In the year of the adoption of the Brush rules governing sanctioned postseason play, only one such application and series took place—the 1905 Chicago City Series. All other such endeavors went without Commission auspices for the first four years. Meanwhile the Yankees, as they were now being known on occasion, kept challenging the Giants. In 1907 they seemed to finally make headway and on September 26 the New York Times actually announced that the two Manhattan teams were about to engage in such a series beginning after October 6. There was one caveat, however, and his name was John McGraw. If he didn’t want to do it, it wouldn’t be done. Apparently, he didn’t and no games were played and the idea was quietly dropped with no published reference.
The following year, however, things began to change. 1908 saw the Giants lose the pennant after the Merkle incident in the one game extra day make-up game against the Cubs. Immediately after this game, McGraw flatly stated that he was prepared to and wanted to meet the Cleveland Indians, who had lost an equally close race to the Detroit Tigers, in a playoff of second place teams. Managements of both teams seemed interested until it was pointed out that the Indians season ended three days earlier and the team had disbanded for the year. However, McGraw and Giants owner John Brush, who had fought so vigorously against a postseason championship series in 1904, were now clearly staunch advocates of such play.
In 1909, the Giants and Yankees had occasional talks, but the American Leaguers wanted a long-term deal and McGraw, at least, was unwilling to give it. Quietly, the Giants began talks with the Boston Red Sox for such a Series, and by late September, with both teams clearly headed for third place, a deal was made. However, on application to the Commission, it was pointed out that the Yankees had territorial rights and thus veto power over such a series. The Yankee management, not wanting to be the bad guys, agreed, but warned that they expected serious consideration for their demands for an all-New York series the following year and wanted a three year spring and autumn series. What they got was the fall deal that was to last 5 years, but then the Giants went out and won the pennant 1911-13 so that killed three of the series they wanted right there. At any rate, with a little fanfare about a local World Series, the Giants and the Red Sox met for a best of 7 event.
As noted, both teams had good seasons, albeit the Giants (92-61) were a disappointment having come so close the year before. The pitching of Christy Mathewson (25-6, 1.14) should have made the Giants favorites. The Red Sox (88-63), on the other hand, were an up and coming team and this was budding superstar Tris Speaker’s first full season. He did not disappoint—in fact by the end of this series, McGraw remarked that he was perhaps the best player in the game of baseball. In the long view this series can be taken for a replacement for the missing series of 1904 and a forerunner of the classic of 1912. Then again, maybe not.
GAME ONE--October 8
BOS AB R H PO A NY AB R H PO A
McConnell 2B 4 0 1 2 3 Doyle 2B 4 1 0 1 4
Lord 3B 4 1 1 1 1 Seymour CF 4 0 0 0 1
Speaker CF 4 1 3 5 1 McCormick LF 4 0 1 0 0
Stahl 1B 4 0 2 6 0 Murray RF 4 0 0 2 0
Carrigan C 4 0 0 4 1 Devlin 3B 4 1 1 2 0
Niles LF 4 0 2 1 0 Bridwell SS 2 1 1 2 5
French SS 3 0 0 2 3 Tenney 1B 3 1 1 5 1
Donohue PH(9) 1 0 0 0 0 Meyers C 3 0 1 11 1
Hooper RF 3 0 1 3 0 O’Hara-PR(7) 0 0 0 0 0
Wood P 3 0 0 0 0 Schlei C 0 0 0 4 0
Mathewson p 3 0 1 0 3
34 2 10 24 9
31 4 6 27 15
E—Bridwell, Meyers, Lord Carrigan, French, Wood
BOS 100 000 100 --- 2 10 4
NY 100 300 00x --- 4 6 1
2B-Lord, 3B- Meyers, Stahl HR-Speaker (1) RBI-Speaker, McCormick, Meyers.
SB-Lord, Speaker 2, Doyle 2, Niles, French, Devlin, Stahl. LOB-BOS 5, NY 5.
