An All-Boston World Series!

Pop quiz! Did Boston ever have two league champions in the same year? Yes! 1891!
The city of Boston had three shots at an all-Beantown world championship. And they had three historic near-misses.

The 1914 Braves – 1915 Red Sox.
As an oddity, each team played their World Series home games in the other team's park… the Braves played the ’14 Series in brand-new Fenway Park. Then the ’15 Sox hosted the Phillies in brand-new Braves Field. Both switches were done to allow increased seating and revenue.

The 1948 Braves – 1948 Red Sox.
Teddy Ballgame missed his 2nd shot at a ring when his team lost to the Cleveland Boudreau’s in a one-game playoff.

The 1891 Beaneaters – 1891 Boston Reds.

The Boston Beaneaters won the National League flag. And in the American Association’s 10th and final year of operations as a major league, the Boston Reds captured their title. Unfortunately the two teams never met in any formal championship series.

Until Now!
Mac’s Legendary Baseball presents…

The 1891 Boston Reds
93-42 American Association Champs
Vs.
1891 Boston Beaneaters
87-51 National League Champs

1891 Boston Reds
93-42 American Association Champs
Manager: Arthur Irwin
Dan Brouthers (HOF) .350, 109 RBI, future member of 1894-96 NL champion Baltimore Orioles.
Hugh Duffy (HOF) .336, 110 RBI, 85 SB, member of 1892-3, 1897-8 NL champion Boston Beaneaters, .440 hitter in 1894.
Vs.
1891 Boston Beaneaters
87-51 National League Champs
Manager Frank Selee
Kid Nichols (HOF) 30-17, 2.39, 425 innings
John Clarkson (HOF) 33-19, 460 inn.
Steve Brodie .260, future member of three-time (1894-96) NL champion Baltimore Orioles. Hit .331 over 6 seasons.
Bobby Lowe 2B, and Herman Long SS members of 1891-3, 1897-8 NL champion Boston Beaneaters
Note: Though Lowe was part of a championship DP combo, he played left field for the 1891 squad.

The two teams will face off in a classic best-of-seven game format. They will play the first two at Boston’s South End Grounds, home of the Beaneaters. They will then switch to the Congress Street Grounds, which the Reds called home. Then if necessary the two teams will return to South End Grounds to finish things up.

1891 Boston Reds Starting Line-up
CF Tom Brown .321, 106 SB, 177 R
SS Paul Radford .259, 102 R
RF Hugh Duffy .336, 110 RBI, 5 SB, 134 R
1B Dan Brouthers .350, .471 OBA,.512 SA
3B Duke Farrell .302, 110 RBI
LF Hardy Richardson .255, 52 RBI, 278 AB
C Morgan Murphy .216
2B Cub Stricker .216
P George Haddock 34-11, 2.49, 379 IP
P Charlie Buffinton 29-9, 2.55, 363 IP

1891 Boston Beaneaters Starting Line-up
LF Bobby Lowe .260, 43 SB, 129 R
CF Steve Brodie .260, 25 SB, 84 R
RF Harry Stovey .279, 57 SB, 95 RBI, 118 R
SS Herman Long .282, 60 SB, 75 RBI, 129 R
3B Billy Nash .276, 28 SB, 92 R, 95 RBI
C Charlie Ganzel .259
2B Joe Quinn .240
1B Tommy Tucker .270, 103 R
P John Clarkson 33-19, 2.79, 460 IP
P Kid Nichols 30-17, 2.39, 425 IP

Game 1 South End Grounds, Boston
Reds 10 Beaneaters 5.
Reds lead series 1 game to 0.
Bost. Reds - 2 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 - 10 18 2
Beaneaters - 0 1 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 - 5 9 6
Here’s how it happened:
Top of the 1st for the 1891 Boston Reds
John Clarkson (33-19) enters the game to pitch. Clarkson won 38 in 1887, 49 in 1889 and 53 in 1885. He led the NL in wins, games, complete games, and innings pitched, topping 600 innings twice. This Massachusetts native went 328-178 over 12 seasons. (Stats: Baseball-Reference.com).
Centerfielder Tom Brown, a .321 hitter in 1891, grounds a single past the mound into center. He attempts a steal of 2nd but is promptly gunned down by Beaneater catcher Charlie Bennett.
Shortstop Paul Radford then grounds a single to right-center. He promptly swipes 2nd, not at all discouraged by Brown’s failed attempt.
After Hall of Fame right-fielder Hugh Duffy is retired, Hall of Fame 1st baseman Dan Brouthers is intentionally walked. But 3rd baseman Duke Farrell smacks the third ground ball single of the frame, scoring Radford.
LF Hardy Richardson lines a single to left-center, plating Brouthers. And the Boston Reds have a 2-0 lead before their cross town rivals have batted.
This initial frame of the 1891 all-Boston World Championship is a harbinger of how things will go. The swiped sack, the moving of runners and timely hitting – not the long ball, is the approach teams take in the days of gaslamps and horse-drawn trolleys. And teams will not be cowed just because someone gets thrown out. They just keep running.
Bottom of 2nd. 1891 Boston Beaneaters
SS Herman Long grounds a single. He swipes 2nd and 3rd on successive pitches. He scores when Reds 2B Cub Stricker bobbles a grounder. 2-1, Reds.
End of 2nd:
1891 Boston Reds………….. 2 5 1
1891 Boston Beaneaters…. 1 2 0

Top of the 4th to you, 1891 Boston Reds!
Cub Stricker walks. Pitcher George Haddock lays down a sacrifice bunt to 1B. Tom Brown delivers Stricker with a line single to right. Brown steals second base. He scores on a groundball single to LF by Hugh Duffy… who promptly swipes 2B.
He’s left there, but you catch the recurring theme, right? Small-ball is BIG-time in ’91!
End of 4th:

1891 Boston Reds…………… 4 7 1
1891 Boston Beaneaters….. 1 2 0

Boston Reds top of the 5th:
A Hardy Richardson walk and two errors by Herm Long load the sacks with one down. But John Clarkson limits the damage to one run on a sac fly by opposing pitcher George Haddock. Reds lead 5-1.
In the top of the 6th with one away, Hugh Duffy reaches on a dribbler to 3B. He promptly steals second, and then scores on a Duke Farrell line drive single to RF.
The Reds lead 6-1.
But in the bottom of the 6th the 1891 Boston Beaneaters, down by five, use the running game to get back into the game.
Charlie Ganzel drives home Herm Long with a groundout to first.
Tom Tucker singles and swipes 2nd. Billy Nash singles to RF to deliver Tucker with the Beaneaters 3rd run. Nash steals 2nd and scores when Bobby Lowe smokes a line drive single to left-center. The 1891 Boston Reds lead is trimmed to two.
Then in the 7th, Herman Long smacks a solo homer that rattles the leftfield foul pole. The Reds lead is down to one. The 1891 Boston Reds lead 6-5.
But that’s as close as the Beaneaters get. Hall of Famer Hugh Duffy steals two more and scores two more, leading the Reds to a 10-5 win over 33 game winner John Clarkson and the NL champs. Herman Long bobbles three grounders on the day.
The 1891 Boston Reds win game 1, 10-5.

1891 Boston Reds
RBI: T.Brown (1), P.Radford (1), H.Duffy (1), D.Brouthers (1), D.Farrell 2 (2), H.Richardson 2 (2), G.Haddock (1)
SB: T.Brown 2 (2), P.Radford (1),
H.Duffy 4 (4), D.Farrell (1),
H.Richardson 2 (2), B.Joyce (1), J.Irwin (1)

1891 Boston Beaneaters
2B: B.Lowe (1)
HR: H.Long (1)
RBI: B.Lowe (1), H.Long (1), C.Ganzel (1), T.Tucker (1)
SB: H.Long 2 (2), B.Nash (1)
Errors: H.Long 3 (3), C.Ganzel 2 (2), J.Quinn (1)

George Haddock,
W (1-0) 6.0 IP 8H 4R 2ER 3K 5W 3.00ERA
George Haddock went 34-11, 2.49 in 1891. The year before he went 9-26, 5.76 for Buffalo in the 1890 Players League. The Bisons were terrible. But a couple of notables; his catcher was 27-year old Connie Mack, who was still employed in baseball 60-years later. One of his outfielders was Dummy Hoy, who hit .288 lifetime, lived to be 99, and never heard a single cheer or boo.
John Clarkson, L (0-1),
9 IP 18H 10R (7ER) 6K 1W 156P 7.00

Game 2 South End Grounds, Boston
Reds 7 Beaneaters 3.
Reds lead series 2 games to 0.
1891 Bost. Reds - 410 000 002 7 13 0
1891 Beaneaters - 000 000 300 3 6 1
Pitching for the Beaneaters: Kid Nichols 360-202, seven-time 30 game winner and Hall of Famer.
Top of the 1st to you, 1891 Boston Reds!
For the 2nd day in a row the Reds jump all over an all-time great pitcher. Tom Brown again grounds a single. He again attempts a steal. This time he makes it - and scores on a Hugh Duffy hit, a blue-darter to left.
Duffy swipes 2B. He scores on a bloop single to right off the bat of Duke Farrell. The Duke himself later scores on a Cub Stricker single to deep short. Dan Brouthers also scores on a Hardy Richardson ground single to right.
1891 Boston Reds…………… 4 5 0
1891 Boston Beaneaters…. 0 0 0

