF fence, Hamilton himself got a huge ovation as he made the long return trot to the Phillie dugout. The catch, at the moment, preserved the Phillie 7-5 lead.
At the BP cage before Game 128…
“I drive in four runs. And I lose ground.” Then Big Sam Thompson grins, standing behind the BP cage at Hilltop Park. He watches the subject of his discussion, Lou Gehrig, taking his practice hacks. Slammin’ Sam has accumulated 192 RBIs thus far… one more than Hack Wilson’s 1930 Major-league record… but three less than the total Columbia Lou had piled up. Gehrig had just driven in five for the second straight day.
“Like I said…” counters Gehrig between swings. You can’t pile up too many against these guys!” <
If I’d only knocked in TWO…” <
And Gehrig is exactly right. In the 8th inning of yesterday’s game, Lou smashed a tremendous HR to RF… where the foul line is 400 feet and the power alley a robust 471. His 2-run blast made the score 19-9, was seemingly icing on the cake. Except the Phillies almost took the cake, scoring eight runs themselves in the top of the 9th. Most of the NY crowd of 34,000 had stayed, and they groaned nervously as the lead evaporated. With one out, the score 19-17 and a runner on 3rd, Bill Hallman laced a frozen rope down the 1st base line… where a diving Gehrig stabbed it in mid-air for the 2nd out. The crowd gasped and then broke into a raucous ovation for their 1st sacker. Their applause continued even as pinch-hitter Bob Allen, batting for the 2nd time in the inning, makes his 2nd out, grounding out to short to end the game.
That day the Yanks clinch a tie for the season, the 9-8 squeaker gives them a 77-51 mark. Pat Collins leads the way with three driven in. Billy Hamilton does all he can... 5-for-5 with a home run, five RBI, and his 54th stolen base. Among the many NY hits is Gehrig's 68th double, surpassing Earl Webb's all time single-season mark of 67.
The next day is another tight one, but the Yanks again prevail, 5-4. In the 7th Pat Collins lets in the go ahead run by letting a Waite Hoyt curve past him. After Tuck Turner scores, Ed Delahanty is intentionally walked. With men on 1st and 2nd, Lave Cross cracks a line-drive single to right. Sam Thompson gets a great jump off of 2nd and flies around 3rd to score… but the Babe also gets a great jump, charging the ball off the crack of the bat, picking the ball off the grass and firing a strike to Pat Collins. Collins makes a great swipe tag and Thompson is out at the plate. Ruth is 0 for 4 on the day, but his throw saves the day. Because with one away in the 9th, pinch-hitter Mark Koenig doubles home Collins and Dugan to win the game 5-4, and clinch the season with their 78th triumph.
Game 132. Baker Bowl.
Phila 0 0 0 3 1 1 0 0 0 – 5 9 4
In the 9th inning with the New York Yankees having made a shambles of things, leading 26-5, Combs walks. The Philadelphia fans boo loudly and continuously, long and loud enough that no one hears the crack of the bat when the Babe singles to right, sending Combs to 3rd. Then the Iron Horse comes to the plate. The Phillies Phans actually cheer as Gehrig digs into the left-hand batter’s box. George Harper pitches to Lou Gehrig carefully. Gehrig takes a 3-1 curve that bounces on the plate. The cheers turn back into boos, even more vociferous than before. Gehrig tosses his bat away and trots to 1st, loading the bases. Big Ed Delahanty comes over as Gehrig reaches the bag. He grins. “Ain’t you getting tired of this?” Gehrig grins back and shakes his head. “Del!” Gehrig answers back through the booing. “Can I tell you something?” Delahanty nods and grins. “I was taking all the way. Even if Harper threw three down the pipe. I wasn’t taking my bat off my shoulder!” Ed Delahantyswats Gehrig on the shoulder with his mitt and then retreats – with the bases jammed and behind by 21, no need to hold the runner on.
Gehrig indeed was busy. The chat with Delahanty occurred as Lou reached base for the 8th time this day. Eight trips to the plate, eight times reaching base.