DP-Speaker and Carrigan.
Umpires—Rigger, Connolly
P H R ER BB SO
Wood (L, 0-1) 8 6 4 0 1 3
Mathewson (W, 1-0) 9 10 2 1 0 11
T- 1:45; A-4,573
The opener was in New York, on October 8—the same day as the World Series opened in Pittsburgh. The Sox sent rookie Joe Wood (11-7) to the hill against Matty before a disappointing crowd of 4573. Boston got off well when Harry Lord doubled, Speaker singled and they worked a double steal. The Giants tied it in the bottom of the first on an error, a steal by Doyle, and two grounders. Then Wood was undone in the fourth on a walk, a hit, and 3 errors, two by Lord and one by Wood himself. Speaker homered in the sixth and threw Chief Meyers out at the plate in the seventh but that was it. Matty scattered 10 hits in the 4-2 win.
Game 2 saw Ed Cicotte (13-5) oppose Hooks Wiltse (20-11). The Sox spotted the Giants a run in the first, but countered with a 5 run third featuring a 3 run double by Jake Stahl. The Sox won 9-5 as Cicotte hurled a nifty 15 hit complete game. Attendance was up to 6591, but still regarded as disappointing.
Game 3 was postponed by rain and this resulted in a scheduling problem after game 4. The series resumed on the 12th. The crowd was again smaller than hoped at 5862. The game was a beauty. Red Ames (15-10) faced Charley “Sea Lion” Hall (6-4). The Sox tallied in the first two innings with RBI by Speaker and Hall. By the 9th Boston lead 4-1 and seemed to have matters well in hand. However, 2 walks, an error by Stahl, a balk and Art Devlin’s one out single tied the game a 4. The hour was growing late and extra innings and probable calling of the game after one or two such frames seemed likely as the first two Sox went out before reliever Doc Crandall who had entered in the 8th. However, Speaker blasted one deep over the right fielder’s head and sped home before a play could be made —the first postseason walk-off homer.
GAME TWO—October 9
BOS AB R H PO A NY AB R H PO A
McConnell 2B 3 2 1 3 1 Doyle 2B 5 0 2 2 3
Lord 3B 5 2 2 3 0 Seymour CF 5 1 2 2 0
Speaker CF 4 3 3 0 0 McCormick LF 5 0 3 1 0
Stahl 1B 5 1 1 6 1 Murray RF 5 2 1 2 0
Donohue C 5 0 1 8 0 Devlin 3B 4 2 2 1 4
Niles LF 3 0 2 4 1 Bridwell SS 5 0 2 1 6
French SS 5 0 1 2 5 Tenney 1B 2 0 1 12 2
Thoney RF 4 0 1 1 0 Schlei C 5 0 2 5 2
Cicotte P 3 1 2 0 3 Wiltse P 1 0 0 1 0
Meyers PH(3) 1 0 0 0 0
37 9 14 27 11 Marquard P 1 0 0 0 1
Snodgrass PH(8) 1 0 0 0 0
Crandall P 0 0 0 0 1
40 5 15 27 19
E—Speaker 2, Cicotte
BOS 005 000 301 --- 9 14 3
NY 102 000 002 —-- 5 15 0
2B-Stahl, Doyle, Devlin, Niles. 3B- McCormick.
RBI-Speaker 2, Stahl 3, Donohue 2, French 2 ,McCormick, Bridwell, Tenney 2, Schlei.
SF-Niles, Tenney, SB- Speaker 3, Murray 2, Devlin. LOB-BOS 7, NY 11.
DP-Doyle, Tenney, Bridwell, Devlin, and Schlei; Devlin, Doyle and Tenney. WP_Marquard.