In the 2nd it’s Tom Brown again, singling to deep short, stealing 2B and scoring on a Dan Brouthers single to right-center.
The 1891 Boston Reds lead 5-0 after two. The lead would hold up.
The Beaneaters would make a game in the 7th. Herm Long singles home Steve Brodie, and then scores, along with Harry Stovey on a double in the left-center field gap off of the bat of 3rd baseman Billy Nash.
The gap between the two teams is down to two (5-3), but that’s as close as the Beaneaters get. The American Association champions take a 2-games-to-none lead home to their Congress Street grounds. Reds centerfielder Tom Brown steals three and scores three. Hugh Duffy drives in three.
2nd game final:
1891 Boston Reds…………. 7 13 0
1891 Boston Beaneaters… 3 6 1

1891 Boston Reds
2B: M.Murphy (1)
RBI: H.Duffy 3 (4), D.Brouthers (1), D.Farrell (1), H.Richardson (1), C.Stricker (1)
SB: T.Brown 3 (5), H.Duffy (5), D.Brouthers (2)

1891 Boston Beaneaters
2B: B.Nash (1)
RBI: H.Long (1), B.Nash 2 (2)

Charlie Buffinton,
W (1-0) 100 9.0 6 3 3 1 1 0 105 3.00
Kid Nichols,
L (0-1) 100 9.0 13 7 7 2 3 0 126 7.00

Game 3 Congress Street Grounds, Boston
Beaneaters 12 Reds 2.
Reds lead series 2 games to 1.
1891 Beaneaters - 001 142 022 - 12 17 1
1891 Reds - 001 000 001 – 2 7 4
The series shifts to the Congress Street Grounds, home of the AA champion Boston Reds.
1st inning 1891 Boston Reds
John Clarkson might be a 33 game winner in 1891, but he’s 0-1 here as he enters the game to pitch. Tom Brown, having a great series, laces Clarkson’s first offering into the gap in deep right center. The angry Clarkson walks SS Paul Radford. Radford annoys him even more by swiping 2nd with Charlie Ganzel holding the ball – and holding Tom Brown at 3rd.
But Clarkson goes behind the pitcher’s box (still a box in 1891). He takes a couple of deep breaths. Then he gets back in the box and shows why he won 328 games. Clarkson stiffens; retiring Hall of Famers Duffy and Brouthers, and handcuffing Hardy Richardson with a fast one on the fists and inducing a shallow flyout to left.
In the 3rd the 1891 Boston Beaneaters take their first lead of the series. Tommy Tucker smokes a line drive single to RF. Then he -you guessed it - swipes 2B. He then steals 3rd, and when Reds catcher Murphy’s throw sails into LF, Tucker scores.
The 1891 Boston Beaneaters lead 1-0.
Hugh Duffy answers in the bottom of the 3rd. He crushes a solo homer to left, tying the game 1-1.

Charlie Ganzel singles home Herman Long in the 4th. But it’s in the 5th that the Bean men take control. With two away, pitcher John Clarkson works Cinders O’Brien for a walk. Third-sacker Duke Farrell bobbles a bouncer off the bat of Bobby Lowe. And Steve Brodie bounces a single through the hole, into right. Bases loaded.
Harry Stovey, H.Long and B.Nash follow with base hits. Clarkson, Lowe, Brodie and Stovey all score. The Beaneaters jump out to a commanding 6-1 lead.

In the 6th, run-scoring singles by Tucker and Clarkson, plus a theft of 2nd by Tucker, pad the Beaneaters lead. 1891 Boston Beaneaters lead 8-1.

8th inning 1891 Boston Beaneaters

Clarkson doubles to left-center, advances to third on Bobby Lowe’s single to left , and scores his 2nd run on Steve Brodie’s RBI Texas League single to CF… although I don’t think the term ‘Texas Leaguer’ had been coined in ’91. Interestingly, Cinders O’Brien is relieved at this point by a Hall of Famer, 21-year old Clark Griffith. He got into just seven games in ’91, but before this young gun became the Old Fox he won 237 ballgames, and then established his legacy as the patriarch of the Washington Senators.

The Young Fox retires the , but the game is essentially over. The Beaneaters win 12-2 and are back in the series.

Beaneaters

2B: J.Clarkson 2 (2)
RBI: B.Lowe (2), S.Brodie (1), H.Stovey 2 (2), H.Long 2 (4), B.Nash (3), C.Ganzel (2), T.Tucker (2), J.Clarkson (1)
John Clarkson,
W (1-0) 100 9.0 7 2 2 3 1 1 120 2.00

Reds
2B: C.Stricker (1)
3B: T.Brown (1)
HR: H.Duffy (1)
RBI: H.Duffy (5), C.Stricker (2)
SB: P.Radford (2)

Cinders O'Brien,
L (0-1) 7 IP 14H 10R 5ER 6.43ERA

Game 4 Congress Street Grounds, Boston
Beaneaters 6 Reds 5.
Series tied 2 games to 2.

1891 Beaneaters – 022 000 101 6 9 0
1891 Reds – 010 100 030 5 9 1

Game 4 is the best thus far. It goes into the 9th tied 5-5.
With two gone in the 2nd, catcher Charlie Ganzel grounds it thru the hole to LF for a single. Of course Ganzel swipes 2B.
He scores on a Tommy Tucker single to center.
Paul Radford misplays a routine grounder and Kid Nichols reaches on the error. Joe Quinn later scores on a 2nd Paul Radford error off the bat of Kid Nichols. And the Beaneaters lead 2-0.
Bottom 2nd 1891 Boston Reds
With one out Duke Farrell skies one to left-center that falls in for a double.
After Nichols fans Hardy Richardson catcher Morgan Murphy grounds a single to CF, bringing home Duke Farrell.
The 1891 Boston Beaneaters lead 2-1.
It’s Charlie Ganzel again in the 3rd, blooping a two run single to right to score Harry Stovey and Herman Long – after the H&H boys pull off a nifty double steal.
The 1891 Boston Beaneaters lead 4-1.
4th 1891 Boston Reds
Big Dan Brouthers homers to left-center in the Reds 4th, but the Reds otherwise are quiet until the 8th.
1891 Boston Reds 8th:
With Duffy and Brouthers on board, 3rd baseman Duke Farrell belts one to deep center. Steve Brodie breaks back quickly as 14,000 fans jump to their feet (many of the SRO throng are already on their feet). All follow the flight of the drive, and the crowd roar rises as the ball disappears over the boards. The Duke’s 3-run shot has tied the game, 5-5.
After a heroic comeback though, the Reds let it slip away in agonizing fashion. The Beaneaters put two on with singles from Tucker and Lowe. After George Haddock gets Steve Brodie swinging for strike 3, he inexplicably loses control, walking Stovey to load them up for Herman Long. Then he walks Long on a 3-2 pitch to force in Tommy Tucker.
The Beaneaters take the lead 6-5.
And in the 9th, John Clarkson takes the ball! He sets down the Reds with little trouble, striking out Tom Brown for the game-ender.
And just like that, the series is tied 2-2!
1891 Boston Beaneaters… 6 9 0
1891 Boston Reds………….. 5 9 1

Beaneaters
3B: B.Lowe (1)
RBI: H.Long (1), C.Ganzel 2 (2), J.Quinn (1)
SB: H.Stovey (1), H.Long (3), C.Ganzel (1)
Kid Nichols,
W (1-0) 100 8.0 9 5 5 2 7 2 108 5.63
John Clarkson,
SV (1) 19 0 0 0 1 1 0 18 4.26

Reds
2B: D.Farrell (1)
HR: D.Brouthers (1), D.Farrell (1)
RBI: D.Brouthers (1), D.Farrell 3 (6), M.Murphy (1)

SB: T.Brown (6), B.Joyce (1)

George Haddock,
L (1-1) 15 9 6 4 4 4 0 140 3.60

Note: the road team has won each of the 1st four games.

Game 5 Congress Street Grounds, Boston
Beaneaters 9 Reds 1.
Beaneaters lead series 3 games to 2.
1891 Beaneaters – 400 010 004 – 9 8 1
1891 Reds – 000 000 100 – 1 7 5

Top of the 1st 1891 Boston Beaneaters
Charlie Buffinton enters the game to pitch.
Charlie Buffinton went 29-9, 2.55 in 1891. He went 233-152 over 11 seasons, won 20 games 7 times. In 1884 he won 48, starting 67, completing 63 and spreading a 2.15 ERA over 587 innings. Charlie’s 29-9, .763 winning percentage in ’91 led the NL, but today the defense behind him lets him down. He gives up nine runs but only two are earned.
The butterfingers start right away
With one away Steve Brodie walks and swipes 2B. Dan Brouthers boots a routine grounder off the bat of Harry Stovey. With Brodie advancing to 3rd, Stovey bolts for 2nd without a throw. Herman Long lifts a routine fly to right. Hugh Duffy un-routinely drops the ball. Brodie scores easily and Long, running hard all the way, reaches 2nd.
Harry Stovey scores on a sac fly from Billy Nash. Then catcher Charlie Ganzel smacks a 2-run homer to LCF that barely clears the wall.

