*The following is an excerpt from the post '1932 Yankees vs. 1976 Cincinnati Reds!'
Game 152 Batting Practice
Wrigley Field, Chicago
The 1932 Yanks vs. the 1976 Cincinnati Reds (September 2011). The Yanks have slumped, going 22-38 since starting the season 47-44. They are 69-82. With the season long decided, the Bambino has taken the Reds to visit 1932 Wrigley Field... where Joe Morgan asks the Babe one of baseball's eternal questions... did he or didn't he?
George Foster and Joe Morgan watch as the aging Bambino launches several BP tosses into the Wrigley Field bleachers… and a couple over them. Then Babe comes out to join them as Lou Gehrig takes his hacks.
“This is still the best part of the day for me,” Ruth wiped his brow and grinned broadly. “This is why I show up.”
“This is why we played as kids, Babe.” Joe replied.
“George…” Ruth was still breathing hard. “You went over 200 RBI’s. That’s amazing, pal.”
“You went over that scoreboard yesterday, George!!”
Foster grinned. “That’s amazing.”
Note: Ruth’s home run yesterday traveled approximately 512 feet, leaving the park to the right of the scoreboard.
“You know, I had a teammate named George Foster?”
“No kidding?” Foster queried.
“Yep… everyone called him Rube… just like the Negro Leaguer. And just like the Negro Leaguer, George was a great pitcher. He was our Ace on the ’15 Red Sox… the World Champion Red Sox.”
“You were pretty good yourself that year, Babe.” Said Joe Morgan.
“We had a staff!” The Babe mused. “I won 18 games. And I didn’t get to start in the World Series!”
“Damn!” Exclaimed George Foster. “Why not?”
“Partly because of that damn George Foster!” Foster. Morgan and Ruth all laughed. “Seriously, Rube won 20, won 2 more in the Series. And he went 4 for 8.”
“Did you ever hit against the Black Rube Foster, Babe?” Asked Joe.
“Nah… he was before my time. He was a manager by the time I was a rookie. I did hit against Cannonball Redding and Smoky Joe Williams. And of course, there was Satch.”
“You hit against Satch?” Foster asked excitedly.
“Nah…” Ruth grinned. Foster looked dejected. “I mostly missed.” They all grinned. “I homered off of him once. But he was tough. Remember, he was in his twenties. He had it going!”
“Who was the fastest?” Morgan asked.
“That’s a tough one. Redding was the toughest to hit because he pitched inside. Pushed you off the plate. Then again, I was older when I faced Satch. And Williams was in his forties when he faced me.”
"Tell me about '32, Babe." Said Joe Morgan.
“The bench jockeying was fierce Joe.” The Babe said quietly. “They called me ‘Nigger…’”
“Really…” Joe answered, a bit disquieted.
“Yeah. I got that a lot. Some guys were vicious. And I think it hurt them more tham it hurt me.”
“I can believe that.” Morgan nodded.
“Ben Chapman… he was a Hall Of Fame talent. He could do it all. Actually, Joe, he played like you. Steal bases, hit homers, .300-hitter, good fielder… he could do it all. But I think he let that crap ruin his career.”
“What about you, Babe?” Joe asked.
Babe smiled. “See that scoreboard out in center field?”
“Yep.”
“That ball I hit in ’32 went right past it… just to the right.” Babe winked. “And I owe that to those bastards on the Chicago bench.” For the first time both Morgan and Ruth grinned. Then Joe asked the question.
“What about it Babe? Did you call it?”
“It’s all right there in the papers.”
“C’mon Babe!”Joe insisted.
“I’ll tell you just what I did. I pointed to the pitcher, Root. I said ‘I’m gonna knock the next pitch right down your throat!’” Ruth winked again. “Guess I got under it a bit.” Joe and the Babe both laughed.
Game 152 Cincy wins 13-11 the Yanks fall to 69-83
Yanks 22-39 since going 47-44
Wrigley Field, Chicago
PLAYER …….POS… AB H 2B 3B HR TB
Babe Ruth…….RF… 5 4 0 0 4 16
Lou Gehrig…....1B … 5 5 0 0 2 11
HR: B.Chapman (1),
B.Ruth 4 (59), L.Gehrig 2 (38)
RBI: B.Chapman (1),
B.Ruth 7 (174), L.Gehrig 2 (168), F.Crosetti (1)
HR: K.Griffey Sr. (10)
RBI: P.Rose 2 (2), K.Griffey Sr. 3 (79), G.Foster (203), T.Perez (161), J.Bench (1), D.Concepcion 4 (4),
G.Nolan (1)
1st: Ruth grounds out to Perez at 1B, unassisted.
The Reds score 5 in the bottom of the first to take the lead, 5-0.
3rd: Ruth hits a 390 foot HR into the right-center field bleachers. Red Ruffing scores ahead of the Babe to make the score 6-3, Cincinnati.
6th: The Babe leads off, and rockets a drive down the right that clears the 353 foot fence and Sheffield Avenue behind it. Ruth’s 2nd HR makes it Reds 8, Yanks 4. Lou Gehrig follows immediately with a blast to right-center, which clangs against a bleacher seat 414 feet away. Reds now lead 8-5.
7th: “Try to get on ahead of me, Ben!” Ruth says to Chapman as both men loosen up in the on-deck circle. Chapman grins and walks to the plate to lead off. Gary Nolan fires a fast-ball, and Ben Chapman lines a home-run to left field. He circles the bases and shakes Ruth’s hand at the plate. “Sorry, Babe!” Chapman yells over the roaring, 39,000-plus crowd. Ruth grins back. Then, after Sparky Anderson relieves Gary Nolan with Pedro Borbon, the Babe swings at a two-strike waste pitch, two feet outside an inches off the ground. The Babe’s 3rd HR soars to the left of the huge CF scoreboard, leaves Wrigley Field, and bounces approximately 550 feet away. In the dugout, Ben Chapman shakes his head… Holy crap!” Ruth’s 3rd home run closes the gap to 9-7.
9th inning: Cincinnati has the game in hand, 13-7. With one out, Will McEnaney walks Ben Chapman. Sparky Anderson shakes his head and comes out to remove him in favor of Pat Darcy. Darcy takes the ball and immediately fires a brushback fast-ball at the Bambino. Bambino, who of course disdains batting helmets, hits the dirt. The fans boo heavily. Ruth gets up slowly. Through the crescendo of boos, the Babe’s face is creased by a grin. He quietly says to catcher Johnny Bench… “Your boy shoulda hit me.” Johnny grinned back. “Go easy on him Babe.” Ruth steps back into the batter’s box and digs in…six inches closer to the plate. And he stares right at Darcy. Darcy throws a change-up, which drops toward the Babe’s shoe-tops… low and inside. Ruth steps back and golfs the pitch. The Babe’s 4th home run soars majestically toward Sheffield Avenue, clearing the bleachers and disappearing from view. As Ruth trots past 2nd, Joe Morgan swats him on the rump with his glove. Ruth comes around third and hears a whistle from the pitching mound. The Babe glances up and Darcy tips his cap ever so slightly. Ruth returns the salute and dents home plate. Bench swats him on the shoulder with his catcher’s mitt as the Babe goes by.
While the Chicago throng is still cheering, Lou Gehrig hits Darcy’s first offering over the RF wall. Lou’s 2nd HR makes the score 13-11. And makes a suddenly nervous Sparky Anderson relieve Darcy with Rawly Eastwick.
“That was the best I’ve ever seen, Babe. And the best I ever hope to see.” Joe Morgan says quietly.
“Thanks, Joe.” Ruth grinned. “But you guys still won. And by the way, your hero, Willie… he hit four in a game in real life. In sixty or sixty-one, sometime around there.”
“Yeah, but I was able to witness this one. You and Gehrig both. What did you have…?”
“Twenty-seven total bases!” Sparky Anderson interjected, having just walked up behind the batting cage. “I could never hit. But I can count with anybody. Lou had 11. And this colossus had six-teen!”
“Hello, Sparky.” Said Ruth.
“Babe, do you know that Sparky’s real name is George?”
“Sunovabee!” Ruth grinned as the two Georges shook hands. Anderson repeated the number, shaking his head.
“Twenty-seven total bases! That’s three singles apiece for the whole starting line-up. Babe, it was an honor to be here and see it… and be a part of it.”
“Thanks, George!” Ruth and Anderson both grinned.
“The most amazing thing… at least two of those homers came on pitches nowhere near the plate. Darcy’s… that was a great pitch!”
“Yes it was.” Nodded the Babe. “If I could explain how I’d hit it…”
“You hit it because you’re Babe-friggin-Ruth!” Interjected Sparky Anderson. Ruth grinned.
“Sometimes that helps.” Joked Ruth.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
The Babe Beats The Yanks! TWICE!
Boston's Fenway Park. 1915.
93rd Game of a 154 game season.
Ninth inning.
Rookie left-hander George Ruth casually slings his warm-up tosses plateward. Behind him his infielders toss a ball around. And in the on-deck area, Yankees third baseman Red Rolfe limbers up with two bats as he prepares to lead off the top of the ninth. And in the stands, 23,556 Fenway faithful stand and cheer. Boston has a comfortable 6-0. Wins have been hard to come by for the Red Sox lately. The 1915 World Champs had gone toe-to toe with their 1936 New York counterparts for the first half of the season. The two teams split the first 68 contests. New York's powerful line-up seemed unable to overpower the superb pitching staff. Boston seemed to be able to come up with timely hits over and over, play great defense, and of course, send a strong hurler to the mound day in and day out. Five men with at least 15 wins in the actual 1915 campaign, with lefty Dutch Leonard, 15-7, sporting the lowest winning percentage.
But suddenly, as the second half of this mythical season arrives, the 1936 Yankees seem to find an extra gear. They win an astounding 17 out of 22. Gehrig, Dickey and rookie Joe DiMaggio are not knocking out home runs left-and-right (Gehrig leads with seven after 90 games). But New York seems to adapt to the 'small ball' or 'dead ball' game very well. Their pitching solidifies. And the Red Sox find themselves fighting to get back in contention.
Which brings the two teams, and us, to game 93. New York has extended their hot streak to 19 of 24. Boston has sent rookie Ruth to the mound to try and halt the Yankee train. And here, now, for eight terrific innings, the Babe from Baltimore has done it. He has completely shut down the line-up that terrorized the American League to the tune of 1000-plus runs. And Ruth had even helped out at the plate, lining a Lefty Gomez fastball 444 feet to right center for a solo homer in the fifth. Now, three outs are all that separates he and his mates from cheer and beer for a well earned victory.
Ruth finishes his warmup tosses. Forrest Cady fires the ball down to second. Red Rolfe settles into the left-hand batters box. Ruth snags the ball from third baseman Larry Gardner and walks up to toe the rubber. Umpire Bill Klem gives the 'play ball' signal. And 23,000 Red Sox rooters remain standing and cheering.
Ruth nods at the signal from catcher Cady, winds and fires. Rolfe swings at the first pitch fastball and lifts a high fly ball. It floats down the right-field line before barely clearing the wall just fair of the pole... home run.
The fans gasp and groan loudly. Then, they begin to cheer. As Rolfe circles the bases the cheer gets louder and louder. On the mound, Ruth shrugs and calls for another ball from umpire Klem. Then he notices Boston Manager Bill Carrigan coming to the mound.
"You taking me out, Skip? I ain't tired."
"Babe! Don't you know what's going on?"
"Yeah! We're about to win. And it's about damn time!"
"Babe! They're cheering you!"
Just then umpire Klem comes to the mound with a fresh baseball.
"Nice job, Babe!" The umpire Klem grins.
"Thanks! I won't call you 'Catfish' just for that."
"Babe!" Interjects Carrigan. "You really don't know what's going on, do you? Tip your damn cap!" The Bambino looks quizzically at Carrigan. he indeed doffs his cap to the Boston fans who are on their feet, still cheering. "Babe, that home run you just surrendered to Rolfe was the Yanks' first hit of the game. You pitched a no-hitter for eight innings!" The Babe grinned.
"You're not upset?" queried umpire Klem.
"Nah! These fans ain't had much to cheer about for a long, long time." The Babe waved his cap again. Then he retired the side to secure the victory.
After the game Ruth comes out of the Red Sox clubhouse. He's surprised to see the losing pitcher, Lefty Gomez.
"Kid; that was the best I've seen in a long time. That was a clinic you gave out there today." The youngster stammered a bit.
"T-Thanks, Mr. Gomez."
"Lefty! You call me 'Mr. Gomez', it makes me sound like your grandpa!" Ruth grinned.
"That was a long time coming. I'm sick and tired of losing."
"Listen Babe... this Yankee team... do you know how damn good they are?"
"I'm gettin' the idea."
"They score a thousand runs a year. Without my help. They keep me on the mound to keep me away from the batters' box. Sometimes after I retire the side, they sneak off the field and hope I stay out there!" The Babe laughed.
"They keep you on the mound because you're a great pitcher. Something I'm trying to be."
"Something you already are."
"Thanks, Lefty. Maybe someday they'll call me 'Lefty' too."
"I think they've got another nickname in mind for you." Lefty then stuck out his hand. "Just keep pitching them, son. Let's do it again in four days." And the two left-handers shook hands.
Then… one year later.
1916 Boston Red Sox VS
1937 New York Yankees
Yankee Stadium, Bronx NY.
Boston's Babe shuts down the Yankees! Again!
Babe Ruth, now a second year southpaw, again locks horns with Lefty Gomez and the Yankees. More than 53,000 are in attendance. Ruth’s record is 7-7, with an ERA of 3.72. Lefty Gomez has a sterling 12-3 record with a 1.64 ERA… and a line-up behind him that scored more than 1000 runs in 1937.
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.
93rd Game of a 154 game season.
Ninth inning.
Rookie left-hander George Ruth casually slings his warm-up tosses plateward. Behind him his infielders toss a ball around. And in the on-deck area, Yankees third baseman Red Rolfe limbers up with two bats as he prepares to lead off the top of the ninth. And in the stands, 23,556 Fenway faithful stand and cheer. Boston has a comfortable 6-0. Wins have been hard to come by for the Red Sox lately. The 1915 World Champs had gone toe-to toe with their 1936 New York counterparts for the first half of the season. The two teams split the first 68 contests. New York's powerful line-up seemed unable to overpower the superb pitching staff. Boston seemed to be able to come up with timely hits over and over, play great defense, and of course, send a strong hurler to the mound day in and day out. Five men with at least 15 wins in the actual 1915 campaign, with lefty Dutch Leonard, 15-7, sporting the lowest winning percentage.
But suddenly, as the second half of this mythical season arrives, the 1936 Yankees seem to find an extra gear. They win an astounding 17 out of 22. Gehrig, Dickey and rookie Joe DiMaggio are not knocking out home runs left-and-right (Gehrig leads with seven after 90 games). But New York seems to adapt to the 'small ball' or 'dead ball' game very well. Their pitching solidifies. And the Red Sox find themselves fighting to get back in contention.
Which brings the two teams, and us, to game 93. New York has extended their hot streak to 19 of 24. Boston has sent rookie Ruth to the mound to try and halt the Yankee train. And here, now, for eight terrific innings, the Babe from Baltimore has done it. He has completely shut down the line-up that terrorized the American League to the tune of 1000-plus runs. And Ruth had even helped out at the plate, lining a Lefty Gomez fastball 444 feet to right center for a solo homer in the fifth. Now, three outs are all that separates he and his mates from cheer and beer for a well earned victory.
Ruth finishes his warmup tosses. Forrest Cady fires the ball down to second. Red Rolfe settles into the left-hand batters box. Ruth snags the ball from third baseman Larry Gardner and walks up to toe the rubber. Umpire Bill Klem gives the 'play ball' signal. And 23,000 Red Sox rooters remain standing and cheering.
Ruth nods at the signal from catcher Cady, winds and fires. Rolfe swings at the first pitch fastball and lifts a high fly ball. It floats down the right-field line before barely clearing the wall just fair of the pole... home run.
The fans gasp and groan loudly. Then, they begin to cheer. As Rolfe circles the bases the cheer gets louder and louder. On the mound, Ruth shrugs and calls for another ball from umpire Klem. Then he notices Boston Manager Bill Carrigan coming to the mound.
"You taking me out, Skip? I ain't tired."
"Babe! Don't you know what's going on?"
"Yeah! We're about to win. And it's about damn time!"
"Babe! They're cheering you!"
Just then umpire Klem comes to the mound with a fresh baseball.
"Nice job, Babe!" The umpire Klem grins.
"Thanks! I won't call you 'Catfish' just for that."
"Babe!" Interjects Carrigan. "You really don't know what's going on, do you? Tip your damn cap!" The Bambino looks quizzically at Carrigan. he indeed doffs his cap to the Boston fans who are on their feet, still cheering. "Babe, that home run you just surrendered to Rolfe was the Yanks' first hit of the game. You pitched a no-hitter for eight innings!" The Babe grinned.
"You're not upset?" queried umpire Klem.
"Nah! These fans ain't had much to cheer about for a long, long time." The Babe waved his cap again. Then he retired the side to secure the victory.
After the game Ruth comes out of the Red Sox clubhouse. He's surprised to see the losing pitcher, Lefty Gomez.
"Kid; that was the best I've seen in a long time. That was a clinic you gave out there today." The youngster stammered a bit.
"T-Thanks, Mr. Gomez."
"Lefty! You call me 'Mr. Gomez', it makes me sound like your grandpa!" Ruth grinned.
"That was a long time coming. I'm sick and tired of losing."
"Listen Babe... this Yankee team... do you know how damn good they are?"
"I'm gettin' the idea."
"They score a thousand runs a year. Without my help. They keep me on the mound to keep me away from the batters' box. Sometimes after I retire the side, they sneak off the field and hope I stay out there!" The Babe laughed.
"They keep you on the mound because you're a great pitcher. Something I'm trying to be."
"Something you already are."
"Thanks, Lefty. Maybe someday they'll call me 'Lefty' too."
"I think they've got another nickname in mind for you." Lefty then stuck out his hand. "Just keep pitching them, son. Let's do it again in four days." And the two left-handers shook hands.
Then… one year later.
1916 Boston Red Sox VS
1937 New York Yankees
Yankee Stadium, Bronx NY.
Boston's Babe shuts down the Yankees! Again!
Babe Ruth, now a second year southpaw, again locks horns with Lefty Gomez and the Yankees. More than 53,000 are in attendance. Ruth’s record is 7-7, with an ERA of 3.72. Lefty Gomez has a sterling 12-3 record with a 1.64 ERA… and a line-up behind him that scored more than 1000 runs in 1937.
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.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Barry and the Babe II (1923 Yanks-2001 Giants)
BP cage… opening day.
PacBell Park 2001.
“Why the rematch, Babe? I mean, it’s good to see you again and all, but… we didn’t even win in ’01.”
“Sevety-three reasons, Barry.” The Babe winked.
“Really?” Barry grinned.
“Yeah, but we’re the ’23 Yanks now. This is a tougher bunch. And we’ll be in the brand new Stadium. 420-plus to deep right-center. 490 to center and left-center. 420 to left. Your righty hitters are gonna HATE the place. They’ll be cussin’ it out.”
“And me?”
“You’ll be cussin our pitchers for walking you like the gutless bastards they are.” Ruth grinned. “Just kidding. Actually, this staff you’re gonna face is pretty damn good. We got a lefty, Herb Pennock, now. We got five aces.”
“I think that’s where you got us, Babe. Our pitching is okay. But just okay.”
“Yeah, and we got two tough hitting parks… Frisco and the Stadium. No cheap homers. If you can pull it down the line at Yankee Stadium, you’ll do okay. But if you miss and hit it to right-center…” Babe grinned. “I’ll catch it for you.”