Two walks, one double, two triples, one homer, two singles, 14 total bases, ten (10) runs driven home and five (5) scored himself.
The Phil fans had plenty of reasons for their foul mood. Their team was down 20-0 when they came to bat in the 4th inning. By that time, Gehrig had tripled with the bases loaded to put the Yanks up 3-0, homered with Ruth onboard to increase that lead to seven in the 2nd, doubled in two more to put the Yanks up 12-0 in the 3rd, and hit a bullet single to bring home Mike Gazella and Earle Combs in the 4th, making it a 15-0 beating. No one was aware at the time that Gehrig had already hit for the cycle. But everybody was aware that when the Babe popped up to end the Yankee 4th, with the Yanks now having a 20-0 bulge, that Gehrig was kneeling in the on-deck circle. In the 5th, when the Iron Horse finally got to bat, he singled to left-center for his 5th hit, the only one which wouldn’t produce any scoring. Lou’s 6th hit and 2nd triple of the game came in the 7th, bringing home Ruth, and giving the Yanks a 21-5 edge. It would be his last hit. The Phillies would walk him in the 8th and 9th innings, each time to loud, long boos.
“He hit for the cycle?” Delahanty asks. “What the hell is that?” Hall of Famer Big Ed Delahanty played during a less statistically-crazed era. When it was explained to Big Ed he retorted. “Good thing we didn’t pitch to him in the 8th and 9th! He might have done it TWICE!”
Gehrig is now hitting a ridiculously spectacular .454 (255-562) with 518 Total Bases for an obscene .922 Slugging Percentage. His 44 HRs are second only to Ruth’s 63. But Lou leads in Doubles (73), Triples (29) and RBIs (213).
Game 134. Baker Bowl.
NYY 0 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 – 7 14 3
Phila 3 2 7 7 0 4 1 0 x – 24 26 1
In the 6th Big Ed Delahanty walks to load the bases. The Phils are already shellacking the Yanks 19-6. Of Course today their faithful are cheering madly as Del reaches 1st, where the Iron Horse awaits. “See Del?” Gehrig grins. “Sun don’t shine on the same dog every day.” Big Ed grins back. “These fans needed this as much as we do, Lou. It’s been brutal.” Delahanty already has 5 RBIs on the day. His 3-run double in the 4th put Philly up 10-6. Now here in the 6th the bases are loaded with no out. Cross bounces to Gazella, who forces a runner at the plate. Jack Clements fouls out to Gehrig near the coach’s box. Just when it looks like the Yanks might escape with out further damage, shortstop Joe Sullivan belts a double to deep left which clears the bases. 22-6. And it’s Del who caps the scoring the following inning, his ground-out to Gehrig bring home his 6th RBI – and Philadelphia’s 24th tally.
The next day... game 135:
NYY 3 0 0 6 4 2 2 0 4 – 21 21 0
Phila 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 7 – 14 20 2
By the time the Babe got the 1st of his 7 RBIs on a single to right that scored Mike Gazella, the Yanks were already in front 9-0. The Babe’s HR’s in the 5th (2 runs) and 9th (3 runs) were icing on the cake. The Phillies made a brave late charge, sending eleven to bat in the 9th. They scored seven on eight hits. When Thompson singled home pinch-hitter Dick Buckley, it was Big Sam’s 200th RBI of the season. He becomes the 2nd (after Gehrig) to reach the 200 RBI mark.
“If you want to end the season here and now, it’d be okay, boys…” Babe Ruth says to the Phillies after the game. “But if you do want to keep playing, I’d like to show you our Yankee Stadium. It seats better than 60,000. And we’ll hold aside 30,000 seats for Phillies fans, behind your dugout.”
“Sixty-thousand!” Barked Ed Delahanty. “I’m in! This I gotta see!” (Note: Del passed in 1903).
Game 139. Yankee Stadium 1927. Attendance: 81,077.
Fans are no longer permitted to stand in foul territory. However, over 10,000 are allowed to stand in the vast outfield in front of the fences, which are 470-495-429 from left-center, center, and right-center. Lou Gehrig continues his unbelievable season. He totals at least ten bases for the 4th time in 14 games. With his two HRs and four RBIs, the Iron Horse remains 1st overall in Batting Average, Total Bases, Slugging Average, RBI, Doubles and Triples, and 2nd in HRs (to Ruth of course).