1891 Boston Beaneaters 4 1 0
1891 Boston Reds 0 0 2

In the 5th with two gone Stovey bloops a single to LCF. Stovey steals second and then scores on a bloops a single to short center off the bat of Herman Long.
1891 Boston Beaneaters 5 5 0
1891 Boston Reds 0 3 2

Tom Brown, having himself a wonderful series, triples home his pitcher Charley Buffinton. But it’s far too little, far too late. Because in the 9th the sloppy play behind Buff dooms him. After he opens things by walking his opposite number, Beaneaters hurler John Clarkson, Brouthers bobbles another grounder. That opens the gates for another rally. Buffinton, perhaps tiring, walks Stovey and Long – the latter walk forcing in Clarkson and making it a 6-1 Beaneaters lead. Then with two outs it’s Charlie Ganzel again, flaring a Texas Leaguer to left-center for a double. Stovey Long and Nash all score to ice it, 9-1.

“Yeah, my mates kicked a couple…” Buffinton says afterwards. “But I walked a few too. We just gave the Bean boys too many chances to make something happen.”

Final Game 5:
1891 Boston Beaneaters 9 8 1
1891 Boston Reds 1 6 5

Beaneaters
2B: C.Ganzel (1)
3B: B.Lowe (2)
HR: C.Ganzel (1)
RBI: H.Long 3 (8), B.Nash (4),
C.Ganzel 5 (9)

SB: S.Brodie (1), H.Stovey 2 (3), H.Long (4)
John Clarkson,
W (2-1) 28 7 1 1 3 3 0 129 3.21

Reds
3B: T.Brown (2)
RBI: T.Brown (2)
SB: D.Brouthers (3)
Errors: H.Duffy (1), D.Brouthers 2 (2), D.Farrell (1), C.Stricker (1)

Charlie Buffinton,
L (1-1) 18.3 8 9 2 4 3 1 138 2.45

Game 6 South End Grounds, Boston
Beaneaters 6 Reds 4.
Beaneaters win series 4 games to 2.
1891 Reds – 210 001 000 - 4 8 0
1891 Beaneaters – 001 004 10x – 6 12 1

Top of the 1st. The 1891 Boston Reds, who won the 1st two games of the series, now find their backs to the wall. Their bid to tie the series back up begins well. They rough up the great (360-202) Kid Nichols, touching him up for three in the 1st two frames.

Paul Radford beats out an infield single to 2nd, and of course, steals 2nd. Hugh Duffy picks him up with an RBI ground single to right. Duffy then swipes 2nd. Big Dan Brouthers then belts a booming drive to deep right center. Duffy scores easily and Brouthers pulls into 3rd with a stand-up triple.

In the 2nd Tom Brown steals 2nd, his 7th steal of the series. Duffy singles home Tom Brown for his 7th RBI of the series and steals his 8th base. The Reds jump out to a 3-0 lead. In the 3rd Bobby Lowe draws the walk and steals 2nd. Steve Brodie bloops a single to left-center, scoring Lowe. The Reds still lead 3-1.

They extend that lead in the 6th. Reds catcher Morgan Murphy smokes a line drive to right-center for a double, swipes 3rd and scores when pitcher George Haddock bounces a single between short and third. The Reds lead 4-1, and are looking good to send the series to a decisive 7th game. Haddock has held the Beaneaters to three hits thus far.

But in the bottom of the 6th the 1891 Boston Beaneaters rise up. It all happens with two away. Shortstop Billy Nash singles home Steve Brodie. Beaneaters catcher Charlie Ganzel singles home Herman Long. For Ganzel it’s his tenth RBI of the series, leading everybody. Joe Quinn and Tommy Tucker follow with RBI hits. Tucker’s hit gives the Beaneaters their 1st lead of the game and drives Haddock from the box. He is relieved by 21-year-old future Hall-of-Famer Clark Griffith. Harry Stovey puts an exclamation point on the game and the series in the 7th, lining a solo home run to left field. The Beaneaters lead 6-4. And that’s how the game and the series ends.

Game 6 Final:
1891 Boston Reds…………. 4 7 0
1891 Boston Beaneaters… 6 10 1
Reds
2B: M.Murphy (1)
3B: D.Brouthers (1)
RBI: H.Duffy 2 (7), D.Brouthers (4), G.Haddock (1)
SB: T.Brown 3 (9), P.Radford (3), H.Duffy 2 (7), M.Murphy (1)
George Haddock,
L (1-2) 20 inn. 4.79

Beaneaters
3B: J.Quinn (1)
HR: H.Stovey (1)
RBI: S.Brodie (2), H.Stovey (3), B.Nash (5), C.Ganzel (10), J.Quinn (2), T.Tucker (3)
SB: B.Lowe (1)
Kid Nichols,
W (2-1) 26 inn. 5.54

1891 Boston Reds- 1891 Boston Beaneaters
Beaneaters win 4 games to 2.
Reds Batting Leaders
CF Tom Brown .357, 9 Stolen Bases, 2-3B
SS Paul Radford .291
RF Hugh Duffy .296, 7 RBI, 7 Stolen Bases
1B Dan Brouthers .291
3B Duke Farrell .440, 6 RBI

Beaneaters Batting Leaders
LF Bobby Lowe .407
SS Herman Long .454, 8 RBI, 4 Stolen Bases
C Charlie Ganzel .346, 10 RBI.

Pitching Leaders
John Clarkson 2-1, 3.21, 28 IP (Beaneaters)
Kid Nichols 2-1, 5.54, 26 IP (Beaneaters)
George Haddock 1-2, 4.79, 20-2/3 IP (Reds)
Charlie Buffinton 1-1, 2.45, 18 IP (Reds)
Cinders O’Brien 0-1, 6.42, 7 IP (Reds)

The two teams played 6 games and 54 innings. Kid Nichols and John Clarkson pitched all 54 innings for the Beaneaters.
The 1891 baseball season marked the finale for the American Association. Ten years of two leagues with eight teams each came to a halt as the National League regained the monopolistic dominance it seemingly wanted. Four teams from the AA were ‘absorbed’ by the NL; the other four were told to get lost.
Interestingly, Boston fans benefitted from the NL’s hostile take-over. The Beaneaters took ex-Red outfielder Hugh Duffy and installed him in centerfield. Duffy would hit .332 for 1153 games over nine seasons, including, of course, his spectacular .440 mark in 1894. Duffy would help make the Beaneaters the winningest team in baseball for the decade, adding titles in ’92, ’93, ’97 and ’98. The only threat to Boston’s dominance, the legendary Baltimore Orioles, would collect ex-Red Dan Brouthers and ex-Beaneater Steve Brodie. Brodie, only a .260 hitter for the 1891 NL champs, and only 22, would hit better than .330 over six seasons with Baltimore. And the Orioles would interrupt Boston’s reign with pennants in 1894-6.
But what about some of the others?
Reds Centerfielder Tom Brown, who hit .357 and stole 9 sacks in the all-Boston 1891 World Series, finds steady work at Louisville. But the man batted .321 and led the 1891 AA in seven offensive categories never replicated that type of success again. In fact he didn’t top .260 until 1896, when as a 35-year-old he was playing out the string with the 9th place Washington Senators.
Brown was joined on that poor Washington team by ex-Beaneater Duke Farrell.
Farrell, who led the NL in homers and RBI in ’91, and hit .440 in the mythical all Boston series, hit over .300 each of his three full seasons with the Senators (1896-8). Farrell didn’t hit .300 in 1899, but he hit .299 for the Brooklyn Superbas, helping them win the 1899 pennant. He tastes more glory the next year when Brooklyn wins again.
After five National League pennants and one American Association title in the Gaslamp 1890s, the next time Boston would see the baseball mountaintop would be in 1903. The Boston Americans of the upstart American League would win the pennant – and then rattle the baseball world by beating the National League champion Pittsburgh Pirates in the first ‘modern’ World Series.

1915 Red Sox vs 1936 Yankees (Game 3)

Boston's Fenway Park, 1915.
Lefty Gomez squares off against lefty rookie Ruth.

Yankee starter Vernon 'Lefty' Gomez walks out onto the field. Both squads are casually loosening up... tossing baseballs here, smacking fungoes there... guys cracking jokes in the midday New England springtime sun. It's Lefty's 7th season with the big club. He knows his routine before a start... knows how to pace himself. He intends to go nine. And he intends to win. He stretches and limbers up slowly and looks around. He says to no one in particular...
"I know this is Fenway. But it don't look like any Fenway I've ever seen!"
"I'm thinking the same thing..." Lefty turns to his right and sees the tall youngster from San Francisco, rookie Joe DiMaggio.
"Don't be sneaking up on me like that!" Gomez retorts.
"Sorry." Young Joe grins. So does Lefty. "But seriously Lefty, look at that left field! It's banked. And look at centerfield. It's enormous. Huge."
"Just about five hundred to the deepest part!" Comes another voice with a Texas drawl.
"Hello, Tristam!" Barks Gomez. "Tristam. Want you to meet my newest project... Joseph P. DiMaggio. He runs down all of my mistakes, and hits everybody elses!"
Joe extends a hand and Tris Speaker shakes it.
"Glad to meet you son." Tris nods. "Like the way you stand up there at the plate. All business. No bull."
"Thanks, Mr. Speaker." Answers Joe quietly.
"Tris! Call me Tris." Joe nods respectfully. Tris continues. "How you feelin' today Lefty? Gonna go nine?"
"Well, Tris... with these fences being so deep and all..." Lefty looks around. "I might stand a chance."
"We're starting a southpaw today too... big kid from Baltimore. George Ruth."
"Heard about him." Nods Gomez.
"He's some piece of work." Continues Speaker. "Swings his bat harder than he throws his fastball. And he has a real good fastball. Gets wild sometimes. Better stay loose." Gomez glares at Speaker with mock suspicion.
"Saaaaay, Tristam! Are you trying to coach us, or scare us." Speaker winks and grins. He shrugs his shoulders.
"He's big as a water buffalo, about as strong... and he's only twenty. I guess I'm coaching you." Tris grins again. "So stay loose!"