“You’re playing right this year?”
“Yeah. Meusel is playing left. I got a good arm, but Bob has a cannon. You need that in left. You’ll see.”
“Yep. We’ll see. Good luck, Babe. Let’s hit ‘em.”
Game 5. PacBell Park, San Francisco 2001.
Both Barry and the Babe have encountered tough sledding getting out of the gate. Bonds enters the 5th game with no homers – in fact he’s hitless (0-10) with five walks. Ruth is doing little as well… 2 singles and seven walks in four games, which the two squads have split. The only ones doing any serious raking are New York 1st baseman Wally Pipp and left-fielder Bob Meusel. Pipp, who was 2nd on the team in RBI in ’23, has driven home 10 in the first four games here. He’s 8-17 (.471). Meusel is 10-17 (.588) with 4 RBI.
But in the bottom of the 5th Yankees southpaw Herb Pennock tosses a slow curve. Barry Bonds turns on it and lines it over the brick wall in right field, over the hundreds of fans standing on the catwalk, and into McCovey’s Cove with a splash. The bomb comes with Aurelia aboard, gives the Giants a 3-2 lead, and ultimately wins the game. The Giants head to New York with a 3-2 edge in games as well.
Game 6 SF 4-3 3-3
1st game at new Yankee Stadium, 1923.
At Batting Practice:
“You might know I hit the 1st one here in ’23.”
“Figures.” Answered Barry. “None went out today. You’re right. This place is huge.”
“Yep. Fits 70,000. And you gotta nail it… other than straight away right.”
In BP Bonds puts on a show, lining pitch after pitch into the brand new bleachers that would soon become ‘Ruthville’. The fans are stunned but soon cheer the display. Bonds might well have practiced looking at pitches instead. During the game that’s all he does, walking three times. But he scores two of San Fran’s four runs, as the win 4-3.
Game 8 SF 8-2 4-4
“Well, my boys are pitching to you a little more.”
“Yeah, Babe. You’re right about this park. I’d pitch to me too. Or anybody. Just keep it off the plate to lefties.”
“Yeah, but if you go the other way with it… and run… that ball will roll a long way.”
“Damn right. Better not make me chase it, Babe! It gets hot out in New York in July.” The Babe winked.
“So do I, kid!”
Barry belts his first Yankee Stadium home run – beating the Babe – and everyone else – to the punch. Bob Meusel follows a couple innings later but the Giants attack is balanced and thorough. Six men drive in runs. Armando Rios leads the way with three and leads his mates to a 8-2 win. The two teams are again tied at 4 wins apiece.
Two days later Barry does it again - as does Bob Meusel. Each belts a 2-run bomb and lines a run scoring double. But San Francisco wins their 3rd straight at the big new ball yard in the Bronx.
10 Games 4-6
Ruth .143 .228 0 HR 1 RBI 10 BB .333 OBP
Meusel .405 .714 2 HR 12 RBI
Pipp .341 .561 1 HR 13 RBI
Bonds .206 .552 3 HR 7 RBI 14 BB .465 OBP
Aurelia .390 .439 0HR 8 RBI
Kent .294 .382 0HR 10 RBI
Shawkey 1-1 13 inn 4.73
Bush 2-0 17 inn 1.53
Hoyt 1-1 19 inn 2.33
Jones 0-3 14 inn 7.07
Pennock 0-1 12 inn 4.26
Mays 0-0 8 inn 5.63
The Giants and the Yanks split the 1st 16 games. Then the Bay Area Bombers shocked everybody including quite possibly themselves. They rip off an 11-game winning streak and take 13 of 15.
Barry starts them off in the 17th game. He wows the 71,000 Yankee Stadium throng with his plate discipline, sharp batting eye, speed, and finally, tremendous power. Bonds sees 17 pitches on the afternoon. The first 16 are off the plate as he walks four times. He comes around to score twice – once all the way from 1st on a long single from Rich Aurelia. On the 17th pitch… the 1st one he sees in his fifth plate appearance, Bonds swings at a high hard one and lines the only strike he sees deep into Ruthville for a two-run homer. Aurelia, Jeff Kent and Armando Rios combine for 7 RBI as the Giants win going away 9-3.
30 Games 10-20 (2-8)
Ruth .245 .468 4 HR 14 RBI 36 BB .454
Meusel .289 .471 3 HR 21 RBI
Pipp .308 .450 2 HR 26 RBI
Bonds .244 .433 6 HR 18 RB 49 BB .511
Aurelia .313 .453 3 HR 22 RBI
Kent .283 .382 0HR 26 RBI
Shawkey 2-2 42 inn 5.27
Bush 3-3 41 inn 3.67
Hoyt 2-2 46 inn 3.52
Jones 0-6 36 inn 6.63
Pennock 1-2 36 inn 4.25
Mays 0-1 21 inn 5.57 18g, 2 SV
Pipgras 1-2 16 inn 5.94 25g, 4 SV
“What a sorry sack of .240 hitters we are, eh Babe?”
“Yeah!” But then Ruth grinned. “But we’ve both hit some bombs. Just not often enough. Are you sure this team didn’t win? Seems a lot tougher than the ’02 bunch.” Barry shook his head.
“I’ll never figure it out, Babe. You are right. This squad should have gone all the way. Aurelia was like Lou Gehrig… by the way, isn’t he on your bench?”
“Yeah but he never got in in ’23. Replaced Pipp in ’25.”
“Damn! Pipp was good. He can hit AND field! Gehrig must have impressed you guys.”
It’s around this time of the season that the Giants find inspiration in an unlikely source. It starts when Dusty Baker gives JT Snow a day off. Coming in at first base is none other than the 40-year-old Big Cat; ex-batting champ and cancer survivor Andres Galarraga. Galarraga led the NL in batting and RBI. Then the Big Cat won an even bigger battle, missing a whole year to battle the dreaded disease a few years back.
Here Galarraga seizes the opportunity. He doubles home a run in his 1st game, a 4-0 win (game 29). In the 2nd game the Big Cat wows the huge NY crowd by powering a Bullet Joe Bush fast ball past Bush, past centerfielder Whitey Witt, past the flagpole in center, and over the distant CF wall. The ball lands up in the bleachers 525 feet from home plate. It’s an even more majestic blast than the 488 foot shot the Bambino boomed to left-center later in the game. Dusty gives Andres a 3rd start when the clubs move back to San Francisco (and forward 78 years) for game 31. Galarraga gets a standing ovation when he comes to bat in the home 1st. He gets a few more cheers when he collects three hits and two RBI. The Giants win 6-5. Two days later San Fran does it again, a 6-5 win (game 33). Galarraga is in the thick of it, doubling to left and belting a long home run to deep left-center, an enormous drive that falls just short of the huge fielder’s glove with the 501 foot sign on it.
Game 35. Barry Bonds is walked three times, giving him 55. What managers deemed good strategy against the dangerous home run champ isn’t working here. Armando Rios, quietly having a fine season, drives in three to give him 30 in 35 games. And it’s the Big Cat… again. He doubles three times. Then in the 10th he hits a two-run home run to give the Giants a 7-6 come-from behind victory.
San Francisco is now 16-3 since the two teams were knotted at 8-8.
Galarraga goes 0-8 in two more starts and manager Dusty Baker finally rests him. But game 40 at Yankee Stadium sees southpaw Herb Pennock on the hill, and Dusty goes for the platoon advantage, calling on the 40-year-old Venezuelan veteran one more time. Andres again stuns the partisans at jammed-packed Yankee Stadium. He doubles in the 1st and cracks another to deep left in the 3rd. Then the Big Cat drives Hall-of-Famer Pennock from the game in the top of the 6th with a deep drive that soars directly over Bob Meusel… maybe 40-50 feet overhead before landing 454 feet away. Home run. Finally Galarraga hits a rifle-shot down the left-field line. It’s only 281 to the foul pole but the ball is still rising at it lands in the stands a good 410 feet away. Two homers, ten total bases, four-for-four, and a rousing ovation from the NY faithful as he dents home plate in the eighth – even though he helped demolish their heroes 12-4.
40 Games NY is 14-26 (6-18 last 24)
Ruth .266 .508 6 HR 26 RBI 49 BB .469
Meusel .288 .475 4 HR 36 RBI
Pipp .314 .428 2 HR 32 RBI
Bonds .250 .435 7 HR 22 RB 62 BB .500
Aurelia .312 .459 3 HR 27RBI
Kent .276 .391 0HR 35 RBI
Shawkey 3-2 59 inn 4.42
Bush 4-4 62 inn 2.81
Hoyt 2-3 62 inn 4.73
Jones 1-8 51 inn 6.49
Pennock 1-3 48 inn 4.99
Mays 0-2 27 inn 5.67 18g, 2 SV, 3 bsv
Pipgras 1-3 21 inn 7.17 32g, 4 SV, 1 bsv
Andres Galarraga:
.400 BA (18-45) .933 SA 5 HR 14 RBI (11 starts)
As the season progresses the pitchers of both squads continue to deal cautiously with Barry and the Babe. As a result their home run totals are down but their walk, on-base and run totals are high. Bob Meusel runs away with the RBI race, batting clean-up behind Ruth.
On the other hand the Giants are taking turns driving in Bonds, who is well on his way to a 200-walk (and maybe 200-run) year. Rich Aurelia, Jeff Kent, Armando Rios and even part-timer Andres Galarraga are taking turns driving in Barry – and each other.
And the approach works. The 2001 Giants, who did not even win their five team division, fight the 1923 World Champions to a standstill – and in fact, pull ahead.
Game 78: NY wins 5-2 teams are 39-39.
Bob Meusel LF 100 4 2 0 0 2 8
Barry Bonds LF 100 2 1 0 0 1 4 3 bb (113)
B.Bonds hits his 15th home run. His solo shot provides his 49th RBI. Why are his numbers so low? Bonds also walks three times to give him 113 in 78 games.
Bob Meusel is not walked. He homers twice and drives home four of the five Yankee runs.
HR: B.Meusel 2 (12)
RBI: B.Ruth (1), B.Meusel 4 (92)
“So, Babe, after 78 games, we have settled nothing.”
“I still say our team is better than the one in ’21. But I think your team is way stronger than your ’02 squad. Your line-up top-to-bottom… your staff… everything. Even your bench. I don’t get it, Barry.”
“Me neither. But man… those fans of yours are booing the shit out of your guys for walking me so much.”
“Little secret, Barry. Out in right field… so am I.”
Both men grinned.
90 Games : NY is 43-47
Ruth .330 .602 16 HR 76 RBI 113 BB .515
Meusel .292 .518 12 HR 101 RBI
Pipp .326 .439 4 HR 70 RBI
Bonds .253 .452 16 HR 53 RBI 127 BB .485
Aurelia .282 .380 3 HR 46RBI
Kent .280 .385 2HR 60 RBI
Rios 65 RBI
Shawkey 10-3 132 inn 3.14
Bush 8-7 135 inn 2.92
Hoyt 6-8 132 inn 5.16
Jones 7-10 136 inn 3.84
Pennock 3-8 108 inn 5.52
Mays 3-5 50 inn 6.43
Pipgras 2-4 41 inn 7.46 63g, 6 SV
Andres Galarraga:
.333 BA (51-153) .627 SA 9 HR 32 RBI
120 Games 58-62 (4-6)
Ruth .329 .596 21 HR 90 RBI 148 BB .510
Meusel .287 .503 17 HR 131 RBI
Pipp .318 .424 4 HR 97 RBI
Bonds .249 .454 21 HR 68 RBI 168 BB .481
Aurelia .305 .424 9HR 75 RBI
Kent .278 .386 2HR 78 RBI
Rios 84 RBI
Shawkey 14-5 189 inn 3.80
Bush 10-12 194 inn 3.70
Hoyt 11-8 187 inn 4.42
Jones 7-12 168 inn 3.86
Pennock 6-9 147 inn 5.45
Mays 3-9 76 inn 6.16 7 SV, 7 bsv
Pipgras 3-5 60 inn 5.67 87g, 8 SV
Andres Galarraga:
.338 BA (52-154) .630 SA 9 HR 33 RBI
Game 125
Giants need to go 16-14 to clinch the season.
Yanks need to go 16-14 to clinch the season.
Wrigley Field, Chicago, 1926
“What the heck is this, Babe?” Asked Barry.
“It’s called a pit stop. Booked us a few games in Chicago on the way to San Francisco. Gonna catch some music. Have some fun. Play some ball.”
“Yeah but these uniforms. This your idea, too?”
“Yep. See… you’re still the Giants. We’re still the Yankees.”
“The Chicago American Giants!” Piped Dusty Baker.
“And the New York Black Yankees…” said the Babe. “Ever hear of Oscar Charleston?”
“Yes!” Said both Baker and Barry simultaneously.
“Picture you’re God-Dad, only left-handed. Or picture yourself playing center field.”
“That’s a helluva complement the Babe just laid on you, Barry,” said Dusty.
“Thanks, Babe.”
“Forget it kid. I heard what you said about Josh Gibson when you hit the 73 homers… how he was still the all time champ with 84. That’s a lot of class.”
“How good was he, Babe?” Asked Barry.
“He used to play in D.C. when the Senators were out of town. Griffith stadium was 405 to the left field corner.” The Babe leaned in close for emphasis and lowered his voice. “Josh would hit more homers than the Senators.”
“Damn!” Exclaimed Barry.
“That’s what Clark Griffith would say. He wanted to sign Gibby, Satch, and a whole lot of other Negro fellows. So did McGraw… he snuck in a couple for the Giants.”
“You played against the boys, didn’t you?”
“You bet. Why not? It’s baseball, ain’t it? That’s why we’re in Chicago. The Negro League All-Star game AND the Whites-only All-Star game were both started here… at Comiskey.”
“Yes sir!” Said Dusty. “Guess who hit the first homer in the white all star game?”
“Who else?” Answered Barry.
“Yeah…” the Babe grinned. “But Josh, Buck Leonard, Cool Papa also did good here.”
“Why are we playing at Wrigley?”
“You guys will be the home team at Wrigley. Then we’ll be the home team at Comiskey. You know, the NL-AL thing.”
“Good luck Babe. And thanks!” Said Dusty. “But we’re tied. And we’re still gonna try and beat your ass!” Babe winked.
“Wouldn’t be fun any other way, would it?”
Game 125 NY 9-5 63-62
Giants need to go 16-13 to clinch.
Yanks need to go 15-14.
Wrigley Field, Chicago, 1926
Babe Ruth goes 4-4, doubles and homers twice. He drives home five of the nine Yankee runs. He passes the 100 RBI mark (102), the 2nd on either squad to do so after Bob Meusel. Barry hits his 22nd in a losing cause. He also walks twice.
Game 126 SF 4-3 63-63
Giants need to go 15-13 to clinch.
Yanks need to go 15-13.
Wrigley Field, Chicago, 1926
Wally Pipp becomes the 3rd to reach 100 RBI. But Rich Aurelia’s two-run homer, his 10th, wins it for the San Francisco Giants.
Game 127 NY 16-1 64-63
Giants need to go 15-12 to clinch.
Yanks need to go 14-13.
Wrigley Field, Chicago, 1926
The Babe gets five hits in six tries. Meusel gets four in five. Two of the Bambino’s blasts leave Wrigley Field, and Meusel also hits one out. Ruth knocks in six, Meusel four, and Wally Pipp for two. And the Yanks are grooming a young Henry Louis Gehrig just in case. The Yanks romp 16-1. They’ve won 6 of 7 to go up over .500 at 64-63.
Game 131 SF 7-5 65-66
Giants need to go 12-11 to clinch.
Yanks need to go 13-10.
Bonds does not walk. Bu he makes the case for walking him - Barry hits a 2 run HR in bottom of 9th to win it for SF. Carl Mays has been banished to the bullpen by Huggins by 1923 and he is having a miserable time of it. He loses here, serving up the winning bomb to Bonds. Dropping to 3-10, his ERA of 6.50 nearly matches his actual 1923 mark of 6.20.
Bonds does it again the next day.
Barry hits a 2 run HR in bottom of 9th to win it for SF.
Game 132 SF 3-2 65-67
Giants need to go 11-11 to clinch the season.
Barry Bonds goes 3-4, doubles and homers.
Game 133 NY 6-4 66-67
Giants need to go 11-10 to clinch.
Bonds homers for the 5th straight day (27th), triples, singles and drives in all four SF runs. He has driven in 12 in the last six games and has 84 RBI. He’s gone 11-27 (.407), with 30 total bases (1.111 Slugging). He walks only twice in that span.
Ruth hits his 29th HR and drives in three (116 on the season). In the last 16 games the Babe has homered nine times and driven in 28.
Game 140 NY 2-1 70-70
Giants or Yanks need to go 8-6 to clinch.
R.Aurilia hits his 11th homer 483 feet to left-center. His 90th RBI is San Fran’s only run.
Babe Ruth’s 30th travels 504 feet to dead center
“I tried to make the Babe hit it to the big part of the park. I succeeded.” Shawn Estes on pitching strategy that would normally work.
140 Games 70-70 (5-5)
Ruth .358 .657 30 HR 121 RBI 172 BB .530
Meusel .288 .497 19 HR 159 RBI
Pipp .315 .412 4 HR 112 RBI
Bonds .265 .498 27 HR 90 RBI 191 BB .485
Aurelia .301 .406 11 HR 90 RBI
Kent .282 .406 6 HR 90 RBI
Rios 94 RBI
Shawkey 17-6 230 inn 3.78
Bush 12-12 222 inn 3.84
Hoyt 14-8 217 inn 4.23
Jones 8-13 187 inn 4.15
Pennock 9-10 181 inn 4.83
Mays 3-12 89 inn 6.93 12 SV, 8 bsv
Pipgras 3-7 70 inn 6.14 101 g, 8 SV
Andres Galarraga:
.350 BA (55-157) .643 SA 9 HR 36 RBI
Game 142 SF 5-1 71-71
Giants or Yanks need to go 7-5 to clinch.
12 games to go! All tied!
HR: Armando Rios hits a two-run homer, leading the Giants to victory. Bonds, Aurilia and Kent all drive in runs.
Game 149 NY 7-3 76-73
Giants need to go 5-0 to clinch.
Yanks need to go 2-3.
HR: B.Bonds hits his 31st homer. Aurelia triples home Bonds later on. Both reach the 100 RBI mark. But Jumping Joe Dugan jumps on a fastball and hits a 3-run homer. That shot and a 2-run job from the Bambino are enough to win their 5th in the last seven.
Game 150 NY 3-0 77-73
Giants need to go 4-0 to clinch a tie and force a playoff.
Yanks need to go 1-3 to clinch the season.
Bob Shawkey ups his record to 19-7 (3.71, 257 innings). He goes the distance and throttled the Yanks on 2 singles.
Bob Meusel gets two singles himself and drives in all three Yankee runs. He has a gaudy 171 on the season.
Game 151 NY 9-5 78-73
With their 78th win the 1923 Yankees clinch the season against a tough 2001 San Francisco Giant squad. Bullet Joe Bush beats Livan Hernandez despite walking eight Giants. Bob Meusel and Wally Pipp combine for four hits and three RBI. Deacon Everett Scott, the NY shortstop, belts a 3-run homer.
Game 153 NY 6-5(11) 80-73
Ruth 32 HR Bonds 31HR Kent 94 RBI Rios 100 RBI
Carl Mays, W (5-12) 98 2.1 1 0 0 0 0 0 26 6.66
Armando Rios goes 3-6 and drives in his 100th run. Andres Galarraga doubles home two. But so does Jumping Joe Dugan. His ties the game in the 9th. And Ev Scott’s single wins it in overtime.