But Sam Thompson, Gehrig’s 19th century counterpart as an RBI machine, drives in five himself. Of the 81,000 throng, more than half are travelling Philadelphians, including all of the thousands standing deep in the Yankee Stadium outfield. Everybody jumps to their feet in the 2nd when Big Sam snaps a 3-3 tie, lining a grand slam HR into the RF bleachers. In the 4th Billy Hamilton leads off with a triple. Then it’s Sam again, with a sac fly bringing Billy home ahead of a Babe Ruth peg from RF. The Phillies lead 8-5 and are never headed after that, winning 14-11.
As an aside, the Babe hits his 68th HR, and his two RBI give him an even 200... the 3rd man after Gehrig and Thompson to do so. The next day Ruth belts three out of Hilltop Park as the Yanks close out the series with a 7-2 win.
Gehrig rolls another seven!
Game 143. Baker Bowl, Philadelphia.
After the Babe lines a Kid Carsey fastball down the LF line for a 2-run HR, Earle Combs takes one off the arm. With the Yanks already ahead 6-0, Gehrig crowds the plate as if daring Carson to hit him. When Carson indeed throws a fastball in on the fists, Gehrig steps back and powers it over the 60 foot RF wall, putting NY up by eight. Then in the 3rd the Iron Horse comes to the plate with two gone and three on. This time he crushes a low curve, sending it high and straight down the RF line. The ball clears the 280 foot, 60 foot high wall still well on the rise. Gehrig’s grand slam makes it 12-0. When he next comes to the plate in the 5th the Philadelphia fans, 32,000 shoehorned into the Baker Bowl, stand as one and give the Iron Horse an ovation. After stepping out of the box a couple of times, Gehrig final tips his cap to the hometown fans. Then he singles to right-center to bring home Combs. It’s Gehrig’s 7th RBI and the Yanks 14th run.
Sam Thompson is noble in defeat. He hits for the cycle and drives in four. Del doubles twice and plates three. But the 1927 Champions starting a three game run where they score 14 runs each day. New York sweeps five in Philly and head back to Manhattan 91-54.
Lou Gehrig hits for the cycle in game 146, a 12-3 NY win. It's only been 14 games since he last did it in the Baker Bowl. The next day Gehrig achieves two milestones during a 8-5 Yank win. He lines his 36th triple of the season, tying Chief Wilson's single season mark. And Lou's three-bagger and a single give him a ridiculous 600 total bases! Gehrig triples the following day to pass Wilson's 1912 mark, and also doubles for the 80th time.
Philadelphia finally snaps their 8-game slide in a big way, 17-10. Billy Hamilton drives in 2 to reach 100 RBI as a leadoff man. But it's a team effort as Delahanty plates four, Thompson and Turner two apiece, and even starter Jack Taylor drives in three as he wins his 18th.
Lou Gehrig, who has found an out-of-worldly overdrive gear, hits 2 homers in game 150. But it's not enough to subdue the Phils,who win 10-7. Sam Thompson leads the way... fourhits and four RBI, giving him an even 220!
The Phillies fans jam 33,000 strong into the Baker Bowl for the first of two final games. They accord loud ovations to their players, and also to the Iron Horse, who is magnificent in defeat, driving in five. His three run homer in the 8th brings the Yanks within two, but Sam Thompson’s double brings home the Phils’ 14th run and they hold on, 14-11. Billy Hamilton cracks out five safeties, including two doubles and a triple. Tuck Turner also laces five hits and two doubles. Ed Delahanty drives in four.
The Phillies make it four straight, winning the final game at Baker Bowl to send the Philadelphia fans home proud and happy. The Babe hits his 79th home run, the baseball clanging off the clubhouse in deep centerfield. In the process Ruth passes 500 total bases on the season, though his 501 leave him far behind teammate Gehrig. But the one-through-four hitters for Philadelphia, Hamilton, Turner, Thompson and Delahanty, combine for 13 hits and 23 total bases as Philly wins 11-6.