The Red Sox and Yanks have split the first two games of the brand new season. Now, with Game three about to begin, the Red Sox rookie southpaw George "Babe" Ruth indeed walks out and takes the mound and the ball. He begins to toss warm-ups to catcher Forrest Cady. After only five he signals to Cady he's ready. Cady whips the ball to third baseman Larry Gardner, who sends it around the infield... Everett Scott... Jack Barry... Dick Hoblitzell. Rookie Ruth walks around the mound and looks at his outfielders... Duffy Lewis, Tris Speaker and Harry Hooper... considered by many the best defensive outfield yet to take the field. Ruth takes a deep breath as Hoblitzell tosses him the ball. Ruth snags it, rubs it up, and walks up the mound. Umpire Bill Klem dusts off the plate one final time as Frankie Crosetti, the Yankee shortstop, gets ready to dig in.

Ruth peers in for the signal from Cady. Crosetti sets himself in the right-hand batters' box. Ruth grins, then wheels and fires. It's a high hard one... very high. It sails over Cady's mitt... over the right shoulder of umpire Klem, and clear to the backstop, where it clangs against a support beam. Ball One! The ball rebounds near Cady, who picks it up and fires it back to Ruth. Ruth walks back up and toes the rubber. He nods, winds, and a fires another high, hard one. Crosetti's eyes widen as the ball nears his neck... and he quickly bails out. The ball sails inside and Cady leaps up again to snag it.

"SETTLE DOWN!" Yells Cady as he flips the ball back to Ruth. But then he winks. Ruth turns to face the outfield and rubs up the ball. Crosetti and Klem cannot see him grin. Ruth turns back around, slams the ball into his glove in mock anger, and toes the rubber. Two-and-oh. Ruth winds and 'fires' a dandy of a change-up. Crosetti swings. And audible crack is heard around the park as Crosetti's bat shatters. Jack Barry scoops up the easy grounder and tosses it to first in plenty of time to get Crosetti at first. And the game is underway.

In the Yankee dugout Lefty Gomez quietly muses. "Well I'll be damned..."

Top of the fifth. No score. Rookie Ruth winds and fires a fastball. "Stee-rike!" bellows Bill Klem. Rookie DiMaggio, in the righty batters' box, doesn't move. Ruth takes the ball back, wheels, and fires again... a dandy of a curve ball, breaking sharply down and in. Until rookie DiMaggio swings and connects. The ball sails like a rocket, far past the centerfielder Tris Speaker. He gives chase as DiMaggio lopes around the Fenway basepaths, gliding into third standing up before the ball is finally retrieved from the deepest caverns of centerfield. Rookie George Ruth, backing up behind third base, takes the ball from Larry Gardner. As he passes rookie DiMaggio, he says "Nice hit, Kid!" DiMaggio, a bit surprised, stammers. "Thanks..."
Ruth toes the rubber and faces another challenge. No rookire this time, but instead the great Lou Gehrig. Like DiMaggio, Gehrig squares himself in the batters' box with little fanfare or fuss. Only Lou, of course, swings from the left side. And he swings at rookie Ruth's first offering, a shoulder high fastball thAt might be a strike... might be a ball. Gehrig connects, and there is no doubt about the fate of Ruth's pitch -KER-RACK! The ball rockets toward deepest right-center. Speaker and right-fielder Harry Hooper give chase. But they quickly see the futility in doing so. It's well over 400 to the right-center field fence, but the ball quickly sails far over it and into the crowded bleachers. Gehrig circles the bases as Ruth kicks at the ground with his spikes. He calls for a new ball from umpire Bill Klem, just as Gehrig dents the plate with spikes of his own. New York draws first blood, 2-0.

Bottom of the fifth. One on. No one out. Lefty Gomez is in control. Up to the plate comes rookie George 'Babe' Ruth. The Babe has already struck out. With batterymate Forrset Cady on first, Ruth might bunt him over and let the top of the order try to bring him in.
"You buntin', kid?" Gomez yells from the mound. Ruth, standing in the lefty batters' box, flashes a slightly startled grin. Lefty stretches, and fires. Ruth squares, but doesn't offer. "BALL ONE!" bellows Bill Klem. Gomez retrieves the ball from catcher Bill Dickey. He stretches and fires again. The ball is high and away... tough to bunt. But Ruth isn't bunting.
KER-RACK! The ball soars far past rookie Yankee centerfielder Joe DiMaggio, who like his counterpart Tris Speaker, gives chase. Ruth rounds first and heads for second. DiMaggio picks up the ball in deepest center and fires a strong strike to Crosetti at deep short. Ruth cruises into second as Cady crosses the plate. Yankees 2, Sox 1. Two outs later, Tris Speaker himself comes to the plate. He picks out a pitch from Gomez and lines a single past Gehrig into right field. Rookie Ruth round third and scores easily. And just like that, he is back even, 2-2.

Seventh inning. The game is still knotted 2-2. Larry Gardner is on first. Two out. And up comes the rookie Ruth again. This time the question isn't whether Ruth is bunting, but whether he is hitting at all. Eyes look to the Boston dugout. But Bill "Rough" Carrigan is poker faced. He makes no move of any sort. And the kid from Baltimore digs in.

"You buntin' kid?" Gomez again hollers from the mound. Ruth grins again. From the Yankee dugout booms manager Marsh Joe McCarthy. "Quit kiddin' Lefty, dammit!" Lefty yells back. "Who's kidding? Don't you want him to bunt, too?" McCarthy shakes his head. Gomez goes into his stretch and fires a fastball. STEEE-RRRIIIKE!" Lefty gets the ball back. Now he quips with the umpire, Bill Klem. "You sure about that, Bill?" Even Klem finds it hard to suppress a grin. Catcher Dickey shakes his head. "No, Bill!" Yells Gomez. "YOU give the signs! I shake 'em off!" Dickey shrugs and puts down a sign. Gomez nods and fires. A dandy of a slow curve. Rookie Ruth hitches, waits, and swings. KERR-ACKK! "Dammit!" snaps Gomez. DiMaggio takes a couple steps toward right-center field, but slows quickly and puts his hands on his hips. Right fielder George Selkirk takes a few more steps, but he also quickly sizes things up. The ball flies over the fence, over the fans, and over the bleachers. Gardner and Ruth trot around the bases and homeward, giving Boston a 4-2 lead.

And it's a lead the lefty from Baltimore does not relinquish. The young kid, nicknamed 'Dunnie's Babe' as a protege of Baltimore Oriole skipper Jack Dunn in 1914, singles in the eighth and scores ahead of Tris Speaker for the second time. The final score: Boston 6, New York 2. Dunnie's Babe wins his first game of the season, goes three-for-four with a double, a homer, and three RBI. Not a bad opener against a powerful New York line-up.

61Yanks vs 76Reds (162 games!)

61Yanks vs 76Reds
(162 games!)
I am using an online simulator called Sim League Baseball by What If Sports. I am trying to be fair as far as 'running' the season. I am using the starters, for example, in rotation. The computer makes all the pitching changes, pinch-hitters, etc. As the season progresses, I will try to 'bench' players to make it realistic... I will probably only do this with the Yanks, but I might do it for the Reds too, also to try and be fair. Because Bill James is correct... at least on paper, the Reds DO have a far superior bench... Dan Driessen, Ed Bailey, Terry Crowley... rugged! But the Yanks DO have Johnny Blanchard. He was an ANIMAL. Maybe he wasn't Johnny Bench behind the plate (maybe? MAYBE?)... Or Griffey in RF (MAYBE?), or even George Foster in LF (MAYBE?)... But he matched Bench nearly homer for homer in only 249 ABs, and slugged over .600! He was in that salty line-up for a reason, and it wasn't just to spell Ellie, Roger, or Yogi. I have not started Blanchard yet... I think he pinch hit a few times (again, the computer handles all that). I WILL try to be fair. I am not trying to 'manage' either team. I am trying to let Ralph and Sparky do that. And guess what? They are! Sparky, so far, is Captain Hook, just like in real 1976 life! He uses his bullpen like he gets a travel allowance for mound trips! And Ralph Houk... it's basically 'starter-Arroyo'... or occasionally 'starter-Reniff-Arroyo'... the only time he deviates is if his starter gets rocked early... which as I said, has happened a few times with this raw, rugged Red lineup!And of course, the two teams travel back and forth between their respective stadiums. Maybe I will throw in a few neutral spots like the old Polo Grounds and the old Baker Bowl just for fun... but if I do that I will tell you.

After 16 games... The 61Yanks are 8-8. Oddly, so are the 76Reds. Two games have gone extra innings. And Bobby Richardson has won each with a game winning RBI hit (a walk off, but they did not use that term in 1961).With ten percent of the season gone, Maris, Mantle and Bill Skowron have 4 home runs each. Yogi and Ellie each have five doubles. I have not compiled any Cincy stats as yet, but they have shown a propensity in their wins to get away quickly with big first innings... they have chased even the great Whitey Ford, even in the Bronx, where they won on opening day, 14-7. I am not keeping batting averages, because it is too hard thus far... but it does seem like Ellie is getting lots of hits. He did bat .348! And he did finally win the MVP a couple years later.The most ridiculous thing I can say about this whole exercise, besides the fact that there is exactly no exercise whatsoever involved for me, is that I am finding myself FERVENTLY rooting the Yankees on! A fan forever!