Game 154 SF 4-1 80-74
Barry Bonds 3 bb
2B: J.Kent doubles, triples and drives in three.
Kirk Rueter wins 4-1. The ‘one’ is a Babe Ruth 511 foot bomb to dead center. It’s his 33rd. Bonds walks three times. The last is his 208th.
154 Games 80-74 (10-4)
Ruth .359 .652 33 HR 132 RBI 184 BB .526
Meusel .295 .490 19 HR 175 RBI
Pipp .318 .417 6 HR 125 RBI
Bonds .268 .506 31 HR 101 RBI 208 BB .486
Aurelia .296 .414 12 HR 102 RBI
Kent .277 .405 7 HR 97 RBI
Rios 100 RBI
Shawkey 19-8 265 inn 3.74
Bush 14-12 243 inn 3.84
Hoyt 17-8 240 inn 4.04
Jones 8-13 194 inn 3.99
Pennock 10-11 203 inn 4.79
Mays 5-12 98 inn 6.66 12 SV, 8 bsv
Pipgras 3-8 78 inn 597 112 g, 8 SV
Andres Galarraga:
.345 BA (57-165) .630 SA 9 HR 39 RBI
The Babe and Barry! (1921 Yanks-2002 Giants)
1921 New York Yanks vs.
2002 San Francisco Giants
The Babe vs. Barry!
In July, 2003, Bonds announced,
755 isn't a number that's always caught my eye -- the only number I'm concerned with is Babe Ruth's. As a left-handed hitter, I wiped him out. That's it. And in the baseball world, Babe Ruth's everything, right? I got his (single season) slugging percentage, I got him on on-base, I got him on walks and then I'll take his (lifetime) home run record and that's it. Don't talk about him no more.
In 1953 Mac’s Legendary Baseball interviewed Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth:
"You like Barry?" Lou Gehrig was asked.
"SURE!" Interjected the Babe. "He would have been great in ANY era."
"But Babe, he even said 'we don't have to talk about [the Babe] no more'..."
"Hell, he's right!" Shot back the Babe. "Everyone knows about me. Lou and me and all the old greats... no one will forget us! Barry pushed himself and pushed himself. If he'd have had this guy here behind him..." And the Babe slapped Lou on the back. "Barry would have hit 100 homers the year he hit 73. And the next year when they walked him 200 times... think they'd have done that with Lou in the on deck circle? Hell... Barry would have hit 70 again!"
The Babe vs. Barry and the Carl Mays Saga
1st game of the season: Babe Ruth hits the 1st home run of the season, as he often does. His solo shot soars over the brick RF wall, the catwalk full of fans and splashes into McCovey’s Cove. The blast gives New York a 2-1 lead. But Huggins brings Tom Sheehan in to begin the 6th, even though Mays has yielded only 1 run on 4 hits and thrown only 65 pitches. The Yanks lose a 2-1 lead late, 5-2.
Behind the Batting Cage at BP, before game 5.
PacBell Park, San Francisco, 2002.
“Wait till ya see the Polo Grounds, kid.”
Barry Bonds is startled momentarily by the deep semi-southern baritone voice. Babe Ruth leans on the batting practice cage at San Francisco’s Pac Bell Park. It’s 2002. The 1921 Yanks and the 2002 National League champs have split four games at the beautiful bay-front ballpark. The 1921 home run champ has sidled up next to the 21st century home run champ. And The Bambino introduces himself. “Babe Ruth…” The two shake hands.
“I’ve heard about it from my Godfather.” Answered Barry.
“When you see it, you’ll realize two things.”
“What’s that, Babe?”
“One… that with your quick bat, you’ll do well.”
“And the second?”
“Your Godfather could play some centerfield.”
Jason Schmidt goes out and throws a complete game masterpiece, throttling the 1921 American League champions on just three hits and striking out eight. Bonds doubles in a run and scores two. Reggie Sanders, Benito Santiago and JT Snow knock in two apiece as the Giants roll 7-2. The San Fran clan heads to New York, 1921, and their former home of half-a-century, the Polo Grounds… and they do so with a 3-2 record.
Behind the Batting Cage at BP, before game six.
The Polo Grounds, Manhattan NY, 1921.
New York Yankees Home Opener.
“You weren’t kidding, Babe!” Mused Barry.
“You’ve seen the film of Willie’s catch, ain’t you?”
“Yep. Everybody has.”
“Too bad the Giants left New York… although that park out there is beautiful.”
“Yep. Wish they built it 40 years earlier, so Willie could’ve played there.”
“I played in old Seals Stadium. In the fall, after the season.”
“No kidding!”
“Yep! Same place as Joe D, Lefty O’Doul…”
“Who are those guys?” Barry grinned. Then so did the Babe.
The Babe vs. Barry!
Game 8: Polo Grounds 1921.
Barry Bonds goes deep for the 1st time this season. It’s a booming drive to deep right center, clearing the wall near the 429 sign with plenty to spare. Like the Babe in game one, Barry’s 1st home run is a solo blast. And like the Babe’s, it comes in a losing cause. The Yanks edge the Giants 6-5 with run scoring doubles from Ruth, right fielder Bob Meusel and catcher Wally Schang.
Game 9: NY wins 4-3 in 11 to go 6-3 on the season. Babe Ruth leads off the bottom of the 11th with his 2nd HR to dead center, approximately 510 feet deep into the Polo Grounds bleachers, to win the game.
The next day at BP…
“Could Willie have caught that one, Babe?” Kidded Barry.
“Sure, kid!” The Babe winked. “For the price of a 25 cent bleacher ticket.”
As a harbinger of how the season is bound to go, the first 10 games go something like this:
10 Games -’21 Yanks are 7-3
PLAYER - BA SA HR RBI BB OBP
Ruth .225 .483 2HR 5RBI 14BB .467
Meusel .205 .307 0HR 8RBI
Pipp .325 .425 0HR 8RBI
Baker .294 .382 0HR 7RBI
Schang .176 .235 0HR 2RBI
Bonds .214 .429 1HR 7RBI 18BB .522
Kent .182 .181 0HR 0RBI
Sanders .181 .250 0HR 6RBI
Mays 1-0 13 inn 1.31
Hoyt 1-0 15 inn 1.20
Shawkey 3-0 13 inn 4.73
Game 12: Back in San Francisco the 1921 Yankees win their 6th straight, 7-2. The SRO crowd at PacBell Park boos lustily. Not because their hero lost. Because the Babe and Barry combine to go zero for eight – with five walks.
The next day behind the BP Cage:
“They sure booed the shit out of us, didn’t they?”
“Yeah, Babe. You know these days (2002) they pay $200 for some tickets.”
“Holy crap! For 200 bucks I’d do more than boo. I’d throw things!” Barry nodded and grinned.
Game 19:
Bob Meusel hits a 420 foot grand slam to left in the 3rd after Hernandez walks 2. That drives him from the game.
NY wins 11-3 to go 14-5, winning their 9th of 11. Of course the Giants are starting to tire of the losing.
Next day behind the BP cage:
“Livan ain’t foolin’ anybody right now…” Said Barry.
“Hell!” Spat manager Dusty Baker. “He ain’t even fooling me… with my glasses off!”
Game 27:
Jason Schmidt out-duels Carl Mays to hand the submarine-dealing right-hander his first loss. Mays is 4-1 with a 2.63 (51 innings) even after giving up 4 runs in 7-2/3 innings. SF wins 6-2.
Next Day behind the BP cage:
“I don’t care if we finally beat Mays…” said Barry. “I hate batting against him. His wind-up… his delivery… feels like it’s coming at your head, every pitch.”
“Well…” said the Babe quietly. “He did kill a guy with a pitch.”
Game 35. PacBell Park, 2002.
NY wins 11-0, knocking SF southpaw Kirk Rueter out of the box. The Yanks are 25-10. The Babe and Barry combine for one single – and six walks.
Next day, behind the BP cage:
“Pitching against you guys is like throwing against a threshing machine… or a wood-chipper.” Kirk Rueter
“You’ve had our number a couple of times,” said the Babe. “Nobody dominates a big-league team all the time.”
“Yeah, Babe, but when we walk you, your guys make us pay.” Interjected Barry.
“Well… you do have some good hitters.” The Babe winked. “But we do have lots of them.”
Game 36. Polo Grounds , 1921.
SF wins 6-5.
Ruth slices a 300 ft HR to LF in 6th
Sanders belts 440 ft bomb to right-center in 7th.
Ruth takes a fast one on the knee in 8th. He glares at Schmidt as he trots to 1st.
Bonds lines a 370 ft HR to LF in 9th. It makes the score 6-2, but turns out to be the game-winner, as Yanks rally for 3 in bottom of 9th… before leaving the bases loaded as the game ends.
Game 38: Behind the cage at BP:
“Uh, Babe…am I nuts, or is this park different?”
“Yes!” Said the Babe seriously. “And Yes!”
Barry grinned wryly. “Okay, you ain’t nuts. This is the Polo Grounds after ’23. That’s when you guys kicked us out and we built the Stadium. Good move, eh?”
“The Giants were nuts, Babe. I’d have just bumped up the rent.” The Babe grinned broadly.
“You’re a smart fellow, Barry.”
For some reason the Giants pitch to Ruth. He hits two homers and plates four. NY wins 7-5.
At the BP cage before game 41:
“Okay Babe, you’ve seen way more hitters than I have. Who do I remind you of? Anybody?”
“That’s easy!” Babe answered. “Williams. Ted Williams.”
“No kidding?” Barry answered back.
“No doubt. Both of you real scientific. Both of you quick on the inside pitch. Both of you real patient… more patient than I’ll ever be. Only thing is you can run a lot faster. But we’re talking hitting.”
“I choke up, though.”
“Very unusual. But you still swing hard… quick… like Ted. Both of you are quicker coming around than me.”
“Thank you? Wow!”
“Yep! Hey, there’s different ways. Mine is more power and timing. Yours is more speed and form and precision. Take me and Lou Gehrig. Couldn’t be more different. Both approaches worked great. That’s why I love watching the guys on the other team. Don’t get me wrong… I wanna win… bad. But when it’s all said and done, I like to watch a good hitter operate.”
“What about my Dad?”
“Hey kid… I’m sorry about him. He was a great hitter. And you showed a lotta guts the year you lost him.”
“Thanks, Babe.” Barry said quietly.
“But as a hitter…” Babe brightened. “He was more like me. Swung from way back home. And he could throw like I could. Ran waaay better!” Barry nodded and grinned.
“You would have a hell of an outfield… you in left, your Pop in right, and your God-Dad in center. A thousand or so homers, a thousand or so stolen bases, and five or six thousand runs. Think that would work?”
“Hey, Babe.” Barry grinned again. “Reggie Jackson is a cousin of mine!” The Babe pointed a finger at Barry.
“Yeah, but you can’t have him! He’s also a Yankee!”
“True, true. And he definitely swung like you.”
“Especially in October, kid!”
“Amen!”
At the 50-game mark the Yanks are 31-19.
PLAYER: BA/SA… HR… RBI… BB… OBP
Ruth: .266/.509… 10… 34… 58… .450
Bonds: .266/.443… 5… 28… 69… .489
BP cage:
“What a sorry sack of .260 hitters, eh?” Barry laughs.
“Yeah, Babe. Seems like everybody’s in a slump. Except Reggie Sanders.”
“Yeah… he’s got a quick bat!” Just then Hoyt appears.
“Sorry about the game, Waite.” Babe shrugged.
“Forget it Babe! I’ve blown some leads in my time. Who’s the Giant among Giants here?”
“This is Barry, Waite. Barry, this is…”
“I know who this Hall-of-Famer is, Babe.” The two greats shook hands. “You were also a Giant, weren’t you, Mr. Hoyt?” Waite Hoyt grinned.
“Why you sandbagger! You reading up on me?”
“Scouting on you!” Replied Barry.
“See Barry?” Boomed the Babe, who winked. “Told you that you reminded me of Ted Williams!” Babe looked at Hoyt. “Watch him, Waite. Careful!”
“Careful!” Exclaimed Barry. “How more careful could you guys be? I’m lucky I get one strike a game!”
Game 54: NY wins 9-2 to go 34-20.
PacBell Park, 2002. San Francisco.
With two on in the 6th, and NY leading 1-0, Huggins sends up Chicken Hawks to pinch-hit. Predictably, there is a loud, comical reaction from the Bay Area crowd when Hawks is announced. Then the Chicken hits a 393 foot drive over Barry Bonds’ head and into the left-field seats, giving the Yanks a 4-0 cushion. But he isn’t done. The Yanks bat around and the Hawk Man comes up again. He singles in another run, to make the score Yanks 9-0. It would be 10-0, except Barry Bonds makes a great throw to nail Schang trying to score from 2nd. No one laughs at Chicken Hawks, who took 2nd on the throw. But out in left field, Bonds whistles. Hawks looks and Barry tips his cap. Hawks returns the salute. Hawks ends up 2-2 with a HR and 4 RBI.
Game 55: NY wins 5-1 to go 35-20.
PacBell Park, 2002. San Francisco.
Top of the 1st:
“Ladies and gentlemen! Please give a warm Bay Area welcome to San Francisco native, Santa Clara University alumnus, and owner of a lifetime major league batting average of .316 in 146 games… Nelson…Louis… HAWKS!”
The startled crowd looks at Chicken Hawks as he digs in the left-hand batter’s box. Slowly they start applauding… a noise crescendo as the fans gradually stand, one-by-one. The applause grows into a loud, long ovation that circles and echoes the beautiful new San Francisco stadium. The startled Hawks steps out. The umpire comes around to dust the plate even though only two batters have hit. Hawks looked around and hesitates. “Tip your cap!” Said catcher Benito Santiago. Hawks takes off his dinky cloth Yankee cap and waves it. The ovation grows anew, loud and powerful. Santiago says, “It’s a pretty salty team keeps a .316 hitter on the pines!” Hawks smiles… “Yes sir… and a fella named Ruth!” Santiago nodded, smiles, and pulls his mask over his face as he squats back down. “Number One!” Santiago barks. Hawks steps back in and waits. Ortiz fires the fastball as promised. Hawks connects solidly, belting a long drive to center, where, alas, Kenny Lofton corrals it, 399 feet away. Hawks rounds first and trots back to the Yankee dugout to another loud San Francisco ovation. He again tips his cap. He squints up at the press box, where a beaming Babe Ruth, holding the PA announcers microphone winks back.
Game 60: NY wins 5-1 to go 40-20.
Polo Grounds, NY. 1921.
In the bottom of the 3rd, Ruth lifted a 277 foot fly-ball that floated down the RF line. Reggie Sanders race over and watched helplessly as it dropped over the 11 wall to the left of the 256 foot marker for a 2 run HR. The following inning, Barry Bonds led off and golfed a pitch off his shoe tops which also floated lazily down the RF line for a 282 foot HR. As he rounded 2nd, he tipped his hat to the Babe in left, who grinned and returned salute.
Game 62: NY wins 6-4 to go 42-20.
Yanks win 12th straight. At the urging of Babe Ruth, Miller Huggins decides to give Nelson ‘Chicken’ Hawks some playing time as part of a left-hand hitting platoon. Elmer Miller isn’t happy, but the San Francisco crowd is, giving their native son a rousing ovation when he comes to the plate in the 1st, as well as each successive plate appearance. Hawks rewards Huggins with 3 hits, including a triple, and two runs.
Game 79: NY wins 10-6 to go 52-27
In the 1st, Chicken Hawks homered to left field, a solo blast travelling some 380 feet. Ruth, on deck, smiled and shook his hand at the plate. In the 3rd, Hawks walked to load the bases. He got to shake the Babe’s hand again, after Ruth belted a grand slam home run, 474 feet to center field.
Game 82: SF wins 10-3.
With the Giants already up 5-0 in the top of the 4th, the San Francisco crowd is in a festive mood. Thus they cheer wildly when hometown hero Chicken Hawks leads off the 4th by lining a 420 foot home solo home run to left.
103rd Game. PacBell Park. 2002. SF wins 4-1.
In the 1st, Chicken Hawks hit a tremendous solo HR into McCovey’s Cove, his 1st ‘splash’ HR. He circled the bases to a tremendous ovation for what turned out to be all of the Yanks’ offense.
105th game. PacBell Park. SF wins 5-4.
Chicken Hawks:
.427 BA (41 for 96), .466 OBP, .531 SA, 5 HR, 10 RBI.
Actual Major League BA .316 (146 g), .387 OBP, .453 SA
Minor League BA .306 (1206 g),
.299 (AA-982g), .337 (A-224g)
Game 110: The Bambino gets hot, hitting 6 homers and knocking home 14 in five games. Then here in game 110 Kirk Rueter throttles the Yankees, allowing just two singles in eight innings. With a 4-0 in the 8th he tires.
Dusty Baker comes to the mound in the 8th to take the ball from Rueter. Rueter has just walked Babe Ruth with the bases full to force home the Yanks 1st run. But thus far he has allowed only two singles.
“Skip, sorry about the walks…”
“Son that last one was the smartest thing you’ve done all day. I’m takin’ you out 'cause you look gassed. I’m bringing in Rod.” Baker grinned. “He’ll show these guys some gas of his own. Outstanding job, Kirk.” Rueter departs to an ovation from the enemy NY crowd. And indeed, Rodriguez strikes out Meusel and induces Pipp to pop up weakly, stranding 3 runners.
130 Games 81-49 (4-6)
Ruth .304 .667 45HR 131RBI 143 BB .469
Meusel .274 .442 13HR 100RBI
Pipp .330 .447 7HR 109RBI
Baker .266 .373 13HR 83RBI
Schang .286 .413 7HR 61RBI
Bonds .364 .607 18HR 76RBI 177 BB .550
Kent .253 .352 5HR 80RBI
Sanders .260 .422 7HR 94RBI
Mays 19-7 236 inn 3.20
Hoyt 13-6 234 inn 3.53
Shawkey 20-9 240 inn 4.32
Chicken Hawks: .348 BA (63 for 181), .401 OBP, .464 SA, 6 HR, 14 RBI.
Actual ML BA .316 (146 g), .387 OBP, .453 SA
Minor League BA .306 (1206 g),
.299 (AA-982g), .337 (A-224g)
Game 132 NY 7-2 83-49
The Carl Mays Saga
Carl Mays was an enigmatic figure in early 20th century baseball. He was a great right-handed pitcher. He went 27-9, 3.05 in 1921, leading the AL in wins, winning percentage, games pitched, innings pitched AND saves – even though he started 38 times. Additionally Mays hit .343, drove in 22 runs and struck out only 7 times in 156 plate appearances!
For his 15-year career he went 208-126, 2.92. But for all his greatness Mays is remembered for just one thing – throwing the only fatal pitch in major league history. He struck Cleveland Indians’ 2nd baseman Ray Chapman on the temple with a high, tight fast one. Chapman died of a skull fracture early the following morning at a nearby hospital.
But there was more.
The Yanks won their first pennant in 1921. They lost the ensuing World Series to their Polo Grounds landlords, the 1921 New York Giants. They lost 5 games to 3 after winning the 1st 3 of 5. There were rumors and allegations that Carl Mays ‘threw’ a game or two the Giants’ way. Although never proven, many said that Yankee manager Miller Huggins tried to get rid of Mays – his biggest winner – immediately after that World Series. Huggins also used him less. By 1923 Mays was a mop-up man even though he was still in what should have been in his prime. Indeed once Mays was dealt to the Cincinnati he continued to be an effective starter.
In this mythic season of Mac’s Legendary Baseball, the computerized Miller Huggins uses Mays in curious fashion. Let’s review:
1st game of the season: Huggins brings Tom Sheehan in to begin the 6th, even though Mays has yielded only 1 run on 4 hits and thrown only 65 pitches. The Yanks lose a 2-1 lead late, 5-2.