Umpires—Emslie and Egan
IP H R ER BB SO
Cicotte (W, 1-0) 9 15 5 5 3 4
Wiltse (L, 0-1) 3 5 5 5 2 1
Marquard 5 7 3 3 3 2
Crandall 1 2 1 1 0 2
T- 2:01; A-6,591
GAME THREE- --October 12
NY AB R H PO A BOS AB R H PO A
Doyle 2B 4 2 1 1 6 McConnell 2B 4 1 1 3 4
Seymour CF 4 0 0 0 0 Lord 3B 5 0 3 3 0
McCormick RF 3 1 1 2 0 Speaker CF 5 1 1 3 0
Murray LF 4 1 1 2 0 Stahl 1B 3 0 0 7 1
Devlin 3B 5 0 1 2 0 Carrigan C 4 0 0 4 1
Bridwell SS 5 0 1 2 4 Niles RF 4 1 1 1 0
Merkle 1B 4 0 1 9 0 French SS 4 2 1 1 2
Schlei C 1 0 1 8 3 Hooper LF 4 0 3 4 0
Ames P 3 0 0 0 1 Hall P 4 0 2 1 2
Meyers PH( 8) 1 0 0 0 0
Crandall P 0 0 0 0 0 37 5 12 27 10
34 4 7 26 14
E—Stahl, French, Merkle, Schlei, Ames
NY 001 000 003 --- 4 7 3
BOS 110 002 001 --- 5 12 2
HR-Speaker (2) RBI-Murray, Devlin, Speaker 2, Hooper, Hall . SF-Murray SH-Schlei
SB- French, Murray, Merkle, Doyle. LOB-BOS 8, NY 12. DP- Schlei and Bridwell
BK-Hall. HBP-by Hall 2 (McCormick and Schlei)
Umpires—Connolly and Rigler.
IP H R ER BB SO
Ames 7 10 4 2 2 6
Crandall (L,0-1) 1.2 2 1 1 0 2
Hall (W, 1-0) 9 7 4 3 5 5
T- 2:00; A-5,862
The Fourth game was a great pitching duel between Mathewson and rookie Ray Collins (4-3). The rookie won 2-0. The Sox scored in the first on a single by Speaker and Stahl’s triple. There things stayed until the 8th when—who else—Speaker singled in the final run. Collins scattered 4 hits in the shutout with 5240 on hand.
The Giants were ready to throw in the towel at this point and asked to have the rest of the series stay in Boston. It seems the rain had pushed the 5th game back to a Thursday and on Saturday the Polo Grounds was booked for a football game between Syracuse University and the Carlisle Indians. The Giants felt that time was needed to set the field up for football. The Commission balked at this change of the plan and ordered them to play in New York the next day.
It is hard to promote any game on under 24 hours notice, and with no media other than the papers who had already had published stories that there would be no more Giant home games. Rules are rules, however, so before a mob of 789 on a bitterly cold and drizzly day, the Sox took care of things although the local media and fans were not pleased by the Giants’ attitude or performance. Doc Crandall (6-4) went against another Bosox rookie, Larry Pape (2-0) But this was a ruse. Manager Fred Lake did not want to use a regular on a day like this, so he brought out the back of his staff. Speaker, singled in two runs in the first. When Pape gave up 3 hits in the second, after 2 in the first, Harry Wolter (4-4) was summoned despite there being a shutout in progress. He survived with a 2-1 lead albeit he walked the run, then departed the mound for good after the third inning—he spent his remaining five years in the majors as an outfielder. After Speaker knocked in another run in the third, Crandall tripled in 2 for his own cause to tie it at three after three. Bill Mathews, in his last Major League game, came in for 2 innings and Crandall drove home the go ahead run in the fifth on a force out. But, in the 6th Stahl singled, stole second and went to third when Doyle lost the ball. Bill Carrigan then tripled in the tying run and Harry Niles infield out broke the tie. Having taken the lead, at this point the Sox got serious and brought back Hall to pitch and he shut the Giants out on one hit in four innings. The win went to Mathews, his only win in a Major League game.