61 Yanks vs 76 Reds (after 24 games)
Okay now... 15% of the season is in the books. Let’s see how we stand! Crap! The Yanks are 11-13! One thing I'm seeing... both teams are very streaky. The Yanks won five straight. Cincy answered back with four in a row and five out of six. Home field advantage? Forget it! The Yanks swept the Reds in Riverfront (so far we are playing three game series back-and-forth). I said to myself, "Oh, Goody! Now we are going back to the Bronx...” where the Reds returned the favor, sweeping NY... cuffing the great Whitey around in the process. Remember how I said Griffey wouldn't like YS so much? He must have read that. He knocked in four in one game to help the Reds win 10-5. The most galling Yankee loss came in Cincy, though. The Bombers had a 5-0 lead after two innings, but coughed it up late. Jim Coates got the BS (Amen!). In all fairness, he was victimized when Maris started the rally, dropping a lazy fly ball for a two-base error. All three runs Jim yielded were unearned. But this is where official scoring plays tricks on you. Yeah, Roger did drop the ball. But then... Coates walked the next guy, the tying run. And then George Foster hit a 3-Run bomb to win it for the Reds. So in my mind, Coates indeed owns and wears that loss, and yes, it was BS (Blown Save).As it happens, that was game number 24, at Riverfront. If Roger catches that ball or maybe if Coates doesn't walk that batter... the Yanks could be 12-12, instead of 11-13! If! IF! IF!Speaking of Roger... he is now leading the Yanks with 6 HRs. Mick hasn't hit any in eight games, but still is tied for second with Moose Skowron (4). Elston now has three, to go with his 6 doubles, tying him with that 36-year-old left-fielder, Yogi! Howard also seems to have a lot of ribbies, but I have not counted them up yet. Go Elston! C'mon Yanks! Wake up! Tighten up that 'D'! Represent the Sixties! Represent the Bronx! Maybe it's time to let Blanchard have a start. By the way, the 61Yanks do have a left-handed kid in the BP... Some kid named Al Downing. Throws hot left-handed smoke. But he's as wild as Koufax was back in Brooklyn... pitched only 9 innings all year, with twelve strikeouts AND twelve walks... what in the name of Rex Barney is going on here?!? Predictably, his ERA is/was 8.00. Maybe Larry Sherry could have a talk with this kid Downing... or maybe our own Bill Dickey... he still drops by once in a while, and look what he did for Berra AND Howard!

61 Yanks vs 76 Reds Update (60 games)
After 60 Games the Bronx Bombers (29-31) and The Big Red Machine (31-29) are virtually even! But it hasn't been that easy! Each team has gotten hot. Cincy has won 6 in a row. The Yanks have taken 5 straight. The Bombers split their first 20 games. Then the Reds won 14 of 20. It looked like the Yanks were going to be buried. Then the Yanks roared back, winning 13 of 20 to pull close again. Each team has swept in the other's park, as well as their own. Both teams have had trends. The Reds, early in the year, seemed to thrive on early knockouts... big first innings! They knocked out Whitey several times, even at the old stadium, where Death Valley does not seem to bother them. As the year went on, the Reds stopped winning early, and began winning late; pulling out several games in their last at bat... clutch hits... during their six game winning streak there were four straight games where no starter on either team figured in the decision! Sparky continued to be Captain Hook, but he even used Don Gullett in extra innings a couple times... and Don came away with victories! Conversely, the Yank bullpen went into a slump, where they coughed up several leads. Johnny Blanchard! Super Sub! Just like in 1961, Blanchard has been an animal. I've started him in LF, RF and behind the plate, to spell Yogi, Ellie and Mickey (Maris plays center, Blanch in right). I've played him three in a row at YS at one point, but only nine games all together; to keep things honest... he did have only 240 ABs in '61. Well, in my season, John has 4 HRs and 9 RBIs in 9 games! I had made a comment that Joe Morgan had a quick bat, and therefore would thrive in YS with the short porch, whereas Ken Griffey, for example, might not. I guess that pissed off Griff somehow, and he went into a Hack Wilson imitation mode. He did not hit a lot of homers (maybe I should say Tommy Davis 1962-63 mode). But Ken senior turned into an RBI machine, going on a tear Junior would be proud of. Try this: 32 RBI in his first 32 games... 39 ribbies in his first 40, and 45 RBI in 60 Games played so far. I don't know if this leads everybody because I am not tracking RBI for everybody. Foster, Bench, Maris and Mantle all seem to be getting their share... Morgan too, but I never thought of Ken Sr as an RBI man... a good hitter, of course. I find this kind of stuff interesting. I saw the Reds play, and thirty years later I have the "two" Reds teams of the '70s kind of merged in my mind. They were both dominant, but in different ways. But for example... I think of Griffey as a number two hitter, but I think he may have moved around as the Reds changed. I seem to remember the 70-71 Reds as Rose-Tolan-Bench... Tommy Helms in there somewhere. And I remember the 75-76 Reds as Rose-Griffey-Morgan-Foster-Bench. As I look at the actual stats of 1976, Griffey had 74 RBI... the same as Bench. Bench had an off year at the plate. I seem to remember Bench being banged up, but then tearing the actual 1976 NYY a new one in the World Series, which the Reds won four-zip. I also remember Sparky insulting the late Thurman Munson by telling a reporter not to compare him with Johnny Bench. No wonder Munson was 'mean'!

Okay, here comes my Munson rant! I am going to type from memory and fact check later, just to make a point. Yeah, I am a lifelong Yankee fan! But I am also a diehard Yankee fan! Listen youngsters... I know this is hard for you to conceptualize, but the Yanks have had some lean years. Between 1964 and 1976... That is, between Ellie Howard and Thurman, we had Jake Gibbs, Frank Fernandez and other forgettables behind the dish. No disrespect to these guys (Gibbs was a good QB at ol' Miss and helped develop some guy named Archie Manning... who in turn...), but when Thurman showed up, won the Rookie-of-the-Year, it was like the sun after a long, dark winter. I still have a memory, now distant, of the Yanks playing the Oakland A's on TV, and this kid Munson, who I had never heard of on TV. I remember Bert Campaneris, the great lead-off man for the A's, on first. Campy had over 400 lifetime stolen bases, and was always a threat at the top of that line-up. Well anyway, the pitch came, and suddenly Munson fired a snap-throw to first base...BANG! And just like that, Campaneris was dead... out from me to you... picked off, eating Yankee Stadium dirt and a first baseman's mitt full of baseball. I remember Bill James writing an article about Campaneris, saying that he was the first indication of daylight for the (then) Kansas City Athletics, of whom James was a childhood fan. Well, that day, watching that pick-off on WPIX-TV Channel 11 in NYC, I had the exact same feeling. It was electric. Who is this guy?Well, it turned out to be Thurman, who subsequently won the Rookie of the Year (one vote shy of unanimous), MVP, and two World Championships... and was selected as the first Yankee Captain since Lou Gehrig. And 1975 started a string of three consecutive .300-100 RBI years for Munson. He seemed to handle the pitching staff very well as I recall, won the MVP in 1976, and batted something like .529 in the '76 series... remember, I am doing this all from memory... maybe I'll check later. Anyway, Thurman finished his 10 year career (prematurely and tragically) with a .292 average and more than 700 RBI... mostly in a stadium that was death to right-handed hitters. Yes, Thurman's knees were shot by the time he was 30-32. But look at Johnny! He was 28 in 1976. I think his left shoulder was a mess (probably from blocking the plate). If his RIGHT shoulder had been a mess, I think the 76 Series would have been competitive. Sparky was right to praise his HOF catcher, who shut down Mickey Rivers and won games with clutch hitting and homers. But Sparky was dead wrong to run down Munson in the process. Thurman soon got two WS rings of his own though, while the Reds sat home and watched. Time marches on for all of us!I'll check the Thurman stats later.


Now back to 1961 and 1976!
Home Runs: Roger... 19, Mickey... 14, Yogi... 10 and Ellie... 10.

Highlights: Mantle hit for the cycle in game 50. Elston Howard had 2 HRs and 5RBI in game 53. And in game 49, Moose Skowron hit 2 bombs and drove in six to help Whitey Ford whitewash the Reds 12-0. Whitey threw a four-hitter, which he needed, because he has taken his lumps this season... he is 3-6 with loses of 14-7, 15-3, and 12-7. Ford also had a no-decision where he was staked to a 5-0 lead early and the bullpen could not hold on! I'll check back with you at the All-Star break! What am I saying? THESE are all-star games!