6th game: Carl Mays wins his 1st decision. He goes a strong 8-plus innings, allowing one earned run on 6 hits. Mays also drives in two at the bat.
11th game: This time Huggins removes his ace, Mays, at the start of the fifth, even though the Yanks lead 12-3, and Mays has thrown only 59 pitches. By getting of Mays after the 4th frame, Huggins renders his hurler ineligible to get the win with a 9-run lead.
Game 27:
Jason Schmidt out-duels Carl Mays to hand the submarine-dealing right-hander his first loss. Mays is 4-1 with a 2.63 (51 innings) even after giving up 4 runs in 7-2/3 innings. SF wins 6-2.
The day after game 27 behind the BP cage:
“I don’t care if we finally beat Mays…” said Barry. “I hate batting against him. His wind-up… his delivery… feels like it’s coming at your head, every pitch.”
“Well…” said the Babe quietly. “He did kill a guy with a pitch.”
Now in game 132:
Carl Mays is the winning pitcher… the winningest on either squad. He’s now 21-7 with a 3.40 ERA over 270 innings. He goes 6-plus today yielding only 7 hits and 2 earned runs. But today’s success comes wrapped in near-tragedy.
In the Giants’ 6th, Mays is coasting with a 5-hit shutout. Then a frozen rope off the bat of Russ Ortiz rockets toward the mound – and Carl Mays’ face. Reflexively he whips his right arm up to guard himself. The ball caroms off of May’s right biceps drops and straight down. Mays scrambles for the ball, picks it up and fires to 1st – wildly. The throw pulls Wally Pipp of the bag and Ortiz legs it out for a hit. Then time is called and everyone rushes to the mound where a dazed Mays has sunk to a knee, grimacing in great pain, clutching his pitching arm.
The huge PacBell Park crowd stands in silence as the Yankees and Giants medical staff tend to the stricken hurler. After an excruciatingly long wait Mays, with the aid of the Yankee Trainer, arises to his feet, to a thunderous ovation from the somewhat relieved crowd.
What happens next stuns everybody. Manager Miller Huggins, who has been quietly feuding with Mays all season, is reminded by the home plate umpire, Bill Klem, that whoever relieves Mays gets all the time to warm up he needs.
“What the hell you talking about!” Barks Carl Mays. Gimme the damn ball!” Mays indeed grabs the ball and motions to Wally Schang, who takes his position behind the plate. The spectators murmur. Ten warm-up tosses later they are on their feet again, cheering for the pitcher of the visiting squad as Mays motions for the next Giant batter, Benito Santiago, to take his cuts. And the San Francisco SRO crowd gives Carl Mays a deafening ovation when he heads for the Yankee bench after retiring the side.
But when Mays takes the mound in the 7th it becomes apparent that something isn’t right. His command isn’t what it was. He yields two runs. Then something goes terribly wrong. Mays unleashes a submarine fastball which rises from the ground and rockets straight for the batting helmet of one Barry Bonds. There’s an audible THWACK… a sickening gunshot sound as Bonds collapses.
At BP the next day:
“Sorry about hitting you, kid.” Said Carl Mays.
“You’ve got a lotta nerve talking to me…” answered Barry.
“Yeah I do. But you showed a lotta guts coming back and hitting that bomb off of me yesterday. Are you okay?”
“I still have a headache.”
“You still are a headache…” answered Carl. “And by the way, my arm still hurts. And if I hadn’t used it to block my face…”
“So you throw at me?”
“Nah! I was just trying to move you off the plate. You stand right on it, you know!”
“I’m in the batters’ box. Totally legal.”
“So is pitching inside, kid. And you got the quickest bat on an inside pitch I have ever seen.”
“No kidding? Now you’re trying to flatter me? Get on my good side after damn near killing me?”
“No kidding. And no, I ain’t flattering anybody. Ask any of my teammates. You’re quicker than Ted Williams. Quicker than Cobb. Quicker than the Babe. Quicker than anybody.”
“Damn!” mused Barry.
“Babe is all about timing and power. You got some power, but it comes from being quick. Like Ruth said, you’re kind of like Ted. But I think you’re quicker inside.”
“Damn…” repeated Barry.
“Anyway, sorry about the duster kid!” Mays stuck out his hand. Barry hesitated. Then he shook hands with Carl Mays. Mays then rolled up the sleeve of his pitching arm. He showed Barry his triceps, which had a huge purplish baseball sized welt… two days after Mays had been hit by Russ Ortiz.
“Damn!” Barry said a 3rd time. “You did get nailed!”
“This is my pitching arm, kid. When I hit you, I had just been nailed myself. My whole upper arm was just about numb. I swear to you, I did not mean to hit you.”
“I was right, Mr. Mays. You do have a lot of nerve.”
“I know what you’re wondering. About Ray Chapman.”
“He the guy you…”
“Killed?” Mays’ eyes looked downward. “Haunts me from that day to this. Kid… Chappie crowded the plate even worse than you. The pitch I hit him with might have been a strike. I swear, he never even moved. I don’t think he ever saw the ball. It was horrible. When the ball hit his head, I thought it hit his bat. I actually fielded the ball and threw to 1st. Everybody thought the same thing. Then Chappie collapsed.”
“Man... that is horrible.”
“A nightmare. One I’ll never wake up from. You know something? I think that pitch might have kept us both out of the Hall of Fame. Not that I give a damn about that.”
“You don’t?”
“Nah. I’d just as soon have that pitch back. Look… I’ve been part of championship teams. Boston and New York. I had a great career.” Mays brightened a bit. “I was a good hitter, too.”
“You are a good hitter. You should pinch-hit and then stay in the game. You’d get a lot of wins that way.”
“You’re a pretty good hitter yourself, kid.”
“Actually, I’m 40.” Said Barry. “No kid anymore.”
“Hell…” Mays grinned. “You’re a whippersnapper. I’ve got bunions older than you.” Barry also grinned. Then he stuck out his hand. “Just keep ‘em below the neck, okay?” Carl Mays shook Bonds’ hand once more. Then he gestured toward McCovey’s cove.
“You keep ‘em out of that damn water!” Mays and Barry both grinned at that one.
Game 136 SF wins 5-3
At BP the next day:
“I wasn’t just pitching around you, Barry…” cracked Waite Hoyt. “I was pitching around everybody.” Barry grinned. In the 5th inning, leading 2-0, the normally sharp Hoyt walked Bonds to put men on 1st and 2nd. Then he walked two more to force in a run.
140 Games NY is 85-55
Chicken Hawks: .355 BA (71 for 200),
.406 OBP, .490 SA, 8 HR, 21 RBI.
Actual ML BA .316 (146 g), .387 OBP, .453 SA
Minor League BA .306 (1206 g),
.299 (AA-982g), .337 (A-224g)
Game 144 NY wins 15-11 to go 87-57
Carl Mays goes 8-1/3 to go to 22-9, 3.68 (286 innings). He also drives home two. Barry Bonds, Jeff Kent and JT Snow each double home two runs for the Giants. The Bambino and Frank ‘Home Run’ Baker each homer for the Yanks. But the big offensive star is New York’s 5’7” Nelson ‘Chicken’ Hawks. Hawks collects three hits, homers twice and drives in seven.
Hawks: 3H, 3R, 2 HR, 7 RBI.
1st: line single to left, scores on Ruth’s HR.
4th: Crushes grand slam to RCF into McCovey Cove.
8th: Crushes 3 run HR to dead center, 443 feet.
Behind the BP cage, before game 152, the final game of the season at PacBell Park, San Francisco, 2002:
“I just wanna thank you boys for letting me back on the field just one more time…” said Chicken Hawks.
“You ain’t gotta thank anybody, Chicky!” said the Babe. “You are a helluva hitter!”
“Amen!” Chimed in Barry, who stuck out his hand. Chicken Hawks shook it. “Mr. Hawks… why didn’t you stick around? You are obviously good enough.”
“Thank you Barry. I don’t know. I had a real good minor league career. Hit .320 with the Phils in ’25. Not a lot of power though. But things were different. You could make a lot of money in the high minors. They were independent back then.”
“No kidding?” Answered Barry.
“Well… a lot of money for 1925!” Answered Hawks. All three men laughed. Hawks continued. “I played a few years in the International League… that’s where you got it rolling, right Babe?”
“Damn right!” The Babe beamed.
“Best part… finished up right here in San Francisco, at Seals Stadium! I was 35… still hit .290-something.”
“That’s great…” said Barry quietly. “But like I said Mr. Hawks, you’re a big leaguer, and a good one. You got a good eye too. Glad you got one more shot.”
“Thanks fellows. Today’s my last game. Want to finish up where it began, know what I mean?”
Chicken Hawks: .339 BA (79 for 233), .398 OBP, .485 SA, 10 HR, 31 RBI.
Actual ML BA .316 (146 g), .387 OBP, .453 SA
Minor League BA .306 (1206 g),
.299 (AA-982g), .337 (A-224g)
1920 Batting Champ .358
Calgary Broncos
Western Canada league
9th inning: “Ladies and Gentlemen! Now batting for New York, with an average of .339… San Francisco’s own…
Nelson… ‘Chicken’… HAWKS!” The Bay Area crowd stood one final time and gave a long, loud ovation for the 165 pound Bay Area native who proved he belonged in the bigs.
Hawks finished his season with a single, 3 walks and 3 runs as the Yanks romp 15-6.
BP before Game 153
At Ebbets Field, Brooklyn.
Behind the BP cage in Brooklyn.
“Check it out Barry…” said Babe. “This is where it all happened.” Babe winked. Barry of course knew what ‘it’ was. “April 15, 1947…”
“This is really something Babe.”
“I’ll tell you something, Barry. Six pennants in ten years. A World Championship. MVP. Batting title. Yeah, the guy had guts and class. But the guy could flat play ball!”
“Wish I could have met him, Babe.” Barry said quietly.
“Who knows, kid? You met me didn’t you?”
Both men grinned.
Game 153 SF 7-5 94-59
2B: D.Bell (1), R.Aurilia (1)
3B: J.Snow (1)
HR: J.Kent (1)
RBI: K.Lofton 2 (2), J.Kent 3 (3), D.Bell (1), J.Snow (1)
WP-Rueter
2B: B.Meusel (1), R.Peckinpaugh (1)
HR: B.Ruth 2 (52)
RBI: B.Ruth 4 (152), W.Schang (1)
“One more game Barry. Where do you want to play it? Here? Polo Grounds? You name it.”
“Right here Babe. Right here.”
“You know I coached here for the Dodgers? 1938.”
“So we’re ending up where you ended up?” The Babe stuck out his hands and Barry shook it. Babe winked.
“We’ll do it again sometime, Mr. Bonds. It’s been fun!”
154 Games 94-60 Final!
Ruth .304 .661 52HR 152RBI 165 BB .466
Meusel .270 .421 13HR 114RBI
Pipp .326 .466 9HR 131RBI
Baker .268 .370 14HR 100RBI
Schang .288 .418 7HR 71RBI
Bonds .349 .586 21HR 87RBI 222 BB .551
Kent .259 .364 7HR 104RBI
Sanders .262 .425 9HR 114RBI
Mays 22-10 302 inn 3.72
Hoyt 17-6 271 inn 3.51
Shawkey 20-11 263 inn 4.62
The Babe vs. Barry
10 Games 7-3
Ruth .225 .483 2HR 5RBI 14BB .467
Bonds .214 .429 1HR 7RBI 18BB .522
20 Games 15-5(8-2)
Ruth .221 .397 2HR 11RBI 24BB .424
Bonds .203 .484 2HR 14RBI 32BB .484
30 Games 20-10(5-5)
Ruth .265 .520 6HR 20RBI 37BB .460
Bonds .287 .500 4HR 20RBI 42BB .507
50 Games 31-19 (4-6)
Ruth .266 .509 10HR 34RBI 58BB .450
Bonds .266 .443 5HR 28RBI 69BB .489
80 Games 53-27 (5-5) (22-8)
Ruth .293 .637 26HR 71RBI 91 BB .469
Bonds .314 .534 11HR 50RBI 109 BB .500
100 Games 65-35 .650(7-3) (34-16)
Ruth .303 .654 34HR 95RBI 112 BB .472
Bonds .366 .609 14HR 62RBI 138 BB .555
154 Games 94-60 Final!
Ruth .304 .661 52HR 152RBI 165 BB .466
Bonds .349 .586 21HR 87RBI 222 BB .551
Bonds Games 21-100 266-107 .402
Bonds Games 21-120 335-131 .391
Dusty Baker (Born Riverside, Ca) 242 HR 1013 RBI .278 BA
Bobby Bonds (Born Riverside) 332 HR 1024 RBI .268 BA
Barry Bonds (Born Riverside) 762 HR 1996 RBI .298 BA
The Carl Mays Saga – Finale
By all accounts Carl Mays was one of the most unpopular players in baseball, even among his teammates. It is entirely possible that Mays’ surly disposition was the root cause of all of his problems.
When I was a young boy, I read all about the great Walter Johnson. The Big Train was considered by most the greatest pitcher of all time. With 416 wins over 21 years for a mostly mediocre Washington Senators team. All the stories always featured two things; Johnson’s lightning fastball and his gentle, genial disposition. Combining the two traits, everyone emphasized that Walter Johnson had a mortal fear of hitting and seriously injuring batter. Luckily, with his pinpoint control, that wasn’t a problem. Ty Cobb even crowded the plate, making the Big Train pitch to the outer half of the plate.
Bull.
Guess which pitcher plunked more hitters than any other? Yep! In 5914 innings the Big Train nailed 205 batters, leading the AL twice. That works out to a 162 game average of 274 innings and 9 HBP a season.
Carl Mays? The submarine-ball headhunting scourge of the American League? He pitched 3021 innings from 1915 to 1929, hit 89 men, and led the AL once. His 162 game average: 252 innings and 7 victims a season.
By the way, Carl Mays lifetime record is 208-126 over those 15 years. The Big Train accumulated nearly the exact same mark… 206-128, over his first nine years (1907-15)! And that was pitching for greatly inferior teams! Walter Johnson’s greatness is not exaggerated!
Let’s line up those two seasonal averages again:
Johnson - 274 innings and 9 HBP a season.
Mays - 252 innings and 7 HBP a season.
Carl Mays may not have been a toastmaster. But history may have dealt him a raw deal. Before he allegedly ‘killed’ Ray Chapman and ‘dumped’ the 1921 World Series, he won 53 games and pitched 642 innings! That’s a lot of pitches. One or two is bound to get away. They didn’t think batting helmets were a necessary expense for another 30 years.
I remember seeing Goose Gossage bounce a fastball off of the batting helmet of Ron Cey. Cey’s head was in the helmet of course. There was a gunshot sound and Ron Cey went down like – well, like he’d been shot with a gun. Cey was in the line-up the next day. And when the Dodgers defeated the Yankees to become 1981 World Champs, Cey was named co-MVP. And Gossage continued his Hall of Fame career.
Sadly the batting helmet arrived too late for Ray Chapman – and Carl Mays. Mays, if remembered at all, is remembered as a cold-hearted head-hunting killer. And the only plaque Chapman ever got was found in a store room at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium. It was taken to the new Jacob’s Field – where it was again tossed in a storeroom where it rusted and deteriorated to the point that the text was unreadable. Re-discovered in 2007 it was finally refurbished and put on display, clean and untarnished. No such fate has yet come to the memory of Carl Mays.
2002 San Francisco Giants
The Babe vs. Barry!
In July, 2003, Bonds announced,
755 isn't a number that's always caught my eye -- the only number I'm concerned with is Babe Ruth's. As a left-handed hitter, I wiped him out. That's it. And in the baseball world, Babe Ruth's everything, right? I got his (single season) slugging percentage, I got him on on-base, I got him on walks and then I'll take his (lifetime) home run record and that's it. Don't talk about him no more.
In 1953 Mac’s Legendary Baseball interviewed Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth:
"You like Barry?" Lou Gehrig was asked.
"SURE!" Interjected the Babe. "He would have been great in ANY era."
"But Babe, he even said 'we don't have to talk about [the Babe] no more'..."
"Hell, he's right!" Shot back the Babe. "Everyone knows about me. Lou and me and all the old greats... no one will forget us! Barry pushed himself and pushed himself. If he'd have had this guy here behind him..." And the Babe slapped Lou on the back. "Barry would have hit 100 homers the year he hit 73. And the next year when they walked him 200 times... think they'd have done that with Lou in the on deck circle? Hell... Barry would have hit 70 again!"
The Babe vs. Barry and the Carl Mays Saga
1st game of the season: Babe Ruth hits the 1st home run of the season, as he often does. His solo shot soars over the brick RF wall, the catwalk full of fans and splashes into McCovey’s Cove. The blast gives New York a 2-1 lead. But Huggins brings Tom Sheehan in to begin the 6th, even though Mays has yielded only 1 run on 4 hits and thrown only 65 pitches. The Yanks lose a 2-1 lead late, 5-2.
Behind the Batting Cage at BP, before game 5.
PacBell Park, San Francisco, 2002.
“Wait till ya see the Polo Grounds, kid.”
Barry Bonds is startled momentarily by the deep semi-southern baritone voice. Babe Ruth leans on the batting practice cage at San Francisco’s Pac Bell Park. It’s 2002. The 1921 Yanks and the 2002 National League champs have split four games at the beautiful bay-front ballpark. The 1921 home run champ has sidled up next to the 21st century home run champ. And The Bambino introduces himself. “Babe Ruth…” The two shake hands.
“I’ve heard about it from my Godfather.” Answered Barry.
“When you see it, you’ll realize two things.”
“What’s that, Babe?”
“One… that with your quick bat, you’ll do well.”
“And the second?”
“Your Godfather could play some centerfield.”
Jason Schmidt goes out and throws a complete game masterpiece, throttling the 1921 American League champions on just three hits and striking out eight. Bonds doubles in a run and scores two. Reggie Sanders, Benito Santiago and JT Snow knock in two apiece as the Giants roll 7-2. The San Fran clan heads to New York, 1921, and their former home of half-a-century, the Polo Grounds… and they do so with a 3-2 record.
Behind the Batting Cage at BP, before game six.
The Polo Grounds, Manhattan NY, 1921.
New York Yankees Home Opener.
“You weren’t kidding, Babe!” Mused Barry.
“You’ve seen the film of Willie’s catch, ain’t you?”
“Yep. Everybody has.”
“Too bad the Giants left New York… although that park out there is beautiful.”
“Yep. Wish they built it 40 years earlier, so Willie could’ve played there.”
“I played in old Seals Stadium. In the fall, after the season.”
“No kidding!”
“Yep! Same place as Joe D, Lefty O’Doul…”
“Who are those guys?” Barry grinned. Then so did the Babe.
The Babe vs. Barry!
Game 8: Polo Grounds 1921.
Barry Bonds goes deep for the 1st time this season. It’s a booming drive to deep right center, clearing the wall near the 429 sign with plenty to spare. Like the Babe in game one, Barry’s 1st home run is a solo blast. And like the Babe’s, it comes in a losing cause. The Yanks edge the Giants 6-5 with run scoring doubles from Ruth, right fielder Bob Meusel and catcher Wally Schang.
Game 9: NY wins 4-3 in 11 to go 6-3 on the season. Babe Ruth leads off the bottom of the 11th with his 2nd HR to dead center, approximately 510 feet deep into the Polo Grounds bleachers, to win the game.
The next day at BP…
“Could Willie have caught that one, Babe?” Kidded Barry.
“Sure, kid!” The Babe winked. “For the price of a 25 cent bleacher ticket.”