10,000 make the 90-plus trip up from Philadelphia to watch their heroes one final time at 1903’s Hilltop Park. NY fans, upon encountering Phillies fans, are gracious.
“You have an outstanding team. Every game we’ve played, no lead ever seemed safe.” Says a Yankee fan. “Thanks. Your bunch is exciting too. I think our best hitters are as good as yours… but you have so damn many more of them! And that Gehrig and Ruth! They should count as two players each!” Both fans laugh.
In this offensive outbreak, Lou Gehrig managed to separate himself from the pack. At the 125 game mark he trailed Sam Thompson in the RBI race, 188-185. Thompson sat at .417 (250-600) while Lou was hitting .440 (233-529). Then Gehrig got hot. He drove in 79 runs the rest of the year. He hit 16 HRs, outpacing even the Babe (15) over that 29 game stretch. Gehrig hit .552 and slugged 1.283. He hit for the cycle three times!
"Actually Lou will do great... the way he hits those hard low liners."
That was the Babe's prediction before the Yanks home opener (game 6) at Hilltop Park. I remind him of that now. The Bambino grins.
"The right-center alley at Yankee Stadium was 429. Lou wasn't bothered by that. I knew he's do great. Not THIS great... but great!" Ruth shakes his head. "But how about Paschal! And Gazella!"
Ben Paschal: 443 AB, 180 H, .406 BA, .716 SA, 317 TB, 64 doubles, 14 triples, 15 HR, 114 RBI!
Mike Gazella: 316 AB, 104 H, .329 BA, 63 BB, .440 OBP, 46 RBI, 91 runs!
"And I wanna tip my hat to the Philly boys!" Ruth boomed. Four .400 hitters! Just like they did in '94! And Hamilton at .390-something!"
154 Games Final Yankee record 95-59
Yanks go 32-31, then 63-28.
PLAYER....... BA/SA........... HR RBI
Combs.......... .371/.590..........9 98
Koenig.......... .339/.483.........5 122
Ruth............. .364/.882...... 79 224
Gehrig......... .462/.965....... 57 264
Meusel......... .372/.566....... 11 193
Lazzeri......... .330/.561...... 24 191
Collins.......... .307/.504..... 18 162
Dugan........... .295/.382....... 0 79
Paschal......... .406/.716...... 15 114
Gazella.......... .329/.478....... 1 46
...................... .440 OBA 63W 91R
PLAYER..................BA/SA........HR RBI
Hamilton.............. .392/.517 ....... 3 106 57SB
Turner................... .428/.532 ...... 0 160
Thompson............ .418/.660 ..... 17 226
Delahanty............. .415/.585 ....... 7 167
Cross..................... .377/.477 .........3 181
Clement................ .320/.448 ........6 64
Grady......................401/.509 ........0 49
Hits: Turner - 323, Thompson - 305, Gehrig - 303
Doubles: Gehrig - 85, Thompson - 66, Meusel - 66, Paschal 64 (443 AB)
Triples: Gehrig - 37, Combs - 35, Thompson - 30
Home Runs: Ruth - 79, Gehrig - 57, Lazzeri - 24, Collins -18, Thompson - 17
Total Bases: Gehrig - 633, Ruth - 506, Thompson - 482
At Bats: Turner -755, Thompson - 730, Cross - 724
Wow, That was alot of work! (play?) Only problem is their was no Baker Bowl in 1894. The original park owned by A.J. Reach burned down in August of that year. Temporary stands were put up and the team played games at another park and on the road to close out the year. The rebuilt stadium, with different dimensions, later became called Baker Bowl after new owner William F. Baker who took ownership in 1913. In other words, the 1894 Phillies never played in what later became known as Baker Bowl.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct. No Baker Bowl in 1894. I took some artistic/fantastic (?) license because it was the Phils home for so long. By putting the Yankees home games in Hilltop Park I also had the contrast of big and small parks for the two offensive juggernauts. I promise you this though...the games themselves were computer generated! No fudging!
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