61Yanks vs 76Reds (81games)
Halfway!NY Yankees 37-44! (8-13 last 21!) Cincinnati Reds 44-37! (13-8 last 21!)
Roger Maris 26 HRS 75 RBI
Mickey Mantle 18 HRS 58 RBI
Ken Griffey 57 RBI

Well gang, over the last 21 games, the Reds are making Mr. Bill James look pretty smart. Both these squads are streaky bunches, but the Reds right now are playing more solidly. Both teams display lots of punch and power. But the Reds bullpen is making most of the difference. The Yanks BP has coughed up several leads. And even the Reds starters... they tossed back-to-back shutouts in Games 74-75, one of them by a fellow named Alcala, whom I don't even remember. Don Gullett has picked up a couple of victories out of the pen between starts. Both teams have had laughers, of course. The Yanks tore into the Reds in G79, a 19-4 pasting with the Mick hitting two HRs and driving in eight (8!). Cincy beat the Yanks 15-8 in G73... Morgan and Griffey with 4 RBI apiece. But most of the games have been close. The biggest surprise continues to be the travails of Whitey Ford (4-9). In some games he's turned a lead over to the bullpen only to watch them blow it late. But Whitey has also been hit hard a few times. Of the Yankee relievers, Tex Clevenger has by far the coolest name. He should be a country singer with a handle like that!

61Yanks vs 76 Reds 120 games!
Three-quarters of the season in the books!
NY 57-63. Cincinnati 63-57.

Roger Maris: 41HR 111RBI
Mickey Mantle: 27HR 88RBI
Whitey Ford: 8-13
Joe Morgan: 32HR 79RBI
George Foster: 24HR 97RBI
Ken Griffey 72RBI
Pedro Borbon 7-4

The bullpens continue to be the biggest difference. Lots of one-run games. A few extra inning battles... with the Reds seemingly prevailing in most of them. I'll check at the end of the season, but it seems like the Red's bullpen has won a lot of games. Of course, that's as much a testament to the Reds' clutch hitting. Generally when the Yanks win, they win big. Bill James is absolutely correct about Cincy's superior bench, and the Yank pitching staff being less than historic. Both squads get hot. New York won four straight at Yankee Stadium, and the Reds answered right back with a four game sweep at Riverfront. Individually, Maris homered in five straight games. Mantle drove in all five Yankee runs in G90 to help Whitey win a 5-0 shutout. For the Reds, it seems like George Foster has come through with lots of late game winning hits. The Yankee Stadium Death Valley is not fazing him at all. And Joe Morgan does seem to like the Stadium... he's out-homering the Mick! As you can see above, Roger is outpacing everybody.

1961 Yankees vs 1976 Reds...162 Games!
It's Final! The 1976 Big Red Machine has beaten the 1961 Bronx Bombers over the course of an entire 162 game season! I will write a detailed narrative of the highlights and lowlights of the long season soon. I shall also discuss once more the article Bill James wrote that precipitated this flight of fantasy in the first place... comparing the results shown by the computer simulation with Mr. James expert commentary. Even though I died hard as a Yankees fan, I was also proud of the way my boys fought... and I also admired the class that the Cincinnati Reds once again displayed.

Here are the results:
162 Games
New York 77-85
Cincinnati 85-77
20 G... NY 10-10 (20 game stretches)
40 G... NY 16-24 (6-14)
60 G... NY 29-31 (13-7)
81 G... NY 37-44 (8-13)
100G... NY 47-53 (10-9)120G...
NY 57-63 (10-10)140G... NY 68-72 (11-9)
162G... NY 77-85 (9-13)

Final Stats for key hitters:
Roger Maris... 57hr 142rbi
Mickey Mantle... 41hr 129rbi
Elston Howard... 23hr 104rbi
Yogi Berra... 25hr 100rbi
Johnny Blanchard... 9hr 32rbi (in only 30 games!)

Joe Morgan... 42hr 111 rbi
George Foster... 32hr 129rbi
Ken Griffey... 105rbi

Key Pitching:
Whitey Ford... 10-19
Ralph Terry... 15-11
Pedro Borbon 12-5!

Why I'm a Yankee Fan

September 7, 1968 5:06PM, Yankee Stadium


Twi-night Doubleheader.

(First game)


Washington............. 2 13 3

Yanks....................16 19 0
Time of Game 2:44


(Second game)

Washington............. 0 2 0
Yanks.................... 10 8 0
Time of Game 1:53

Attendance 20,613

Yankees 72-70, 5th place, 17-1/2 GB


Price tickets:

$4.00 Boxed (up from $3.50 in 1967!)

$3.00 Reserved

$1-2 General Admission (roughly, can't remember)*

$.50-1.00 Bleachers (again, it's been a while)



*General Admission: Any seat in the house not reserved. In 1968 there were 67,000 seats in Yankee Stadium. That means there were 46,000+ empty seats to chose from on this particular date. Of course, on this particular day, most of them were temporarily empty, as everyone was standing, cheering, yelling, and watching the Senators chase the baseball around the outfield.

I know. Because I was one of them. My parents brought us in from Long Island, sixty-some-odd-miles, to watch the New York Yankees beat the stuffing out of the Washington Senators. I had no idea how bad the Senators were, or for that matter, how bad the Yankees were.


The Bronx Bombers were bombers no more. But in 1968 I was still too young to realize that. I did not watch the Yankees on TV... did not follow them in the papers. I spent my daylight hours playing baseball, not watching it. But I knew the names... knew the baseball cards... Mantle... Maris... Ford... Berra. I did not even appreciate that these guys were all gone, except for the Mick, who was literally on his last legs... legs that could no longer carry him to first base with any semblance of speed, nor across the vast expanses of the old YS center field. Mickey made the transition to first base rather smoothly. But he could no longer hit or run like he had. I had never seen Mantle at his best. I did not know until later, during the age of ESPN classic and YouTube, how blindingly fast he really was. The Mantle I saw could line a fastball off the right field wall, and get a single out of it, limping 90 feet to the bag he used to fly across just ten years before.


The Yankee management did a lot of things wrong during the 1960s... things that directly led to the Yankee decline. The Yankee ownership proved conclusively what I have been saying ever since: that the Yankees did not, and do not enjoy ANY advantage whatsoever, because they play in NYC, or any other so-called 'big-market' town. The Yankees had enjoyed an unprecedented forty year run because their management and ownership had been uncommonly, historically great... smart, savvy, and slick. The Ruppert Years, with Ed Barrow directing traffic... the Topping-Webb Years, with George Weiss... cold, calculating and correct always, and even Larry McPhail, eccentric but excellent, both as a Brooklyn Dodger exec AND a Yankee... the Yankees ALWAYS had the American league by the throat. They won because they were smarter, better prepared and more focused on the prize... winning.


But by 1968, that was all gone. CBS owned the Yankees. Remember the great Red Barber? He's the one Chris Berman pays tribute to with his 'back-back-back' HR call... from the 1947 World Series. Red also broke in Vin Scully as a Brooklyn Dodger announcer. Well, by the mid sixties, Mr. Barber was with the Yankees. During one telecast he stirred up a hornet's nest by having the camera crew pan the rows and rows of empty Yankee Stadium seats. With a 67,000 seat capacity, and a now perennial punching bag of a team on the field, 60,000 empty seats make for a lot of sad echoes. Red Barber was never a shill for the teams he broadcast for, and pretty soon, predictably, he was no longer a Yankee broadcaster. The Yankees were owned by CBS... a marriage one would think would be baseball heaven. I am here to tell you, it was completely the opposite. The Yanks were in free fall without a parachute. And that's the way it was. (Thanks Walter!)

As bad and boring the team had gotten, the Yankees were smart enough, or desperate enough, to still emphasize their storied history. They still had their Old Timers Day annually. Our family always went. That probably confused my young mind. I knew who Steady Eddie Lopat, Tommy Henrich, Goofy Lefty Gomez, Yogi Berra, and Billy Martin were... because they were still all there... as was I, every year. Of course, the great Joe DiMaggio showed, getting as big an ovation as Mantle got... sometimes five or six solid minutes of roaring and clapping. The Clipper was still young and spry enough to take center field. An he still occasionally hit a long one. Sitting besides the Yankee dugout, were Mrs. Claire Ruth and Mrs. Eleanor Gehrig, royalty in the Yankee family. I got to know these 'old timers' better than I knew most of the current 1968 Yankees, or the crosstown Mets.

Besides that, to get to the Stadium, you walked down Babe Ruth Plaza, near the Grand Concourse. You walked into the stadium, and somewhere nearby, there was this huge bank of phones. If you picked up one of the phones, you heard somebody talking on the other end... a recording. You heard the Babe, talking about his called shot in the 1932 WS, or Lou Gehrig, again telling you he was the luckiest man on the face of the earth, or Joe D, thanking the Good Lord for making him a Yankee... and so on. There were dozens of phones, with big pictures... kind of like a telephonic Yankee Hall of Fame.

The Yankees embraced their tradition, because by 1968, that was all they had. To be a Yankee fan in 1968 was to be a history buff... which I was then and am now.


But the distinction between happy past and horrid present was still muddled in my mind in 1968. We were going to see the Yankees play! Twice! Two-for-one! And i knew enough that even the last place Washington Senators had somebody I wanted to see... big Frank Howard, who was by far the most enormous player anyone had seen up to that time.


We sat in the upper deck, reserved seats. They were good seats, behind first base... a bit down the right field line, but close enough to see and enjoy all of the action. Frank Howard, who batted in the top of the first, indeed was as big as I had heard... even from the upper deck. He was 6'7'' and 250-275, and waved a 40-ounce bat like it was a whiffle bat. The field seemed to tilt toward wherever he was at any given time.