As a harbinger of how the season is bound to go, the first 10 games go something like this:
10 Games -’21 Yanks are 7-3
PLAYER - BA SA HR RBI BB OBP
Ruth .225 .483 2HR 5RBI 14BB .467
Meusel .205 .307 0HR 8RBI
Pipp .325 .425 0HR 8RBI
Baker .294 .382 0HR 7RBI
Schang .176 .235 0HR 2RBI
Bonds .214 .429 1HR 7RBI 18BB .522
Kent .182 .181 0HR 0RBI
Sanders .181 .250 0HR 6RBI
Mays 1-0 13 inn 1.31
Hoyt 1-0 15 inn 1.20
Shawkey 3-0 13 inn 4.73
Game 12: Back in San Francisco the 1921 Yankees win their 6th straight, 7-2. The SRO crowd at PacBell Park boos lustily. Not because their hero lost. Because the Babe and Barry combine to go zero for eight – with five walks.
The next day behind the BP Cage:
“They sure booed the shit out of us, didn’t they?”
“Yeah, Babe. You know these days (2002) they pay $200 for some tickets.”
“Holy crap! For 200 bucks I’d do more than boo. I’d throw things!” Barry nodded and grinned.
Game 19:
Bob Meusel hits a 420 foot grand slam to left in the 3rd after Hernandez walks 2. That drives him from the game.
NY wins 11-3 to go 14-5, winning their 9th of 11. Of course the Giants are starting to tire of the losing.
Next day behind the BP cage:
“Livan ain’t foolin’ anybody right now…” Said Barry.
“Hell!” Spat manager Dusty Baker. “He ain’t even fooling me… with my glasses off!”
Game 27:
Jason Schmidt out-duels Carl Mays to hand the submarine-dealing right-hander his first loss. Mays is 4-1 with a 2.63 (51 innings) even after giving up 4 runs in 7-2/3 innings. SF wins 6-2.
Next Day behind the BP cage:
“I don’t care if we finally beat Mays…” said Barry. “I hate batting against him. His wind-up… his delivery… feels like it’s coming at your head, every pitch.”
“Well…” said the Babe quietly. “He did kill a guy with a pitch.”
Game 35. PacBell Park, 2002.
NY wins 11-0, knocking SF southpaw Kirk Rueter out of the box. The Yanks are 25-10. The Babe and Barry combine for one single – and six walks.
Next day, behind the BP cage:
“Pitching against you guys is like throwing against a threshing machine… or a wood-chipper.” Kirk Rueter
“You’ve had our number a couple of times,” said the Babe. “Nobody dominates a big-league team all the time.”
“Yeah, Babe, but when we walk you, your guys make us pay.” Interjected Barry.
“Well… you do have some good hitters.” The Babe winked. “But we do have lots of them.”
Game 36. Polo Grounds , 1921.
SF wins 6-5.
Ruth slices a 300 ft HR to LF in 6th
Sanders belts 440 ft bomb to right-center in 7th.
Ruth takes a fast one on the knee in 8th. He glares at Schmidt as he trots to 1st.
Bonds lines a 370 ft HR to LF in 9th. It makes the score 6-2, but turns out to be the game-winner, as Yanks rally for 3 in bottom of 9th… before leaving the bases loaded as the game ends.
Game 38: Behind the cage at BP:
“Uh, Babe…am I nuts, or is this park different?”
“Yes!” Said the Babe seriously. “And Yes!”
Barry grinned wryly. “Okay, you ain’t nuts. This is the Polo Grounds after ’23. That’s when you guys kicked us out and we built the Stadium. Good move, eh?”
“The Giants were nuts, Babe. I’d have just bumped up the rent.” The Babe grinned broadly.
“You’re a smart fellow, Barry.”
For some reason the Giants pitch to Ruth. He hits two homers and plates four. NY wins 7-5.
At the BP cage before game 41:
“Okay Babe, you’ve seen way more hitters than I have. Who do I remind you of? Anybody?”
“That’s easy!” Babe answered. “Williams. Ted Williams.”
“No kidding?” Barry answered back.
“No doubt. Both of you real scientific. Both of you quick on the inside pitch. Both of you real patient… more patient than I’ll ever be. Only thing is you can run a lot faster. But we’re talking hitting.”
“I choke up, though.”
“Very unusual. But you still swing hard… quick… like Ted. Both of you are quicker coming around than me.”
“Thank you? Wow!”
“Yep! Hey, there’s different ways. Mine is more power and timing. Yours is more speed and form and precision. Take me and Lou Gehrig. Couldn’t be more different. Both approaches worked great. That’s why I love watching the guys on the other team. Don’t get me wrong… I wanna win… bad. But when it’s all said and done, I like to watch a good hitter operate.”
“What about my Dad?”
“Hey kid… I’m sorry about him. He was a great hitter. And you showed a lotta guts the year you lost him.”
“Thanks, Babe.” Barry said quietly.
“But as a hitter…” Babe brightened. “He was more like me. Swung from way back home. And he could throw like I could. Ran waaay better!” Barry nodded and grinned.
“You would have a hell of an outfield… you in left, your Pop in right, and your God-Dad in center. A thousand or so homers, a thousand or so stolen bases, and five or six thousand runs. Think that would work?”
“Hey, Babe.” Barry grinned again. “Reggie Jackson is a cousin of mine!” The Babe pointed a finger at Barry.
“Yeah, but you can’t have him! He’s also a Yankee!”
“True, true. And he definitely swung like you.”
“Especially in October, kid!”
“Amen!”
At the 50-game mark the Yanks are 31-19.
PLAYER: BA/SA… HR… RBI… BB… OBP
Ruth: .266/.509… 10… 34… 58… .450
Bonds: .266/.443… 5… 28… 69… .489
BP cage:
“What a sorry sack of .260 hitters, eh?” Barry laughs.
“Yeah, Babe. Seems like everybody’s in a slump. Except Reggie Sanders.”
“Yeah… he’s got a quick bat!” Just then Hoyt appears.
“Sorry about the game, Waite.” Babe shrugged.
“Forget it Babe! I’ve blown some leads in my time. Who’s the Giant among Giants here?”
“This is Barry, Waite. Barry, this is…”
“I know who this Hall-of-Famer is, Babe.” The two greats shook hands. “You were also a Giant, weren’t you, Mr. Hoyt?” Waite Hoyt grinned.
“Why you sandbagger! You reading up on me?”
“Scouting on you!” Replied Barry.
“See Barry?” Boomed the Babe, who winked. “Told you that you reminded me of Ted Williams!” Babe looked at Hoyt. “Watch him, Waite. Careful!”
“Careful!” Exclaimed Barry. “How more careful could you guys be? I’m lucky I get one strike a game!”
Game 54: NY wins 9-2 to go 34-20.
PacBell Park, 2002. San Francisco.
With two on in the 6th, and NY leading 1-0, Huggins sends up Chicken Hawks to pinch-hit. Predictably, there is a loud, comical reaction from the Bay Area crowd when Hawks is announced. Then the Chicken hits a 393 foot drive over Barry Bonds’ head and into the left-field seats, giving the Yanks a 4-0 cushion. But he isn’t done. The Yanks bat around and the Hawk Man comes up again. He singles in another run, to make the score Yanks 9-0. It would be 10-0, except Barry Bonds makes a great throw to nail Schang trying to score from 2nd. No one laughs at Chicken Hawks, who took 2nd on the throw. But out in left field, Bonds whistles. Hawks looks and Barry tips his cap. Hawks returns the salute. Hawks ends up 2-2 with a HR and 4 RBI.
Game 55: NY wins 5-1 to go 35-20.
PacBell Park, 2002. San Francisco.
Top of the 1st:
“Ladies and gentlemen! Please give a warm Bay Area welcome to San Francisco native, Santa Clara University alumnus, and owner of a lifetime major league batting average of .316 in 146 games… Nelson…Louis… HAWKS!”
The startled crowd looks at Chicken Hawks as he digs in the left-hand batter’s box. Slowly they start applauding… a noise crescendo as the fans gradually stand, one-by-one. The applause grows into a loud, long ovation that circles and echoes the beautiful new San Francisco stadium. The startled Hawks steps out. The umpire comes around to dust the plate even though only two batters have hit. Hawks looked around and hesitates. “Tip your cap!” Said catcher Benito Santiago. Hawks takes off his dinky cloth Yankee cap and waves it. The ovation grows anew, loud and powerful. Santiago says, “It’s a pretty salty team keeps a .316 hitter on the pines!” Hawks smiles… “Yes sir… and a fella named Ruth!” Santiago nodded, smiles, and pulls his mask over his face as he squats back down. “Number One!” Santiago barks. Hawks steps back in and waits. Ortiz fires the fastball as promised. Hawks connects solidly, belting a long drive to center, where, alas, Kenny Lofton corrals it, 399 feet away. Hawks rounds first and trots back to the Yankee dugout to another loud San Francisco ovation. He again tips his cap. He squints up at the press box, where a beaming Babe Ruth, holding the PA announcers microphone winks back.
Game 60: NY wins 5-1 to go 40-20.
Polo Grounds, NY. 1921.
In the bottom of the 3rd, Ruth lifted a 277 foot fly-ball that floated down the RF line. Reggie Sanders race over and watched helplessly as it dropped over the 11 wall to the left of the 256 foot marker for a 2 run HR. The following inning, Barry Bonds led off and golfed a pitch off his shoe tops which also floated lazily down the RF line for a 282 foot HR. As he rounded 2nd, he tipped his hat to the Babe in left, who grinned and returned salute.
Game 62: NY wins 6-4 to go 42-20.
Yanks win 12th straight. At the urging of Babe Ruth, Miller Huggins decides to give Nelson ‘Chicken’ Hawks some playing time as part of a left-hand hitting platoon. Elmer Miller isn’t happy, but the San Francisco crowd is, giving their native son a rousing ovation when he comes to the plate in the 1st, as well as each successive plate appearance. Hawks rewards Huggins with 3 hits, including a triple, and two runs.
Game 79: NY wins 10-6 to go 52-27
In the 1st, Chicken Hawks homered to left field, a solo blast travelling some 380 feet. Ruth, on deck, smiled and shook his hand at the plate. In the 3rd, Hawks walked to load the bases. He got to shake the Babe’s hand again, after Ruth belted a grand slam home run, 474 feet to center field.
Game 82: SF wins 10-3.
With the Giants already up 5-0 in the top of the 4th, the San Francisco crowd is in a festive mood. Thus they cheer wildly when hometown hero Chicken Hawks leads off the 4th by lining a 420 foot home solo home run to left.
103rd Game. PacBell Park. 2002. SF wins 4-1.
In the 1st, Chicken Hawks hit a tremendous solo HR into McCovey’s Cove, his 1st ‘splash’ HR. He circled the bases to a tremendous ovation for what turned out to be all of the Yanks’ offense.
105th game. PacBell Park. SF wins 5-4.
Chicken Hawks:
.427 BA (41 for 96), .466 OBP, .531 SA, 5 HR, 10 RBI.
Actual Major League BA .316 (146 g), .387 OBP, .453 SA
Minor League BA .306 (1206 g),
.299 (AA-982g), .337 (A-224g)
Game 110: The Bambino gets hot, hitting 6 homers and knocking home 14 in five games. Then here in game 110 Kirk Rueter throttles the Yankees, allowing just two singles in eight innings. With a 4-0 in the 8th he tires.
Dusty Baker comes to the mound in the 8th to take the ball from Rueter. Rueter has just walked Babe Ruth with the bases full to force home the Yanks 1st run. But thus far he has allowed only two singles.
“Skip, sorry about the walks…”
“Son that last one was the smartest thing you’ve done all day. I’m takin’ you out 'cause you look gassed. I’m bringing in Rod.” Baker grinned. “He’ll show these guys some gas of his own. Outstanding job, Kirk.” Rueter departs to an ovation from the enemy NY crowd. And indeed, Rodriguez strikes out Meusel and induces Pipp to pop up weakly, stranding 3 runners.
130 Games 81-49 (4-6)
Ruth .304 .667 45HR 131RBI 143 BB .469
Meusel .274 .442 13HR 100RBI
Pipp .330 .447 7HR 109RBI
Baker .266 .373 13HR 83RBI
Schang .286 .413 7HR 61RBI
Bonds .364 .607 18HR 76RBI 177 BB .550
Kent .253 .352 5HR 80RBI
Sanders .260 .422 7HR 94RBI
Mays 19-7 236 inn 3.20
Hoyt 13-6 234 inn 3.53
Shawkey 20-9 240 inn 4.32
Chicken Hawks: .348 BA (63 for 181), .401 OBP, .464 SA, 6 HR, 14 RBI.
Actual ML BA .316 (146 g), .387 OBP, .453 SA
Minor League BA .306 (1206 g),
.299 (AA-982g), .337 (A-224g)
Game 132 NY 7-2 83-49
The Carl Mays Saga
Carl Mays was an enigmatic figure in early 20th century baseball. He was a great right-handed pitcher. He went 27-9, 3.05 in 1921, leading the AL in wins, winning percentage, games pitched, innings pitched AND saves – even though he started 38 times. Additionally Mays hit .343, drove in 22 runs and struck out only 7 times in 156 plate appearances!
For his 15-year career he went 208-126, 2.92. But for all his greatness Mays is remembered for just one thing – throwing the only fatal pitch in major league history. He struck Cleveland Indians’ 2nd baseman Ray Chapman on the temple with a high, tight fast one. Chapman died of a skull fracture early the following morning at a nearby hospital.
But there was more.
The Yanks won their first pennant in 1921. They lost the ensuing World Series to their Polo Grounds landlords, the 1921 New York Giants. They lost 5 games to 3 after winning the 1st 3 of 5. There were rumors and allegations that Carl Mays ‘threw’ a game or two the Giants’ way. Although never proven, many said that Yankee manager Miller Huggins tried to get rid of Mays – his biggest winner – immediately after that World Series. Huggins also used him less. By 1923 Mays was a mop-up man even though he was still in what should have been in his prime. Indeed once Mays was dealt to the Cincinnati he continued to be an effective starter.
In this mythic season of Mac’s Legendary Baseball, the computerized Miller Huggins uses Mays in curious fashion. Let’s review:
1st game of the season: Huggins brings Tom Sheehan in to begin the 6th, even though Mays has yielded only 1 run on 4 hits and thrown only 65 pitches. The Yanks lose a 2-1 lead late, 5-2.
6th game: Carl Mays wins his 1st decision. He goes a strong 8-plus innings, allowing one earned run on 6 hits. Mays also drives in two at the bat.
11th game: This time Huggins removes his ace, Mays, at the start of the fifth, even though the Yanks lead 12-3, and Mays has thrown only 59 pitches. By getting of Mays after the 4th frame, Huggins renders his hurler ineligible to get the win with a 9-run lead.
Game 27:
Jason Schmidt out-duels Carl Mays to hand the submarine-dealing right-hander his first loss. Mays is 4-1 with a 2.63 (51 innings) even after giving up 4 runs in 7-2/3 innings. SF wins 6-2.
The day after game 27 behind the BP cage:
“I don’t care if we finally beat Mays…” said Barry. “I hate batting against him. His wind-up… his delivery… feels like it’s coming at your head, every pitch.”
“Well…” said the Babe quietly. “He did kill a guy with a pitch.”
Now in game 132:
Carl Mays is the winning pitcher… the winningest on either squad. He’s now 21-7 with a 3.40 ERA over 270 innings. He goes 6-plus today yielding only 7 hits and 2 earned runs. But today’s success comes wrapped in near-tragedy.
In the Giants’ 6th, Mays is coasting with a 5-hit shutout. Then a frozen rope off the bat of Russ Ortiz rockets toward the mound – and Carl Mays’ face. Reflexively he whips his right arm up to guard himself. The ball caroms off of May’s right biceps drops and straight down. Mays scrambles for the ball, picks it up and fires to 1st – wildly. The throw pulls Wally Pipp of the bag and Ortiz legs it out for a hit. Then time is called and everyone rushes to the mound where a dazed Mays has sunk to a knee, grimacing in great pain, clutching his pitching arm.
The huge PacBell Park crowd stands in silence as the Yankees and Giants medical staff tend to the stricken hurler. After an excruciatingly long wait Mays, with the aid of the Yankee Trainer, arises to his feet, to a thunderous ovation from the somewhat relieved crowd.
What happens next stuns everybody. Manager Miller Huggins, who has been quietly feuding with Mays all season, is reminded by the home plate umpire, Bill Klem, that whoever relieves Mays gets all the time to warm up he needs.
“What the hell you talking about!” Barks Carl Mays. Gimme the damn ball!” Mays indeed grabs the ball and motions to Wally Schang, who takes his position behind the plate. The spectators murmur. Ten warm-up tosses later they are on their feet again, cheering for the pitcher of the visiting squad as Mays motions for the next Giant batter, Benito Santiago, to take his cuts. And the San Francisco SRO crowd gives Carl Mays a deafening ovation when he heads for the Yankee bench after retiring the side.
But when Mays takes the mound in the 7th it becomes apparent that something isn’t right. His command isn’t what it was. He yields two runs. Then something goes terribly wrong. Mays unleashes a submarine fastball which rises from the ground and rockets straight for the batting helmet of one Barry Bonds. There’s an audible THWACK… a sickening gunshot sound as Bonds collapses.
At BP the next day:
“Sorry about hitting you, kid.” Said Carl Mays.
“You’ve got a lotta nerve talking to me…” answered Barry.
“Yeah I do. But you showed a lotta guts coming back and hitting that bomb off of me yesterday. Are you okay?”
“I still have a headache.”
“You still are a headache…” answered Carl. “And by the way, my arm still hurts. And if I hadn’t used it to block my face…”
“So you throw at me?”
“Nah! I was just trying to move you off the plate. You stand right on it, you know!”
“I’m in the batters’ box. Totally legal.”
“So is pitching inside, kid. And you got the quickest bat on an inside pitch I have ever seen.”
“No kidding? Now you’re trying to flatter me? Get on my good side after damn near killing me?”
“No kidding. And no, I ain’t flattering anybody. Ask any of my teammates. You’re quicker than Ted Williams. Quicker than Cobb. Quicker than the Babe. Quicker than anybody.”
“Damn!” mused Barry.
“Babe is all about timing and power. You got some power, but it comes from being quick. Like Ruth said, you’re kind of like Ted. But I think you’re quicker inside.”
“Damn…” repeated Barry.
“Anyway, sorry about the duster kid!” Mays stuck out his hand. Barry hesitated. Then he shook hands with Carl Mays. Mays then rolled up the sleeve of his pitching arm. He showed Barry his triceps, which had a huge purplish baseball sized welt… two days after Mays had been hit by Russ Ortiz.
“Damn!” Barry said a 3rd time. “You did get nailed!”
“This is my pitching arm, kid. When I hit you, I had just been nailed myself. My whole upper arm was just about numb. I swear to you, I did not mean to hit you.”
“I was right, Mr. Mays. You do have a lot of nerve.”
“I know what you’re wondering. About Ray Chapman.”
“He the guy you…”
“Killed?” Mays’ eyes looked downward. “Haunts me from that day to this. Kid… Chappie crowded the plate even worse than you. The pitch I hit him with might have been a strike. I swear, he never even moved. I don’t think he ever saw the ball. It was horrible. When the ball hit his head, I thought it hit his bat. I actually fielded the ball and threw to 1st. Everybody thought the same thing. Then Chappie collapsed.”
“Man... that is horrible.”
“A nightmare. One I’ll never wake up from. You know something? I think that pitch might have kept us both out of the Hall of Fame. Not that I give a damn about that.”
“You don’t?”