As this is being written 100 years later, it is still amazing to consider Speaker’s totals for the series. Hitting safely, and driving in at least one run, in every game, he went 12 for 20--.600—with 2 HRs, 1 3B, and 9 RBI. He had 6 SB in 8 attempts, and had 2 outfield assists and reports of several long running catches come through. His only flaws were two harmless errors in game 2. That and the fact that the all-time career leader in doubles did not have any this series. Having experienced this first hand, it is no wonder McGraw thought he was the best there was. Nothing like performing well in front of a New York audience.
GAME FOUR- --October 13
NY AB R H PO A BOS AB R H PO A
Doyle 2B 4 0 0 4 4 McConnell 2B 4 0 0 4 5
Seymour CF 4 0 0 0 0 Lord 3B 4 0 1 1 3
McCormick RF 4 0 0 0 0 Speaker CF 4 1 3 4 0
Murray LF 3 0 0 0 0 Stahl 1B 4 0 1 8 1
Devlin 3B 3 0 1 0 1 Donohue C 2 0 0 2 1
Bridwell SS 4 0 0 1 4 Niles RF 3 0 0 2 0
Tenney 1B 3 0 1 11 1 French SS 3 0 1 2 1
Meyers C 3 0 1 8 2 Hooper LF 2 0 2 2 0
Mathewson P 3 0 1 0 4 Collins P 3 1 0 2 0
31 0 4 24 16 29 2 8 27 11
E—Lord, Hooper, Murray
NY 000 000 000 --- 0 4 1
BOS 100 000 01x --- 2 8 2
3B-Stahl. RBI-Stahl, Speaker. SH-Hooper SB- Doyle, Speaker.
LOB-BOS 5, NY 6. DP- Lord, French, and Stahl; Bridwell, Tenney and Meyers.
Umpires—Egan and Emslie.
IP H R ER BB SO
Mathewson (L, 1-1) 8 8 2 2 1 7
Collins (W, 1-0) 9 4 0 0 2 2
T- 1:24; A-5,240.
GAME FIVE—October 14
BOS AB R H PO A NY AB R H PO A
McConnell 2B 4 2 2 6 0 Doyle 2B 5 0 1 4 3
Lord 3B 4 1 1 1 1 Seymour CF 1 0 0 0 0
Speaker CF 3 0 2 3 2 Herzog LF 3 0 0 2 0
Stahl 1B 4 1 2 9 0 McCormick LF 2 0 1 1 0
Carrigan C 3 1 1 3 1 Snodgrass CF 2 0 0 3 0
Niles LF 4 0 0 4 0 Murray RF 5 0 2 1 0
French SS 4 0 0 0 9 Devlin 3B 1 1 0 0 1
Hooper RF 3 0 1 0 0 Bridwell SS 4 1 1 1 4
Pape P 1 0 0 0 0 Merkle 1B 4 1 2 11 0
Wolter P 0 0 0 0 0 Schlei C 3 1 1 4 0
Mathews P 1 0 0 1 0 Crandall P 4 0 2 0 5
Hall P 1 0 0 0 2
34 4 10 27 13
32 5 9 27 15
E—Lord, Doyle, Schlei
BOS 201 002 000 --- 5 9 1
NY 012 010 000 --- 4 10 2
2B-Lord. 3B- Crandall, Speaker, Carrigan.
RBI-Speaker 3, Carrigan, Niles, Seymour, Crandall 3. SF-Speaker.
SB- McConnell, Stahl, Crandall (?). LOB-BOS 4 NY 9.
DP-Speaker, Lord, and Stahl.; Doyle (unassisted) BK-Pape
Umpires—Rigler, Connolly
IP H R ER BB SO
Pape 1.1 4 1 1 1 0
Wolter 1.2 3 2 2 2 1
Mathews (W, 1-0) 2 2 1 1 3 1
Hall (SV-1) 4 1 0 0 0 1
Crandall (l, 0-2) 9 9 5 4 1 3
T- 1:36; A-789
Back to series summaryPage Updated: 10/19/2009
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