But soon the field itself seemed to TILT like a pinball machine. The Yankees came to bat, and started pounding the ball like it was a Sunday afternoon beer league softball game. It was as if all the ghosts of the past returned. The innings seemed to go on forever... pinstripers circling the bases. Mel Stottlemyre started for the Yankees. I seemed to remember that he was in complete command, and that he also had a good day at the plate. Recently I discovered the box score of the game, and the evidence bears out my memory. Mel scattered 13 hits, as an ace with 16 runs to work with should. He went the distance, again, as an ace did in those days. And Mel went two for four with a double, driving in two of the sixteen, and scoring another himself. By the way, another guy who drove in two runs batted just ahead of Stottlemyre in the line-up... a light hitting third-sacker named Bobby Cox. Several Yanks homered. We all cheered heartily. Mel put down the side in the ninth, and everyone except the Senators cheered one final time, and then relaxed, hit the bathrooms, hit the hot dogs, and awaited game two.

After a brief respite, the Yanks and the Senators went at it again. Mantle did not play. But the Yankees throttled the Nats again, 10-0. Fritz Peterson also went the distance. I did remember that he had shut the Senators out. But I did not realize then that he yielded only two hits... two lonely singles away from immortality. The box score also reminds me that i saw another great player winding his career down as a Yankee... Rocky Colavito, who's demise was as sudden and in may ways, more puzzling than even the Mick's. Rocky had been a long bomber back in his Cleveland days, and I do remember that he still had a fantastic arm... he took the mound for the Yankees at least once that I can recall... and he threw hard!

So... after the second Senator-smashing performance of the day, 20,000 some-odd fans (some-very-odd) went home very happy... including yours truly. Somewhere in my young mind I must have thought that everything is just fine, Yankee-wise. This was easy! These guys could do this every day! Extra base hits all over the lot! Using two pitchers in a double header while the other guys emptied their whole bullpen twice... geez! This is easy! This is FUN! Let's do this again tomorrow!

The most remarkable thing to me, looking at the box score now, is the times of the games. The Yanks scored 26 runs, and played two games. But the game times were 2:44 and 1:53 respectively. That's 4:37 for two games. I've been to many single games that now pass the four hour mark! No wonder people leave in the seventh inning nowadays! No wonder there are no more two-fers! I love baseball, but to spend eight hours at the ballpark... sheesh! They'd have to pay ME time-and-a-half!

That day, the first game (according to the box score) started at 5:06pm. The second game started at 8:21pm. Even with the intermission, and even with the sixteen run, nineteen hit barrage... and remember, even the Senators collected thirteen hits... the Yankees managed to throw the first pitch of the second game only twenty minutes past their normal starting time of a single night game, 8:05. And Fritz Peterson, knowing everybody had to get up in the morning, still fired a shutout in under two hours.

My memories of that day are fading. When I first recalled that double header, I had thought the score of the first game was 18-2, not 16-2. But the euphoria of that double-dip of butt-stomping on the Yankees part cemented me as a Yankee fan forever. And fortunately, for me, the days ahead looked promising. The Yanks had a couple of prospects ready to take over, a couple of kids named Munson and Murcer. The Stadium was due for a badly needed face lift. And then there was this guy that nobody had ever heard of, who bought a piece of the franchise in 1973. He promised that the Yanks would never leave New York (there had been rumors). And he promised that the Yanks would return to their rightful former place of glory. He said that it would happen within five years, if not sooner.


Yeah. We had heard that before. But this guy, from Cleveland of all places, seemed serious. He meddled. He butted in. He brought in another one of those Cleveland people, Gabe Paul, who in turn brought in some more Clevelanders himself... guys named Nettles and Chambliss. He hired and fired managers, players and waitresses so fast the turnstiles smoked.

But five years after he wedged his way into the New York sports scene, the Yankees celebrated their third consecutive pennant and their second consecutive World Series under the meddling ownership of George M. Steinbrenner.

We were back!

And we're here to stay!

Refuting Bill James

"The Greatest Team Whatever Was... Part IV"


First of all I want to say, right up front... I respect the hell out of Bill James (the baseball guy, not William James the Poet... oh wait, I respect him too). I love his Historical Baseball Abstracts. I have owned both... the first one in the mid 1980s, and the revised one in 2000. He has heavily researched the history of baseball and its players, has come up with an interesting way to stack up the baseball deities of the distant past against today's heroes, and has done so with a sense of humor that makes the book an easy and delightful read. He seems to be open to arguments... indeed, he acknowledges many times that you will not convince most fans of anything they don't already believe in.


One of the many things i found interesting was Mr. James' take on the 1961 New York Yankees... namely that they were not amongst the greatest teams of all time. I did not see the 1961 World Champion Bombers in person, though I watched some of the remnants later on... Roger Maris winning another Championship with the Cardinals - against a 1967 Red Sox team that had and aging Elston Howard in his final year on the roster. Of course, I did see Mickey Mantle, a striking symbol of the crumbling dynasty... his legs and health giving out as the glory of the Stengel-Houk-Berra Yankees also faded fast. As quickly as the Mick was deteriorating (he was actually only in his mid-thirties), what was even more telling was the fear teams still had for him... he still walked a lot, because by 1966-7-8, there was little or no protection behind him. Nor for that matter, was there anybody on base in front of him most of the time.


I travelled to the Stadium in my youth, dropped $1.00 to get in and saw the Mick, first in center field, and later at first base. There were plenty of seats available near first base, because after the third inning the ushers would let anyone with a general admission ticket sit there, or anywhere, for that one buck!


We cracked peanuts (35 cents), and listened as the elders plied us with tales of the 1960-64 Yankees, as well as older teams. And of course, we also got a quick history lesson when the Mick came to bat in the first inning. Even though I was too young to realize exactly what was going on, I could not ignore the nice reception the Mick got... as he knelt in the on-deck circle... and how that reception slowly built into a warm, long, sometimes standing ovation as Number Seven approached the plate. The ovation sometimes obscured the classic announcement by the great Bob Sheppard, echoing throughout... as Billy Crystal would imitate brilliantly later on. By the way, like Billy, I also thought that Ruth, Gehrig and Huggins were buried underneath their respective monuments in center field, where you were permitted to roam as you exited the Stadium after the game in those days.


Anyway, I digress... and will many times hence.


About those 1961 Yankees. Mr. James makes some surprising, accurate points. The Yankees did not lead the league in scoring or fewest runs allowed that year. Even with a record 240 home runs. Even with three, count 'em, THREE catchers hitting 20 home runs. Even with the Chairman Of The Board, Whitey Ford, having his greatest season, 25-4, and breaking the Bambino's World Series record of 29 consecutive scoreless innings (Whitey got to 33). They say the Babe had a bad year, what with the 61 HRs from Roger and then this... but I say that just reminded everybody of who and what the Bambino really was. But as Mr. James points out, the Yankees were primarily a one-dimensional team in an expansion year. Their one dimension was home runs. And theoretically, if the Yankees had to take on, say, the 1975-76 Big Red Machine, in Riverfront Stadium, astroturf and all, that the Yanks would need good luck.


Perhaps.

I am not like most fans. I have my opinions. But I can listen to a good argument, take it in, and dispose of it as well as the next guy... just kidding. I DON'T know who would win in a dream series between the 1961 Yankees, the 1969-71 Orioles, the 1975-76 Reds, or for that matter, the 1998-2000 Yankees (my money would be on the Jeter Yankees to dominate a season against all of the above mentioned teams... and I would love to talk that over with ESPN broadcaster Joe Morgan).



But as to a few of Mr. James' points. He points out that Yogi Berra played a lot of left field that year... 36 year-old Yogi Berra. He asks if I would like to try that in Riverfront in 1975 on Astroturf.



Hell, yes!



Do you remember left field in Yankee Stadium in 1961? I do, because it was still left field in 1967-68. I never, EVER sat in the left-field bleachers. Hell, I might as well have sat in my apartment twenty blocks north. Elston Howard was one of the three Yankee catchers with twenty homers. If Ellie had seen the left-field fence at Riverfront, he would have demanded a trade... and he may well have been a 30-35-40 home run hitting catcher. A 375 foot power alley versus a 402 straight-away left-field, a 433 ft alley, and a 463 dead center with a humongous high wall? And since Yogi did patrol that left field, and since Mr. Houk did tell his pitchers to let the fielders do their jobs, and since the Yankees did win 109 games that year, and since so many pitchers had career years that year, I have to think that the Yanks did okay with Mr. Berra in left field. And about left-fielders... I did see George Foster play several times. As a hitter he was a monster. But he isn't going to hit 40-50 home runs playing half his games in YS. Neither is Johnny Bench. Even Joe Morgan, a lefty, would have a 407ft sign staring back at him in deep right, although as quick as Joe's bat was, he'd probably reap the benefits of the short RF porch a la Berra, Maris, and other quick-batted lefty hitters. But George Foster in the old YS left-field? Sometimes George was a pretty good left fielder. Sometimes he was indifferent... the Met fans saw that later on. Try being indifferent in the old YS left-field. Good luck. Berra was a lot faster on his feet than people today remember. Granted he was 36. Granted he had squatted several thousand times. But Whitey, a lefty, went 25-4 with his former battery-mate patrolling a huge left field! How bad could Yogi have been? I will concede this... not nearly as bad as Hector Lopez.

By the way... i just found an online game simulator where you can pit historical teams against one another... in any park you want! So I pitted the 61Yanks against the 76Reds. The 61Yanks won a seven game series, 4 games to 2. They played two at old YS, three at Riverfront, and the sixth game clincher in the Bronx. And yes, Yogi played left in Cincy and did fine. He hit a home run to left-center at Riverfront. You KNOW he never did that at the old YS!