“Nah. I’d just as soon have that pitch back. Look… I’ve been part of championship teams. Boston and New York. I had a great career.” Mays brightened a bit. “I was a good hitter, too.”
“You are a good hitter. You should pinch-hit and then stay in the game. You’d get a lot of wins that way.”
“You’re a pretty good hitter yourself, kid.”
“Actually, I’m 40.” Said Barry. “No kid anymore.”
“Hell…” Mays grinned. “You’re a whippersnapper. I’ve got bunions older than you.” Barry also grinned. Then he stuck out his hand. “Just keep ‘em below the neck, okay?” Carl Mays shook Bonds’ hand once more. Then he gestured toward McCovey’s cove.
“You keep ‘em out of that damn water!” Mays and Barry both grinned at that one.
Game 136 SF wins 5-3
At BP the next day:
“I wasn’t just pitching around you, Barry…” cracked Waite Hoyt. “I was pitching around everybody.” Barry grinned. In the 5th inning, leading 2-0, the normally sharp Hoyt walked Bonds to put men on 1st and 2nd. Then he walked two more to force in a run.
140 Games NY is 85-55
Chicken Hawks: .355 BA (71 for 200),
.406 OBP, .490 SA, 8 HR, 21 RBI.
Actual ML BA .316 (146 g), .387 OBP, .453 SA
Minor League BA .306 (1206 g),
.299 (AA-982g), .337 (A-224g)
Game 144 NY wins 15-11 to go 87-57
Carl Mays goes 8-1/3 to go to 22-9, 3.68 (286 innings). He also drives home two. Barry Bonds, Jeff Kent and JT Snow each double home two runs for the Giants. The Bambino and Frank ‘Home Run’ Baker each homer for the Yanks. But the big offensive star is New York’s 5’7” Nelson ‘Chicken’ Hawks. Hawks collects three hits, homers twice and drives in seven.
Hawks: 3H, 3R, 2 HR, 7 RBI.
1st: line single to left, scores on Ruth’s HR.
4th: Crushes grand slam to RCF into McCovey Cove.
8th: Crushes 3 run HR to dead center, 443 feet.
Behind the BP cage, before game 152, the final game of the season at PacBell Park, San Francisco, 2002:
“I just wanna thank you boys for letting me back on the field just one more time…” said Chicken Hawks.
“You ain’t gotta thank anybody, Chicky!” said the Babe. “You are a helluva hitter!”
“Amen!” Chimed in Barry, who stuck out his hand. Chicken Hawks shook it. “Mr. Hawks… why didn’t you stick around? You are obviously good enough.”
“Thank you Barry. I don’t know. I had a real good minor league career. Hit .320 with the Phils in ’25. Not a lot of power though. But things were different. You could make a lot of money in the high minors. They were independent back then.”
“No kidding?” Answered Barry.
“Well… a lot of money for 1925!” Answered Hawks. All three men laughed. Hawks continued. “I played a few years in the International League… that’s where you got it rolling, right Babe?”
“Damn right!” The Babe beamed.
“Best part… finished up right here in San Francisco, at Seals Stadium! I was 35… still hit .290-something.”
“That’s great…” said Barry quietly. “But like I said Mr. Hawks, you’re a big leaguer, and a good one. You got a good eye too. Glad you got one more shot.”
“Thanks fellows. Today’s my last game. Want to finish up where it began, know what I mean?”
Chicken Hawks: .339 BA (79 for 233), .398 OBP, .485 SA, 10 HR, 31 RBI.
Actual ML BA .316 (146 g), .387 OBP, .453 SA
Minor League BA .306 (1206 g),
.299 (AA-982g), .337 (A-224g)
1920 Batting Champ .358
Calgary Broncos
Western Canada league
9th inning: “Ladies and Gentlemen! Now batting for New York, with an average of .339… San Francisco’s own…
Nelson… ‘Chicken’… HAWKS!” The Bay Area crowd stood one final time and gave a long, loud ovation for the 165 pound Bay Area native who proved he belonged in the bigs.
Hawks finished his season with a single, 3 walks and 3 runs as the Yanks romp 15-6.
BP before Game 153
At Ebbets Field, Brooklyn.
Behind the BP cage in Brooklyn.
“Check it out Barry…” said Babe. “This is where it all happened.” Babe winked. Barry of course knew what ‘it’ was. “April 15, 1947…”
“This is really something Babe.”
“I’ll tell you something, Barry. Six pennants in ten years. A World Championship. MVP. Batting title. Yeah, the guy had guts and class. But the guy could flat play ball!”
“Wish I could have met him, Babe.” Barry said quietly.
“Who knows, kid? You met me didn’t you?”
Both men grinned.
Game 153 SF 7-5 94-59
2B: D.Bell (1), R.Aurilia (1)
3B: J.Snow (1)
HR: J.Kent (1)
RBI: K.Lofton 2 (2), J.Kent 3 (3), D.Bell (1), J.Snow (1)
WP-Rueter
2B: B.Meusel (1), R.Peckinpaugh (1)
HR: B.Ruth 2 (52)
RBI: B.Ruth 4 (152), W.Schang (1)
“One more game Barry. Where do you want to play it? Here? Polo Grounds? You name it.”
“Right here Babe. Right here.”
“You know I coached here for the Dodgers? 1938.”
“So we’re ending up where you ended up?” The Babe stuck out his hands and Barry shook it. Babe winked.
“We’ll do it again sometime, Mr. Bonds. It’s been fun!”
154 Games 94-60 Final!
Ruth .304 .661 52HR 152RBI 165 BB .466
Meusel .270 .421 13HR 114RBI
Pipp .326 .466 9HR 131RBI
Baker .268 .370 14HR 100RBI
Schang .288 .418 7HR 71RBI
Bonds .349 .586 21HR 87RBI 222 BB .551
Kent .259 .364 7HR 104RBI
Sanders .262 .425 9HR 114RBI
Mays 22-10 302 inn 3.72
Hoyt 17-6 271 inn 3.51
Shawkey 20-11 263 inn 4.62
The Babe vs. Barry
10 Games 7-3
Ruth .225 .483 2HR 5RBI 14BB .467
Bonds .214 .429 1HR 7RBI 18BB .522
20 Games 15-5(8-2)
Ruth .221 .397 2HR 11RBI 24BB .424
Bonds .203 .484 2HR 14RBI 32BB .484
30 Games 20-10(5-5)
Ruth .265 .520 6HR 20RBI 37BB .460
Bonds .287 .500 4HR 20RBI 42BB .507
50 Games 31-19 (4-6)
Ruth .266 .509 10HR 34RBI 58BB .450
Bonds .266 .443 5HR 28RBI 69BB .489
80 Games 53-27 (5-5) (22-8)
Ruth .293 .637 26HR 71RBI 91 BB .469
Bonds .314 .534 11HR 50RBI 109 BB .500
100 Games 65-35 .650(7-3) (34-16)
Ruth .303 .654 34HR 95RBI 112 BB .472
Bonds .366 .609 14HR 62RBI 138 BB .555
154 Games 94-60 Final!
Ruth .304 .661 52HR 152RBI 165 BB .466
Bonds .349 .586 21HR 87RBI 222 BB .551
Bonds Games 21-100 266-107 .402
Bonds Games 21-120 335-131 .391
Dusty Baker (Born Riverside, Ca) 242 HR 1013 RBI .278 BA
Bobby Bonds (Born Riverside) 332 HR 1024 RBI .268 BA
Barry Bonds (Born Riverside) 762 HR 1996 RBI .298 BA
The Carl Mays Saga – Finale
By all accounts Carl Mays was one of the most unpopular players in baseball, even among his teammates. It is entirely possible that Mays’ surly disposition was the root cause of all of his problems.
When I was a young boy, I read all about the great Walter Johnson. The Big Train was considered by most the greatest pitcher of all time. With 416 wins over 21 years for a mostly mediocre Washington Senators team. All the stories always featured two things; Johnson’s lightning fastball and his gentle, genial disposition. Combining the two traits, everyone emphasized that Walter Johnson had a mortal fear of hitting and seriously injuring batter. Luckily, with his pinpoint control, that wasn’t a problem. Ty Cobb even crowded the plate, making the Big Train pitch to the outer half of the plate.
Bull.
Guess which pitcher plunked more hitters than any other? Yep! In 5914 innings the Big Train nailed 205 batters, leading the AL twice. That works out to a 162 game average of 274 innings and 9 HBP a season.
Carl Mays? The submarine-ball headhunting scourge of the American League? He pitched 3021 innings from 1915 to 1929, hit 89 men, and led the AL once. His 162 game average: 252 innings and 7 victims a season.
By the way, Carl Mays lifetime record is 208-126 over those 15 years. The Big Train accumulated nearly the exact same mark… 206-128, over his first nine years (1907-15)! And that was pitching for greatly inferior teams! Walter Johnson’s greatness is not exaggerated!
Let’s line up those two seasonal averages again:
Johnson - 274 innings and 9 HBP a season.
Mays - 252 innings and 7 HBP a season.
Carl Mays may not have been a toastmaster. But history may have dealt him a raw deal. Before he allegedly ‘killed’ Ray Chapman and ‘dumped’ the 1921 World Series, he won 53 games and pitched 642 innings! That’s a lot of pitches. One or two is bound to get away. They didn’t think batting helmets were a necessary expense for another 30 years.
I remember seeing Goose Gossage bounce a fastball off of the batting helmet of Ron Cey. Cey’s head was in the helmet of course. There was a gunshot sound and Ron Cey went down like – well, like he’d been shot with a gun. Cey was in the line-up the next day. And when the Dodgers defeated the Yankees to become 1981 World Champs, Cey was named co-MVP. And Gossage continued his Hall of Fame career.
Sadly the batting helmet arrived too late for Ray Chapman – and Carl Mays. Mays, if remembered at all, is remembered as a cold-hearted head-hunting killer. And the only plaque Chapman ever got was found in a store room at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium. It was taken to the new Jacob’s Field – where it was again tossed in a storeroom where it rusted and deteriorated to the point that the text was unreadable. Re-discovered in 2007 it was finally refurbished and put on display, clean and untarnished. No such fate has yet come to the memory of Carl Mays.
Monday, September 19, 2011
1927 Yanks (110-44) vs 1906 (116-36) Cubs
Yankees go 81-69 .540 (1st)
Combs .262/.322 3 38
Koenig .228/.283 1 46
Ruth .302/.533 31 109
Gehrig .282/.413 9 82
Meusel .273/.333 0 104
Lazzeri .231/.285 4 77
Collins .224/.279 3 60
Dugan .214/.240 1 58
Schulte .277/.382 4 74
Chance .326/.479 8 97
Steinfeldt .336/.497 6 95
The teams play at West Side Grounds in Chicago (1906) and Yankee Stadium (1927). Both ballparks are huge. Both pitching staffs are historic. And by all accounts the ball used in 1906 was a lump of mushy oatmeal. All of these factors combine to put a clamp down on scoring… a season dominated by the men on the mound.
Consider:
Urban Shocker pitches a two-hitter (game 12)… and comes away empty when he is pinch-hit for in the 10th inning of a 0-0 tie… a game the Cubs win in the 10th, 1-0. Shocker loses 1-0 (game 23) because Jack Pfiester throttles the mighty Murderer’s Row – just three singles. The very next start Pfiester does it again – no runs, six singles. Finally in game 35, Shocker himself lays a masterpiece on the Cubs, a two-hitter – both singles! He beats Jack Pfiester! Shocker would pitch a 3-hitter later in the season.
Waite Hoyt throws a 2-hit gem himself (game 14), outdueling fellow Hall-of-Famer Mordecai ‘Three Finger’ Brown, who loses his 1st game despite allowing only seven hits and two earned runs himself. It is Brown who twirls the gem of the season (game 144), defeating Waite Hoyt. The three-fingered wonder holds the Yankees hitless until the 7th inning, where with two out, the Iron Horse Lou Gehrig hits a one-hopper to deep short. Joe Tinker dives to his right, snares it and fires to Frank Chance. Gehrig, running hard as always, beats the throw on a bang-bang play – SAAAAAAAFE! It would be the Yanks’ only hit.
Mordecai’s performance is not only brilliant; it is clutch. It comes as the Cubs are staving off elimination. The West-siders win that day and the next to go 68-77 on the season – before finally losing their 78th game (game 146), the toughest fight any team gives the mighty ’27 champions – thus far.
Combs .262/.322 3 38
Koenig .228/.283 1 46
Ruth .302/.533 31 109
Gehrig .282/.413 9 82
Meusel .273/.333 0 104
Lazzeri .231/.285 4 77
Collins .224/.279 3 60
Dugan .214/.240 1 58
Schulte .277/.382 4 74
Chance .326/.479 8 97
Steinfeldt .336/.497 6 95
The teams play at West Side Grounds in Chicago (1906) and Yankee Stadium (1927). Both ballparks are huge. Both pitching staffs are historic. And by all accounts the ball used in 1906 was a lump of mushy oatmeal. All of these factors combine to put a clamp down on scoring… a season dominated by the men on the mound.
Consider:
Urban Shocker pitches a two-hitter (game 12)… and comes away empty when he is pinch-hit for in the 10th inning of a 0-0 tie… a game the Cubs win in the 10th, 1-0. Shocker loses 1-0 (game 23) because Jack Pfiester throttles the mighty Murderer’s Row – just three singles. The very next start Pfiester does it again – no runs, six singles. Finally in game 35, Shocker himself lays a masterpiece on the Cubs, a two-hitter – both singles! He beats Jack Pfiester! Shocker would pitch a 3-hitter later in the season.
Waite Hoyt throws a 2-hit gem himself (game 14), outdueling fellow Hall-of-Famer Mordecai ‘Three Finger’ Brown, who loses his 1st game despite allowing only seven hits and two earned runs himself. It is Brown who twirls the gem of the season (game 144), defeating Waite Hoyt. The three-fingered wonder holds the Yankees hitless until the 7th inning, where with two out, the Iron Horse Lou Gehrig hits a one-hopper to deep short. Joe Tinker dives to his right, snares it and fires to Frank Chance. Gehrig, running hard as always, beats the throw on a bang-bang play – SAAAAAAAFE! It would be the Yanks’ only hit.
Mordecai’s performance is not only brilliant; it is clutch. It comes as the Cubs are staving off elimination. The West-siders win that day and the next to go 68-77 on the season – before finally losing their 78th game (game 146), the toughest fight any team gives the mighty ’27 champions – thus far.
1927 Yanks-1930 Chicago Cubs at COORS FIELD!
1995. Denver, Colorado.
This one I admit freely is wholly irresponsible. Little kid playing with a hammer and a stick of dynamite irresponsible. I decided to take two great offensive forces, bring them to 1995 Coors Field, Denver Colorado, and grab some popcorn.
Well, the hammer and dynamite did what I thought it would. BLAM! BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM! The 1930 Cubs had Hack Wilson, who knocked in 190 in 1930, and another after he died, since he’s now credited with 191. They also featured Gabby Hartnett, Kiki Cuyler and Riggs Stephenson. Stephenson, not a Hall-of-Famer like the other two, owns the highest lifetime average of the three - and in the line-up - at .336. That honor would go to Rogers Hornsby, who mashed it in the .380s in ’29. But the Rajah was hurt in 1930, depriving the Cubs fans one of the truly historic line-ups. They scored 998 without Hornsby!
1930 Cubs stats:
Hack Wilson… .356, 56 HR 191 RBI
Kiki Cuyler…. .355, 13 HR 134 RBI 37SB
Riggs Stephenson.. .367, 5 HR 68 RBI
Gabby Hartnett…… .339, 37 HR 122 RBI
1930 Cubs stats at 1995 Coors Field:
English….. .383/.567 14 91
Riggs…….. .398/.490 7 110
Cuyler…… .408/.574 11 143
Hack…….. .426/.716 41 221
Gabby……..403/.582 22 189
Grimm…….318/.402 3 114
And of course, if the Cubs had three .400 hitters:
1927 Yankees stats at 1995 Coors Field:
Combs .473/.712 19 161 500 TB
Koenig .424/.550 5 100
Ruth .495/1.306 135 389 794 TB
Gehrig .498/1.124 95 323 733 TB
Meusel .424/.682 19 150
Lazzeri .399/.695 26 158
Collins .359/.617 29 149
Dugan .357/.495 4 125 60 2B
Paschal .444/.838 22 156
Gazella .335/.513 3 101
Grabowski .318/.418 5-3B 22 RBI (110AB)
Game 4 NY wins 29-14(11)
NYY- 2 0 0 3 0 0 7 0 0 0 17 - 29 25 1
Chi - 2 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 3 0 2 - 14 27 3
For those of you who don’t comprehend, that’s 29-14 in extra innings, folks! In a typical Coors Field settling of hostilities, the score was 12-12 at the end of regulation – and what us baseball fanatics like to call ‘free baseball’. Well the good people of Denver, all 50,445 of them, saw the Murderers’ Row win the free baseball portion 17-2! The Yanks sent 22 men to the dish. Believe it or not, nobody homered. Just lots and lots of singles, doubles and walks. Gehrig singles in Combs and later doubles him in along with Koenig and Ruth. Meusel singles, doubles and walks, scores three, and drives home two. Lazzeri scores two and drives in two. Pinch-hitter Mike Gazella singles and walks, driving in a run each time and scoring twice.
Gehrig 13 RBI in 2 games.
Meusel 1ST 4 g: 12-22 .545 21TB .954 SA 9 RBI
Game 6 Chi 15-11 5-1
(Game number) (final score) (Yankees’ record)
Don’t blame the Babe!
In game 6, the Babe goes four for four with a walk.
1st : Walk.
3rd: 2-run HR to left-center, 396 ft.
6th: 2-run HR to right-center, 401 ft.
7th: 2-run HR to centerfield ‘rock pile’, 488 ft.
(Lou follows with back-to-back shot)
9th: Solo HR to RF, 422 ft.
In game 8, Gehrig doesn’t hit four; he hits three for the 2nd time in six games. The next day Ben Paschal subs for Combs in the lead-off spot (“I bribed Earle…”, says Big Ben). Paschal hits for the cycle. At this point (after game 9) Ruth has homered in 6 consecutive games (total 10), and driven in a run in seven straight (total 22).
Gehrig has homered in 6 of 7 games (total 10), and driven in runs in seven straight games (total 25).
Game 16 NY 18-17 13-3
Chi - 1 6 4 0 3 0 0 0 3 - 17 18 0
NY - 6 4 0 0 2 1 4 0 1 - 18 20 0
Lou Gehrig snaps a 17-17 tie, leading off the bottom of the ninth with his 12th HR of the season, a 415 ft blast to deep right-center. Mark Koenig, Tony Lazzeri and Pat Collins each collect four safeties. Lazzeri drives home five. New York’s two-through-seven hitters, (Koenig Ruth, Gehrig, Meusel, Lazzeri, Collins) all hit home runs. For the Cubs, Cuyler, Wilson, Hartnett and Grimm (their three-through-six) go 12 for 17 and drive in all of Chicago’s 17 scores – Cuyler leading the charge with six.
Game 26 NY 28-4 23-3
Chi - 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 - 4 14 2
NYY- 3 5 1 1 13 1 4 0 x - 28 27 0
The starting nine all reached base.
The starting eight all scored. The starters do not include the Bambino, but do include Ben Paschal in right. They don’t miss the Babe because Big Ben goes 6-for-7 with two doubles, a homer, and 4 RBI. They also don’t miss the Babe because he comes off the bench to pinch-hit for pitcher George Pipgras. George Ruth smacks a 2-run homer that barely clears the RF wall. The Babe scores twice, of course, the second time on a 3-run Earle Combs double, after Ruth had walked.
Amidst all of this madness Wilcy Moore, the NY relief ace, pitches a shutout inning… extending his scoreless inning streak to 14-2/3… all at Coors Field of course.
NY outscores Chicago 89-15 in five games.
Game 31 Chi 18-16 27-4
(Game number) (final score) (Yankees’ record)
Cubs snap 15 game losing streak in a big way.
NYY - 0 0 0 0 0 3 7 6 0 - 16 20 1
CHI - 2 1 2 0 11 1 1 0 x - 18 20 1
Cubs led 16-0 after 5.
NY starting nine all reach base.
Cubs starting nine all hit safely.
Hack Wilson goes deep twice, the 2nd time in the 11-run 5th. Gabby Hartnett hits a grand slam to dead center later in the inning.
Game 34 Chi 27-11 29-5
(Game number) (final score) (Yankees’ record)
NYY - 0 0 2 1 0 5 0 0 3 - 11 20 3
CHI - 0 0 0 7 2 2 2 14 x - 27 26 0
NY starting eight all hit safely, as does PH Gazella.
Cubs starting nine all hit safely.
In the 14-run 8th Chicago 1st baseman Charlie Grimm makes two of the three outs AND draws a walk AND scores.
Game 39 NY 22-12 33-6
(Game number) (final score) (Yankees’ record)
Chi - 4 2 2 0 0 1 0 1 2 - 12 16 1
NYY- 5 4 6 2 2 0 1 2 x - 22 24 7
Ben Paschal, subbing for the Babe , doubles twice, triples twice and drives in five. Lazzeri singled, doubled and tripled, driving in seven. And the Bambino interrupts his day off to smack a pinch-hit run scoring triple. The seven errors are all committed by Combs (3) and Koenig(4). So what.
Game 40 NY 21-20(10) 34-6
(Game number) (final score) (Yankees’ record)
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?
The starting eight for NY all hit safely. Yankee starting pitcher Ruether was out of game before he came to bat. In fact he was gone before Chicago made a single out. Hack Wilson drove Ruether’s 15th and last pitch far over the 390 sign in left-center for a grand slam. The Hacker goes four-for-four with nine driven home – his greatest day here. But Ben Paschal, giving Ruth another day off, drives in seven himself. He doubles and homers twice… the 2nd a three run shot that wins the game in the bottom of the tenth, topping off a six-run comeback.
Babe who?
Paschal has 12 RBI in two games and 54 in 40 games (133 AB), and 22 starts. Thus far Paschal has reached double figures four times, including 10 in each of the last two games.
Game 42 NY 22-3 36-6
(Game number) (Final score) (Yankees’ record)
NYY- 10 0 3 0 0 5 0 4 0 - 22 24 0
Chi - 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 - 3 12 1
"During the 1920s New York Yankee owner Jacob Ruppert once described his perfect afternoon at Yankee Stadium. 'It's when the Yankees score eight runs in the first inning,' Ruppert said, 'and then slowly pull away. '"
Game 43 NY 16-0 37-6
(Game number) (final score) (Yankees’ record)
NYY- 3 0 5 0 0 4 2 0 2 - 16 19 0
Chi - 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 3 0
Yankee right-hander Urban Shocker (8-0, 4.97, 67 IP) holds the Cubs to three singles. Chicago pitchers hold Lou Gehrig to five doubles and five RBI in five at-bats.
Game 49 NY 13-11 43-6
(Game number) (final score) (Yankees’ record)
Trailing in th 9th by 6 runs, the Yanks rally, helped by a 2-run blast from Tony Lazzeri to bring NY within three, then capped by a 2 run blast by the Babe for a come from behind victory.
Game 50 NY 16-12 44-6
(Game number) (final score) (Yankees’ record)
This time it’s the 8th inning for a 7-run comeback. Lou Gehrig ties it with a homer. Then the rally is again capped by a Ruth HR – this time a grand slam.
Game 72 NY 33-5 62-10
(Game number) (final score) (Yankees’ record)
Wilcy Moore: 16 consecutive scoreless innings.
NYY – 3 15 0 2 3 4 0 2 4 – 33 31 0
Chi – 1 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 – 5 9 1
Mike Gazella: Six-of-six with a double, two triples and six driven home. The Babe drove in eight with a triple and two bombs. Together the two men total 24 bases.
Game 82 Chi 12-11 69-13
(Game number) (final score) (Yankees’ record)
Chicago scores 5 in 9th; wins 3rd straight for 1st time!
Yanks lead 11-4 in the middle of the 7th.
Charlie Grimm knocks in 2 with a single in the bottom of the inning. Kiki Cuyler brings in Woody English on a fielder’s choice in the 8th. But going into the bottom of the 9th it was still NY 11-7. But Bob Shawkey and Joe Giard can’t hold the lead. Footsie Blair singles in Charlie Grimm. The injured Rogers Hornsby pinch-hits and singles in Charlie Beck to make it a 2-run game. After Myles Thomas becomes the 3rd Yankee hurler of the frame, Riggs Stephenson’s 5th single of the day with the bases jammed knocks in 2 and ties the game at 11-11. After Hack Wilson walks to reload the sacks, Gabby Hartnett singles to left to win it, 12-11.
Game 84 Chi 15-14 70-14
(Game number) (Final score) (Yankees’ record)
Chicago wins 4 of 5 for the 1st time, clinches 1st 5 game series!
Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig each drive in their 191st run. Each time the Coors Field scoreboard notes that they have tied Hack Wilson’s all-time single-season mark. Each brings an ovation from the crowd. And each brings a tip of the cap from Ruth and Gehrig toward Wilson in center field, who returns the salute with a grin.
Once again the Yanks fail to hold a huge lead. In the 6th the Cubs start their comeback from a 14-7 deficit with a 2-run bomb to RF from mighty mite Hack Wilson. In the 7th it’s Wilson again, clearing loaded bases with a 3-run double, a Texas Leaguer made possible because the NY outfielders are forced to play so deep. The score is now 14-12. Woody English brings it one closer in the 8th with an RBI single. Finally in the 9th, it all happens after two out. Hartnett, Grimm and Beck all single to load them up. Footsie Blair then hits a Texas Leaguer of his own. Hartnett scores easily to tie it, and Charlie Grimm challenging the weak arm of Earle Combs, slides in with the winning run.
Game 87 NY 18-13 72-14
(Game number) (Final score) (Yankees’ record)
Chi - 3 0 6 0 1 1 1 0 1 - 13 18 2
NY - 0 0 0 10 2 0 4 2 x - 18 21 1
As has happened numerous times, Chicago get off to a huge lead: 9-0 after three, aided by a Gabby Hartnett HR nine other Cubs hits and a Koenig error. And as it happens, Chicago can’t hold the lead. After shutting out the Yanks on two hits through three, starter Hal Carlson suddenly serves batting practice in the 4th; consecutive singles by 2B Mike Gazella, C Pat Collins, Jumping Joe Dugan, and relief pitcher Myles Thomas yield two runs. Cubs 3B Footsie Blair then plays footsies with an Earle Combs grounder… instead of a possible 5-5-3 DP, the bases are jammed. Mark Koenig singles in the 3rd run, bringing up the Bambino. Ruth yells to Gehrig behind him “Want me to leave you some?” Gehrig grins and yells back, “Nah! Take ‘em all!” Ruth then grins, settles in, and lines his 69th HR of the year, a 410 foot grand slam to left-center. As Ruth comes in, he says to Gehrig, “Start it up again!” Lou and the rest of the Yanks do, reloading the bases for Pat Collins’ 2nd AB of the inning. Collins fans this time. But Jumping Joe jumps on a Bob Osborn curve, lining it down the RF line for a 3-run double, scoring runs 8, 9 and 10 and putting the Yanks ahead.
The Cubs did not wilt. They immediately tied it in the 5th, Kiki Cuyler singling home Footsie Blair. But in the bottom of the 5th, Gehrig homered to RF, bringing in the Babe ahead of himself. Gehrig would double two more in the 7th. The Babe would hit his 70th HR, a two-run shot in the eighth that yields his 200th RBI . And the Yanks win going away after spotting the Cubs a 9-ball on the break.
Babe Ruth 1st on either squad to reach 200 RBI
Ruth also 1st to hit 70 HRs.
Game 90 NY 15-6 76-14
(Game number) (Final score) (Yankees’ record)
Lou Gehrig becomes 2nd Yankee, and 2nd overall to surpass 200 RBIs. HE also becomes 2nd Yankee and 2nd overall to hit 60 HRs.
Gehrig’s 60th was memorable, an opposite field line-drive off the LF foul pole, hit past, not over the Chicago third-baseman Footsie Blair, who actually moved to his right for the ball as it rocketed past him.
Game 101 NY 24-6 86-15
(Game number) (Final score) (Yankees’ record)
NYY – 0 0 0 0 14 6 2 1 1 - 24 29 1
Chi – 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 3 - 6 10 1
14-run 5th, 3rd highest inning of season.
All nine starter reached base.
All nine starters drove in runs.
All nine starters scored.
Game 102 Chi 21-8 86-16
NYY – 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 5 - 8 12 1
Chi – 6 0 6 5 4 1 0 0 x - 21 21 1
Chicago answers with some fireworks of their own.
Game 103 NY 23-6 87-16
NYY – 0 1 5 6 1 8 0 0 2 - 23 25 1
Chi – 1 0 1 0 3 0 0 1 0 - 6 13 2
And then NY answers back!
Game 106 NY 20-19 90-16
Chi – 2 0 7 0 6 0 0 1 3 - 19 26 0
NY - 2 6 5 3 0 0 0 0 4 - 20 21 1
Just another one-run game!
Game 108 Chi 19-16 91-17
Chi – 0 0 1 1 4 4 0 4 5 - 19 19 3
NY - 1 0 2 5 4 4 0 0 0 - 16 16 1
Chicago scores nine in last two frames to comeback.
Hack Wilson leads the way with a 2-run double and a three run HR. Gabby Hartnett and Kiki Cuyler also hit 2-run doubles to spur the comeback.
Game 112 NY 15-5 95-17
HR: B.Ruth 3 (96), L.Gehrig 2 (75)
RBI: B.RUTH 9 (290), L.GEHRIG 6 (257)
Ruth and Gehrig supply all of the 15 runs.
Ruth hits 3 HR, including a grand slam in the 5th. Gehrig follows the grand slam with a HR off the LF foul pole. The HR is Lou’s 2nd of the day and both hit the pole. His 3-run bomb in the 1st clangs high off the pole while his 5th inning blast is a screaming liner that rattles the pole, which can be heard throughout Coors Field.
Between them, they total 25 bases, 15 RBI, 5 HR and 8 hits.
Game 116 NY 14-10 99-17
The Babe goes 5 of 5 with 2 HR 8 RBI.
Babe Ruth hits his 100th HR, and drives in his 300th run! Of course he’s the 1st on either side to do this.
Game 117 NY 20-3 100-17
Earle Combs hits for the cycle! Combs drives in six, as does Joe Dugan, who goes 5 of 5 with a double and HR.
Jumping Joe Dugan becomes 8th Yankee and 11th overall to surpass 100 RBIs.
Game 123 NY 25-6 105-18
NYY - 0 0 0 6 3 6 4 4 2 - 25 23 0
Chi - 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 - 6 10 0
Bob Meusel: 6 for 6, 2 HR 8 RBI.
Game 129 NY 17-9 107-22
Bob Meusel: 6 for 6, 2 doubles, HR 4 RBI.
Game 128 Chi 9-8 106-22
In the 8th, Hack Wilson walks with the bases loaded, forcing home Footsie Blair with Chicago’s tie-breaking 6th run, igniting the winning 5-run rally. As Wilson stood on 1st, a roar went up from the crowd, which rose to their feet for a long ovation.
“That’s for you, Hack!” Said Gehrig.
“What’s the big deal?”
“The scoreboard, Hack. Look!”
WITH THAT RBI, HACK WILSON MATCHES HIS ORIGINAL ACCREDITED RECORD OF 190 SET IN 1930. THOUGH THAT TOTAL HAS SINCE BEEN REVISED TO 191, NEITHER TOTAL HAS BEEN MATCHED SINCE.
Wilson grinned and tipped his cap, bemused. Then he said to Gehrig, “What’s the big deal? You got 200-something here. Babe has 300-something.”
“This is a lot of fun Hack.” Gehrig grinned back. “But none of this stuff counts. There’s only one single-season RBI leader. And right now 45,000 Colorado citizens are acknowledging who it still is.” As the fans continued the ovation for several minutes, Hack’s look of bemusement faded, replaced by a look of wonder, then gratitude. He gulped. And misty-eyed, he then doffed his cap and held it high, nodding in all directions. That’s when he noticed that all the players… the Yanks in the field, the Chicago base runners (the bases were still full), the 1st and third base coaches, and the players in both dugouts, were also applauding. “Nice going Hack!” Gehrig said finally, before retreating back to his position, since holding Wilson on with the bases loaded was unnecessary.
Game 132 NY 14-5 109-23
RUTH HITS 3 HRS FOR 4TH TIME THIS SEASON (INCLUDING ONE GAME WITH FOUR)!
Game 133 NY 20-13 110-23
GEHRIG HITS 3 HRS FOR 4TH TIME THIS SEASON; HAS FIVE IN TWO GAMES.
Hack Wilson becomes 1st Cub and 3rd overall to surpass 200 RBIs.
NYY - 1 0 0 6 2 1 1 0 9 - 20 25 1
Chi - 4 4 0 1 3 0 0 0 1 - 13 14 1
4th: Gehrig triples with the bases full. 3RBI
5th: Gehrig homers to right center with one on. 2 RBI.
7th: Gehrig homers to CF that passes by Wilson and barely clears the fence. 1 RBI.
9th: Gehrig lines a grand slam to right-center. 4 RBI.
HR: Lou GEHRIG 3 (87). 4TH TIME THIS SEASON!
RBI: Lou GEHRIG 10 (291)
TOTAL BASES: Lou GEHRIG 15.
Game 137 NY 18-11 113-24
Combs hits for cycle for 2nd time. Also, with five hits, Combs becomes the first Yankee, and overall, to collect 300 hits (302-649, .465). Gehrig is hitting .500 (296-592).
Game 138 NY 15-14 114-24
Lou Gehrig becomes 2nd Yankee and overall to surpass 300 RBIs. Riggs Stephenson becomes 5th Cub and 14th overall to reach 100 RBIs.
Another tough, wild one-run barn-burner. The Cubs took a 14-10 lead into the 6th. Hack Wilson’s 3-run bomb in the 1st gave the Cubs a quick 4-0 lead. Gabby Hartnett’s grand slam down the LF line in the 2nd made it 9-0. The Cubs knew not to ease up and they didn’t. But the Yanks got off the mat. The Babe’s 2-run blast in the 2nd capped a 5-run rally. In the 4th Hartnett hit his 2nd HR. Gehrig tripled a run in in the 4th and singled in another in the 5th. And in the 7th, the Yanks erased what was left of the lead. Lazzeri’s leadoff HR started a 4-run game knotting rally. Nine batters, six hits, including Gehrig’s third RBI hit in 3 innings tied it. And in the 7th, Dugan capped it with a single to CF. Ben Paschal dented the plate with what would be the winner.
Game 141 NY 18-4 117-24
Game 142 NY 18-4 118-24
Game 145 NY 18-5 120-25
NYY- 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 5 10 - 18 22 1
Chi - 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 1 - 5 15 0
Mike Gazella becomes 10th Yankee and 15th overall to reach 100 RBIs.
Game 146 NY 14-13 121-25
Chi - 5 1 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 - 13 15 0
NYY- 2 3 1 2 2 0 1 0 3 - 14 22 1
Ruth hits 3 HRs in a game for the 5th time, including a four HR game during 6th game of season.
Note: Ruth and Gehrig had been tied with four 3-HR games.
As has happened countless times this season, the Cubs slugged it out with NY, grabbed the lead, but couldn’t stave off the Murderer’s Row in the end. Lou Gehrig crushed a 2-run bomb to right-center in the 9th to tie it. Then Johnny Grabowski singled home Ben Paschal to win it, with Ben sliding under a tag from a great relay by Footsie Blair. Ruth homered to left-center with 2 on in the 2nd, again with one on in the 5th, and a 3rd time in the 7th. Gehrig homered twice.
1930 Cubs stats at 1995 Coors Field:
English….. .383/.567 14 91
Riggs…….. .398/.490 7 110
Cuyler…… .408/.574 11 143
Hack…….. .426/.716 41 221
Gabby……..403/.582 22 189
Grimm…….318/.402 3 114
And of course, if the Cubs had three .400 hitters:
1927 Yankees stats at 1995 Coors Field:
Combs .473/.712 19 161 500 TB
Koenig .424/.550 5 100
Ruth .495/1.306 135 389 794 TB
Gehrig .498/1.124 95 323 733 TB
Meusel .424/.682 19 150
Lazzeri .399/.695 26 158
Collins .359/.617 29 149
Dugan .357/.495 4 125 60 2B
Paschal .444/.838 22 156
Gazella .335/.513 3 101
Grabowski .318/.418 5-3B 22 RBI (110AB)
This one I admit freely is wholly irresponsible. Little kid playing with a hammer and a stick of dynamite irresponsible. I decided to take two great offensive forces, bring them to 1995 Coors Field, Denver Colorado, and grab some popcorn.
Well, the hammer and dynamite did what I thought it would. BLAM! BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM! The 1930 Cubs had Hack Wilson, who knocked in 190 in 1930, and another after he died, since he’s now credited with 191. They also featured Gabby Hartnett, Kiki Cuyler and Riggs Stephenson. Stephenson, not a Hall-of-Famer like the other two, owns the highest lifetime average of the three - and in the line-up - at .336. That honor would go to Rogers Hornsby, who mashed it in the .380s in ’29. But the Rajah was hurt in 1930, depriving the Cubs fans one of the truly historic line-ups. They scored 998 without Hornsby!
1930 Cubs stats:
Hack Wilson… .356, 56 HR 191 RBI
Kiki Cuyler…. .355, 13 HR 134 RBI 37SB
Riggs Stephenson.. .367, 5 HR 68 RBI
Gabby Hartnett…… .339, 37 HR 122 RBI
1930 Cubs stats at 1995 Coors Field:
English….. .383/.567 14 91
Riggs…….. .398/.490 7 110
Cuyler…… .408/.574 11 143
Hack…….. .426/.716 41 221
Gabby……..403/.582 22 189
Grimm…….318/.402 3 114
And of course, if the Cubs had three .400 hitters:
1927 Yankees stats at 1995 Coors Field:
Combs .473/.712 19 161 500 TB
Koenig .424/.550 5 100
Ruth .495/1.306 135 389 794 TB
Gehrig .498/1.124 95 323 733 TB
Meusel .424/.682 19 150
Lazzeri .399/.695 26 158
Collins .359/.617 29 149
Dugan .357/.495 4 125 60 2B
Paschal .444/.838 22 156
Gazella .335/.513 3 101
Grabowski .318/.418 5-3B 22 RBI (110AB)
Game 4 NY wins 29-14(11)
NYY- 2 0 0 3 0 0 7 0 0 0 17 - 29 25 1
Chi - 2 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 3 0 2 - 14 27 3
For those of you who don’t comprehend, that’s 29-14 in extra innings, folks! In a typical Coors Field settling of hostilities, the score was 12-12 at the end of regulation – and what us baseball fanatics like to call ‘free baseball’. Well the good people of Denver, all 50,445 of them, saw the Murderers’ Row win the free baseball portion 17-2! The Yanks sent 22 men to the dish. Believe it or not, nobody homered. Just lots and lots of singles, doubles and walks. Gehrig singles in Combs and later doubles him in along with Koenig and Ruth. Meusel singles, doubles and walks, scores three, and drives home two. Lazzeri scores two and drives in two. Pinch-hitter Mike Gazella singles and walks, driving in a run each time and scoring twice.