But... I also have to report that the 61Yanks then took on the 71Orioles. Even though the Orioles were not champs that year, they had the four-ace staff that year (4 twenty game winners), so I wanted to see if the Yanks would get 'killed', as Mr. James said in his article, comparing the 61Yanks pitching staff against others. And in this case, Mr. James' prediction came true. The Orioles prevailed in six games. But the clincher was a humdinger... TWENTY INNINGS! Both teams emptied their bullpens and benches, and Baltimore won 2-1! If the Yanks had won the game... I wonder what they would have done for game seven? For that matter, what would Earl Weaver have done? Anyway, congrats to Baltimore and Mr. James.

I must also say that I know why Mr. James simulates games and seasons tens of thousands of times... because random chance in a short series is just too great. But that is also true in real life. The Yankees of 1960-1964 won five pennants but 'only' two World Series. BUT... they took two of their losing efforts intto the final inning of game seven! Bill Maz broke a 9-9 tie in the ninth in 1960. And Bob Gibson, pitching on guts and fumes, held down the Yanks 7-5 in the ninth in 1964... the Yanks hit two homers IN the ninth, but Gibby hung in there and closed his own game... the 169th game of his season, and he was still his own closer! But point is, the Yanks were THIS close to taking four out of five. In a short series, anything can happen. In the 1978 Series, no one was surprised when Mr. October came up big. But Brian Friggin Doyle? Are you kidding me? Just kidding Brian... and eternal thanks for your help!

Not to beat my last point to death (but I guess I am about to)... I read Duke Snider's autobiography years ago... I've read his, Mick's and Willie's (Mick and Willie had at least two each). ANYWAY... the Duke said that during the Yankees' five year World Championship run of 1949-1953, the Brooklyn Dodgers won exactly TWO less games over the same five year period! He was talking regular season and post-season. Two games! Five years! Brooklyn, as good as they were, remain a vastly underrated team in baseball history... simply because of all those near misses.

Back to the Yanks and Reds (Whoa! Cold War baseball!)

To illustrate, I re-simulated the first game of the 61Yanks-76Reds three times. Each time, Whitey Ford started against Gary Nolan in the Bronx. The starting line-ups were identical (the computer subs players as appropriate). Guess what? The Yanks won 13-1... then they won 6-4... then the Reds shellacked Whitey 8-1! It happens!

I do believe the 61Yanks were a very good team. Perhaps they were not great. But I do believe they could play the 76Reds even up. The Orioles, with their pitching... I dunno... Bill, you may have me there... EXCEPT that the real 71Orioles lost to the real 71Pirates... I watched that Series, and the Orioles, with that great rotation lost in seven. The Pirates, with their lumber company, and the great Roberto having a great series, prevailed in seven.

Bill James does make some excellent points about the Yankee bench. It was bad. He also makes some excellent points about their defense... particularly their infield. It was very, very good. Boyer, Kubek, Richardson and Skowron were air-tight outstanding. They had Ellie behind the plate, one of the most underrated catchers in baseball history in my opinion. They used to say he never broke a finger behind the plate. He had an amazing year... in the run for the batting title , 20+ home runs... as I said, he'd have hit 30-40 in most parks... not just because of the shorter fences, but because Ellie would KNOW he could reach a 375 ft alley regularly, and adjust his game accordingly.

That brings me to the expansion thing. I know the Yanks beat up on watered-down pitching staffs. But so did every body else. Expansion also cost the Yanks Gil McDougald, among others. As Bill said, playing away from YS would've helped Gil. Playing in Riverfront as a super utility guy would work too. But Gil was not part of the team, so that point is kind of moot. But the expansion point is not. The Yanks were the class of the AL for five years, which Mr. James acknowledges. Yes, the Yanks' attack was one-sided. Yes, their bench was weak. But sometimes, if your one-side is dominant enough, it IS enough. Let's look at the 1961 Series. Yes, the Reds (ironic, ain't it) were not the greatest league champions ever. Yes, the yanks did not sweep. But yes, the Yanks played most of that series without their best player. Some idiot doctor gave the Mick a 'flu shot', which turned into an infection so bad it had to be lanced. The Mick was sick as a dog from September on, and was sub par and finally sidelined.

But if switch-hitter Mick, bad knees and all, astroturf and all, played 81 games that year at Riverfront? Oh, my goodness... by the time he had gotten sick in September, Maris would have been chasing the Mick, not the Babe... this I am sure of. Mickey being able to turn around righty and aim for that 375ft alley... even the 400 foot center field his knees would have to patrol. Listen, with those shorter fences, you don't have to CHASE those tweeners nearly as far, either. Like I said, if George Foster got caught checking his wallet in the old YS... that would get ugly. Old Yogi would have himself an inside the parker. And like I keep saying, and people tend to forget, deep RIGHT field at Yankee Stadium was deeper than most center fields today (including Riverfront). To hit a home run at YS, even as a lefty, quickness with the bat meant MUCH more than pure power... that's why I said that Joe Morgan would have done well... Ken Griffey, not so much.

I am going to play a few more 'simulated games' with these teams... the Yanks, the Reds, the Orioles, and perhaps some other newer teams. I want to see who wins. i also want to see who homers... bear in mind that there will be no weak pitching staffs to feast upon!

I do concede that players overall get better... bigger, faster, stronger as time goes on. That, I submit,would be the newer teams' consistent edge. I have no idea if the game simulators take that into account.

I know most of the fans sitting on bar stools in sports bars and taverns across America don't! Argue on!

The Babe and Jimi

I can't say with relative certainty who the greatest baseball player of all time is. And I can't say who the greatest guitar player of all time is. I have my opinions. You have yours. But I am certain of two things. I would love to wake up one day and feel what it would be like to hit a baseball the way George Herman Ruth did. And I would love to wake up the same day and feel what it would be like to play a guitar like James Marshall Hendrix did.

I'd like to play a whole game like the Babe did. Feel what it would be like to clear the roof with a home run at the old Polo Grounds in right field, or blast one over the center field bleachers at Navin Field in Detroit, and circle the bases while the fans roared, and Ty Cobb fumed. Or knock out three bombs in the World Series, like the Babe did to the St. Louis Cardinals - twice.

Then... after the game was over, and it were time to celebrate, I'd like to head to the nearest blues club with some of my teammates. I'd be invited to sit in with the band up on the small stage. There I'd like to pick up a guitar... a Fender Stratocaster... sling it over my triumphant, home run hitting shoulders, and tune up. Being a southpaw like both Babe and Jimi, I'd sling the Strat over my shoulders backwards... upside down... lefty! And I'd play a set with the band... Little Wing, Hey Joe, Voodoo Child (Slight Return), a fourteen-minute blistering rendition of Red House, and of course, Purple Haze. I'd also play some old blues standards... maybe some Muddy Waters stuff, or John Lee Hooker, or even some Leadbelly. And I'd play it just like James Marshall Hendrix. People in the club might stop what they're doing and stare. Some might say, "What the hell is he doing?" And others would say, "He knows exactly what he's doing... and so do I."

Mind you, I wouldn't want to come back as either of these two gentlemen. I'm not a hero worshipper-wannabe-wish-I-was. I'd just like to know what it would feel like... to make that baseball bat whip around... make that audible 'crrrackkk!' when bat met ball... feeling the tingle up my arms (like Moonlight Graham says)... and making everyone else on the field jerk their heads around because my 'crrrackkk!' of the bat was distinctly louder and more powerful sounding... even in batting practice. Everyone has heard stories of all activity stopping when the Babe, Teddy Ballgame or the Mick stepped in the batting cage. I wouldn't care if they stopped when I stepped in, because it's not the attention I would care about. But when that BP pitcher threw one in there, and I stepped into his offering ('crrrackkk!' )... and everyone jerked their heads around to follow the flight of the soaring baseball as it headed for the furthest reaches of the upper right field grandstand... and then turned to look to the batting cage to see who hit that bomb... that I wouldn't mind, even as i reset myself and once again bore down, awaiting the BP pitcher's next offering.

And later that evening, I wouldn't care, as I slung that Fender Stratocaster over my shoulders and began to jam... if there were only 17 people in that blues club... including bartender, waitress, and my six teammates who tagged along. I wouldn't even mind if they lacked a non-smoking section. But I'd love to be able to feel the fingers of my right hand running up and down the frets, dancing nimbly, powerfully, lightning quick at times, deliberately, agonizingly slow at others, bending the notes... my left hand picking and strumming away... my hands making the guitar cry and sing and talk and say whatever the hell I wanted to say... making the 17 people shake their heads... nod their heads, and maybe smile because they know what I'm trying to say.

One thing that music and sports have in common. The joy that often manifests itself does not occur on the performing stage, but rather, in the informal playing around... the batting practice... the impromptu jam session... the limitless exploration and re-discovery of why you love this thing in the first place. You swing freely. You laugh as you foul one off, knowing that another one is coming, and you'll crush it! You play the guitar, or the sax, or bang that piano, playing loose as a goose and free... taking eight bars wherever the hell you want it to go, and if you miss it... don't quite get there... screw it... you take another eight bars... and you know you're gonna nail them! And you laugh and relax, because you got all night to express yourself... to let those pals jamming with you know just what it is you're trying to say.

Know what I'm trying to say?

"Shoot! I'd play this game for nothing!" (Bronx Bomber Mac..)
"Shoot! I'd play this gig for nothing!" (Jammin' Bronx Mac...)

Know what I'm trying to say?