Gehrig 13 RBI in 2 games.
Meusel 1ST 4 g: 12-22 .545 21TB .954 SA 9 RBI
Game 6 Chi 15-11 5-1
(Game number) (final score) (Yankees’ record)
Don’t blame the Babe!
In game 6, the Babe goes four for four with a walk.
1st : Walk.
3rd: 2-run HR to left-center, 396 ft.
6th: 2-run HR to right-center, 401 ft.
7th: 2-run HR to centerfield ‘rock pile’, 488 ft.
(Lou follows with back-to-back shot)
9th: Solo HR to RF, 422 ft.
In game 8, Gehrig doesn’t hit four; he hits three for the 2nd time in six games. The next day Ben Paschal subs for Combs in the lead-off spot (“I bribed Earle…”, says Big Ben). Paschal hits for the cycle. At this point (after game 9) Ruth has homered in 6 consecutive games (total 10), and driven in a run in seven straight (total 22).
Gehrig has homered in 6 of 7 games (total 10), and driven in runs in seven straight games (total 25).
Game 16 NY 18-17 13-3
Chi - 1 6 4 0 3 0 0 0 3 - 17 18 0
NY - 6 4 0 0 2 1 4 0 1 - 18 20 0
Lou Gehrig snaps a 17-17 tie, leading off the bottom of the ninth with his 12th HR of the season, a 415 ft blast to deep right-center. Mark Koenig, Tony Lazzeri and Pat Collins each collect four safeties. Lazzeri drives home five. New York’s two-through-seven hitters, (Koenig Ruth, Gehrig, Meusel, Lazzeri, Collins) all hit home runs. For the Cubs, Cuyler, Wilson, Hartnett and Grimm (their three-through-six) go 12 for 17 and drive in all of Chicago’s 17 scores – Cuyler leading the charge with six.
Game 26 NY 28-4 23-3
Chi - 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 - 4 14 2
NYY- 3 5 1 1 13 1 4 0 x - 28 27 0
The starting nine all reached base.
The starting eight all scored. The starters do not include the Bambino, but do include Ben Paschal in right. They don’t miss the Babe because Big Ben goes 6-for-7 with two doubles, a homer, and 4 RBI. They also don’t miss the Babe because he comes off the bench to pinch-hit for pitcher George Pipgras. George Ruth smacks a 2-run homer that barely clears the RF wall. The Babe scores twice, of course, the second time on a 3-run Earle Combs double, after Ruth had walked.
Amidst all of this madness Wilcy Moore, the NY relief ace, pitches a shutout inning… extending his scoreless inning streak to 14-2/3… all at Coors Field of course.
NY outscores Chicago 89-15 in five games.
Game 31 Chi 18-16 27-4
(Game number) (final score) (Yankees’ record)
Cubs snap 15 game losing streak in a big way.
NYY - 0 0 0 0 0 3 7 6 0 - 16 20 1
CHI - 2 1 2 0 11 1 1 0 x - 18 20 1
Cubs led 16-0 after 5.
NY starting nine all reach base.
Cubs starting nine all hit safely.
Hack Wilson goes deep twice, the 2nd time in the 11-run 5th. Gabby Hartnett hits a grand slam to dead center later in the inning.
Game 34 Chi 27-11 29-5
(Game number) (final score) (Yankees’ record)
NYY - 0 0 2 1 0 5 0 0 3 - 11 20 3
CHI - 0 0 0 7 2 2 2 14 x - 27 26 0
NY starting eight all hit safely, as does PH Gazella.
Cubs starting nine all hit safely.
In the 14-run 8th Chicago 1st baseman Charlie Grimm makes two of the three outs AND draws a walk AND scores.
Game 39 NY 22-12 33-6
(Game number) (final score) (Yankees’ record)
Chi - 4 2 2 0 0 1 0 1 2 - 12 16 1
NYY- 5 4 6 2 2 0 1 2 x - 22 24 7
Ben Paschal, subbing for the Babe , doubles twice, triples twice and drives in five. Lazzeri singled, doubled and tripled, driving in seven. And the Bambino interrupts his day off to smack a pinch-hit run scoring triple. The seven errors are all committed by Combs (3) and Koenig(4). So what.
Game 40 NY 21-20(10) 34-6
(Game number) (final score) (Yankees’ record)
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?
The starting eight for NY all hit safely. Yankee starting pitcher Ruether was out of game before he came to bat. In fact he was gone before Chicago made a single out. Hack Wilson drove Ruether’s 15th and last pitch far over the 390 sign in left-center for a grand slam. The Hacker goes four-for-four with nine driven home – his greatest day here. But Ben Paschal, giving Ruth another day off, drives in seven himself. He doubles and homers twice… the 2nd a three run shot that wins the game in the bottom of the tenth, topping off a six-run comeback.
Babe who?
Paschal has 12 RBI in two games and 54 in 40 games (133 AB), and 22 starts. Thus far Paschal has reached double figures four times, including 10 in each of the last two games.
Game 42 NY 22-3 36-6
(Game number) (Final score) (Yankees’ record)
NYY- 10 0 3 0 0 5 0 4 0 - 22 24 0
Chi - 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 - 3 12 1
"During the 1920s New York Yankee owner Jacob Ruppert once described his perfect afternoon at Yankee Stadium. 'It's when the Yankees score eight runs in the first inning,' Ruppert said, 'and then slowly pull away. '"
Game 43 NY 16-0 37-6
(Game number) (final score) (Yankees’ record)
NYY- 3 0 5 0 0 4 2 0 2 - 16 19 0
Chi - 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 3 0
Yankee right-hander Urban Shocker (8-0, 4.97, 67 IP) holds the Cubs to three singles. Chicago pitchers hold Lou Gehrig to five doubles and five RBI in five at-bats.
Game 49 NY 13-11 43-6
(Game number) (final score) (Yankees’ record)
Trailing in th 9th by 6 runs, the Yanks rally, helped by a 2-run blast from Tony Lazzeri to bring NY within three, then capped by a 2 run blast by the Babe for a come from behind victory.
Game 50 NY 16-12 44-6
(Game number) (final score) (Yankees’ record)
This time it’s the 8th inning for a 7-run comeback. Lou Gehrig ties it with a homer. Then the rally is again capped by a Ruth HR – this time a grand slam.
Game 72 NY 33-5 62-10
(Game number) (final score) (Yankees’ record)
Wilcy Moore: 16 consecutive scoreless innings.
NYY – 3 15 0 2 3 4 0 2 4 – 33 31 0
Chi – 1 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 – 5 9 1
Mike Gazella: Six-of-six with a double, two triples and six driven home. The Babe drove in eight with a triple and two bombs. Together the two men total 24 bases.
Game 82 Chi 12-11 69-13
(Game number) (final score) (Yankees’ record)
Chicago scores 5 in 9th; wins 3rd straight for 1st time!
Yanks lead 11-4 in the middle of the 7th.
Charlie Grimm knocks in 2 with a single in the bottom of the inning. Kiki Cuyler brings in Woody English on a fielder’s choice in the 8th. But going into the bottom of the 9th it was still NY 11-7. But Bob Shawkey and Joe Giard can’t hold the lead. Footsie Blair singles in Charlie Grimm. The injured Rogers Hornsby pinch-hits and singles in Charlie Beck to make it a 2-run game. After Myles Thomas becomes the 3rd Yankee hurler of the frame, Riggs Stephenson’s 5th single of the day with the bases jammed knocks in 2 and ties the game at 11-11. After Hack Wilson walks to reload the sacks, Gabby Hartnett singles to left to win it, 12-11.
Game 84 Chi 15-14 70-14
(Game number) (Final score) (Yankees’ record)
Chicago wins 4 of 5 for the 1st time, clinches 1st 5 game series!
Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig each drive in their 191st run. Each time the Coors Field scoreboard notes that they have tied Hack Wilson’s all-time single-season mark. Each brings an ovation from the crowd. And each brings a tip of the cap from Ruth and Gehrig toward Wilson in center field, who returns the salute with a grin.
Once again the Yanks fail to hold a huge lead. In the 6th the Cubs start their comeback from a 14-7 deficit with a 2-run bomb to RF from mighty mite Hack Wilson. In the 7th it’s Wilson again, clearing loaded bases with a 3-run double, a Texas Leaguer made possible because the NY outfielders are forced to play so deep. The score is now 14-12. Woody English brings it one closer in the 8th with an RBI single. Finally in the 9th, it all happens after two out. Hartnett, Grimm and Beck all single to load them up. Footsie Blair then hits a Texas Leaguer of his own. Hartnett scores easily to tie it, and Charlie Grimm challenging the weak arm of Earle Combs, slides in with the winning run.
Game 87 NY 18-13 72-14
(Game number) (Final score) (Yankees’ record)
Chi - 3 0 6 0 1 1 1 0 1 - 13 18 2
NY - 0 0 0 10 2 0 4 2 x - 18 21 1
As has happened numerous times, Chicago get off to a huge lead: 9-0 after three, aided by a Gabby Hartnett HR nine other Cubs hits and a Koenig error. And as it happens, Chicago can’t hold the lead. After shutting out the Yanks on two hits through three, starter Hal Carlson suddenly serves batting practice in the 4th; consecutive singles by 2B Mike Gazella, C Pat Collins, Jumping Joe Dugan, and relief pitcher Myles Thomas yield two runs. Cubs 3B Footsie Blair then plays footsies with an Earle Combs grounder… instead of a possible 5-5-3 DP, the bases are jammed. Mark Koenig singles in the 3rd run, bringing up the Bambino. Ruth yells to Gehrig behind him “Want me to leave you some?” Gehrig grins and yells back, “Nah! Take ‘em all!” Ruth then grins, settles in, and lines his 69th HR of the year, a 410 foot grand slam to left-center. As Ruth comes in, he says to Gehrig, “Start it up again!” Lou and the rest of the Yanks do, reloading the bases for Pat Collins’ 2nd AB of the inning. Collins fans this time. But Jumping Joe jumps on a Bob Osborn curve, lining it down the RF line for a 3-run double, scoring runs 8, 9 and 10 and putting the Yanks ahead.
The Cubs did not wilt. They immediately tied it in the 5th, Kiki Cuyler singling home Footsie Blair. But in the bottom of the 5th, Gehrig homered to RF, bringing in the Babe ahead of himself. Gehrig would double two more in the 7th. The Babe would hit his 70th HR, a two-run shot in the eighth that yields his 200th RBI . And the Yanks win going away after spotting the Cubs a 9-ball on the break.
Babe Ruth 1st on either squad to reach 200 RBI
Ruth also 1st to hit 70 HRs.
Game 90 NY 15-6 76-14
(Game number) (Final score) (Yankees’ record)
Lou Gehrig becomes 2nd Yankee, and 2nd overall to surpass 200 RBIs. HE also becomes 2nd Yankee and 2nd overall to hit 60 HRs.
Gehrig’s 60th was memorable, an opposite field line-drive off the LF foul pole, hit past, not over the Chicago third-baseman Footsie Blair, who actually moved to his right for the ball as it rocketed past him.
Game 101 NY 24-6 86-15
(Game number) (Final score) (Yankees’ record)
NYY – 0 0 0 0 14 6 2 1 1 - 24 29 1
Chi – 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 3 - 6 10 1
14-run 5th, 3rd highest inning of season.
All nine starter reached base.
All nine starters drove in runs.
All nine starters scored.
Game 102 Chi 21-8 86-16
NYY – 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 5 - 8 12 1
Chi – 6 0 6 5 4 1 0 0 x - 21 21 1
Chicago answers with some fireworks of their own.
Game 103 NY 23-6 87-16
NYY – 0 1 5 6 1 8 0 0 2 - 23 25 1
Chi – 1 0 1 0 3 0 0 1 0 - 6 13 2
And then NY answers back!
Game 106 NY 20-19 90-16
Chi – 2 0 7 0 6 0 0 1 3 - 19 26 0
NY - 2 6 5 3 0 0 0 0 4 - 20 21 1
Just another one-run game!
Game 108 Chi 19-16 91-17
Chi – 0 0 1 1 4 4 0 4 5 - 19 19 3
NY - 1 0 2 5 4 4 0 0 0 - 16 16 1
Chicago scores nine in last two frames to comeback.
Hack Wilson leads the way with a 2-run double and a three run HR. Gabby Hartnett and Kiki Cuyler also hit 2-run doubles to spur the comeback.
Game 112 NY 15-5 95-17
HR: B.Ruth 3 (96), L.Gehrig 2 (75)
RBI: B.RUTH 9 (290), L.GEHRIG 6 (257)
Ruth and Gehrig supply all of the 15 runs.
Ruth hits 3 HR, including a grand slam in the 5th. Gehrig follows the grand slam with a HR off the LF foul pole. The HR is Lou’s 2nd of the day and both hit the pole. His 3-run bomb in the 1st clangs high off the pole while his 5th inning blast is a screaming liner that rattles the pole, which can be heard throughout Coors Field.
Between them, they total 25 bases, 15 RBI, 5 HR and 8 hits.
Game 116 NY 14-10 99-17
The Babe goes 5 of 5 with 2 HR 8 RBI.
Babe Ruth hits his 100th HR, and drives in his 300th run! Of course he’s the 1st on either side to do this.
Game 117 NY 20-3 100-17
Earle Combs hits for the cycle! Combs drives in six, as does Joe Dugan, who goes 5 of 5 with a double and HR.
Jumping Joe Dugan becomes 8th Yankee and 11th overall to surpass 100 RBIs.
Game 123 NY 25-6 105-18
NYY - 0 0 0 6 3 6 4 4 2 - 25 23 0
Chi - 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 - 6 10 0
Bob Meusel: 6 for 6, 2 HR 8 RBI.
Game 129 NY 17-9 107-22
Bob Meusel: 6 for 6, 2 doubles, HR 4 RBI.
Game 128 Chi 9-8 106-22
In the 8th, Hack Wilson walks with the bases loaded, forcing home Footsie Blair with Chicago’s tie-breaking 6th run, igniting the winning 5-run rally. As Wilson stood on 1st, a roar went up from the crowd, which rose to their feet for a long ovation.
“That’s for you, Hack!” Said Gehrig.
“What’s the big deal?”
“The scoreboard, Hack. Look!”
WITH THAT RBI, HACK WILSON MATCHES HIS ORIGINAL ACCREDITED RECORD OF 190 SET IN 1930. THOUGH THAT TOTAL HAS SINCE BEEN REVISED TO 191, NEITHER TOTAL HAS BEEN MATCHED SINCE.
Wilson grinned and tipped his cap, bemused. Then he said to Gehrig, “What’s the big deal? You got 200-something here. Babe has 300-something.”
“This is a lot of fun Hack.” Gehrig grinned back. “But none of this stuff counts. There’s only one single-season RBI leader. And right now 45,000 Colorado citizens are acknowledging who it still is.” As the fans continued the ovation for several minutes, Hack’s look of bemusement faded, replaced by a look of wonder, then gratitude. He gulped. And misty-eyed, he then doffed his cap and held it high, nodding in all directions. That’s when he noticed that all the players… the Yanks in the field, the Chicago base runners (the bases were still full), the 1st and third base coaches, and the players in both dugouts, were also applauding. “Nice going Hack!” Gehrig said finally, before retreating back to his position, since holding Wilson on with the bases loaded was unnecessary.
Game 132 NY 14-5 109-23
RUTH HITS 3 HRS FOR 4TH TIME THIS SEASON (INCLUDING ONE GAME WITH FOUR)!
Game 133 NY 20-13 110-23
GEHRIG HITS 3 HRS FOR 4TH TIME THIS SEASON; HAS FIVE IN TWO GAMES.
Hack Wilson becomes 1st Cub and 3rd overall to surpass 200 RBIs.
NYY - 1 0 0 6 2 1 1 0 9 - 20 25 1
Chi - 4 4 0 1 3 0 0 0 1 - 13 14 1
4th: Gehrig triples with the bases full. 3RBI
5th: Gehrig homers to right center with one on. 2 RBI.
7th: Gehrig homers to CF that passes by Wilson and barely clears the fence. 1 RBI.
9th: Gehrig lines a grand slam to right-center. 4 RBI.
HR: Lou GEHRIG 3 (87). 4TH TIME THIS SEASON!
RBI: Lou GEHRIG 10 (291)
TOTAL BASES: Lou GEHRIG 15.
Game 137 NY 18-11 113-24
Combs hits for cycle for 2nd time. Also, with five hits, Combs becomes the first Yankee, and overall, to collect 300 hits (302-649, .465). Gehrig is hitting .500 (296-592).
Game 138 NY 15-14 114-24
Lou Gehrig becomes 2nd Yankee and overall to surpass 300 RBIs. Riggs Stephenson becomes 5th Cub and 14th overall to reach 100 RBIs.
Another tough, wild one-run barn-burner. The Cubs took a 14-10 lead into the 6th. Hack Wilson’s 3-run bomb in the 1st gave the Cubs a quick 4-0 lead. Gabby Hartnett’s grand slam down the LF line in the 2nd made it 9-0. The Cubs knew not to ease up and they didn’t. But the Yanks got off the mat. The Babe’s 2-run blast in the 2nd capped a 5-run rally. In the 4th Hartnett hit his 2nd HR. Gehrig tripled a run in in the 4th and singled in another in the 5th. And in the 7th, the Yanks erased what was left of the lead. Lazzeri’s leadoff HR started a 4-run game knotting rally. Nine batters, six hits, including Gehrig’s third RBI hit in 3 innings tied it. And in the 7th, Dugan capped it with a single to CF. Ben Paschal dented the plate with what would be the winner.
Game 141 NY 18-4 117-24
Game 142 NY 18-4 118-24
Game 145 NY 18-5 120-25
NYY- 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 5 10 - 18 22 1
Chi - 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 1 - 5 15 0
Mike Gazella becomes 10th Yankee and 15th overall to reach 100 RBIs.
Game 146 NY 14-13 121-25
Chi - 5 1 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 - 13 15 0
NYY- 2 3 1 2 2 0 1 0 3 - 14 22 1
Ruth hits 3 HRs in a game for the 5th time, including a four HR game during 6th game of season.
Note: Ruth and Gehrig had been tied with four 3-HR games.
As has happened countless times this season, the Cubs slugged it out with NY, grabbed the lead, but couldn’t stave off the Murderer’s Row in the end. Lou Gehrig crushed a 2-run bomb to right-center in the 9th to tie it. Then Johnny Grabowski singled home Ben Paschal to win it, with Ben sliding under a tag from a great relay by Footsie Blair. Ruth homered to left-center with 2 on in the 2nd, again with one on in the 5th, and a 3rd time in the 7th. Gehrig homered twice.
1930 Cubs stats at 1995 Coors Field:
English….. .383/.567 14 91
Riggs…….. .398/.490 7 110
Cuyler…… .408/.574 11 143
Hack…….. .426/.716 41 221
Gabby……..403/.582 22 189
Grimm…….318/.402 3 114
And of course, if the Cubs had three .400 hitters:
1927 Yankees stats at 1995 Coors Field:
Combs .473/.712 19 161 500 TB
Koenig .424/.550 5 100
Ruth .495/1.306 135 389 794 TB
Gehrig .498/1.124 95 323 733 TB
Meusel .424/.682 19 150
Lazzeri .399/.695 26 158
Collins .359/.617 29 149
Dugan .357/.495 4 125 60 2B
Paschal .444/.838 22 156
Gazella .335/.513 3 101
Grabowski .318/.418 5-3B 22 RBI (110AB)
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