Monday, April 7, 2014

World Series: Did You Know?

Game 5 of the 1908 World Series was the first that neither team made an error! It was Detroit against Chicago, and the Cubs would prevail in a gem of a pitcher's duel.

The fielding of Tinker to Evers to Chance didn't turn two in this game. But there was two double plays against Chicago, who had 10 hits and only 2 runs. But Detroit could not get a runner home. Which is a shame. For as you will see, the Tigers brought their gloves with them, not their bats!

The Cubs, the visitors in this game, got on the board first. Three straight singles scored a man. Actually, it was Frank Chance's single that scored Johnny Evers. They could do more than just field, right?

How about  the Tigers? They did have Ty Cobb, right? Cobb hit .368 in this Fall Classic, but didn't manage to get one here.

In the famous bottom of the first, Orval Overall did something that has never been accomplished before or since. The Cubbies' pitcher fanned four batters. But with two on and only one out, Orval fanned Cobb. Claude Rossman then fanned for out number three. However, Overall had put too much into this pitch, and catcher Johnny Kling couldn't keep the ball in front of him. So the wild pitch loaded the bases with two outs. The kind of situation that makes the World Series so much fun to watch. Germany Schaefer fanned to end the inning. What a start by Overall! 4 K's in the bottom of the first!

Bill Donovan, who got a rough greeting by Chicago in the top of the first, then settled down for the next three innings. 1-2-3 went Chicago.

The fourth inning was an interesting one. In the top of the frame, the Cubs got a walk, but it was erased when the runner, Harry Steinfeldt, was caught stealing. In the bottom of the inning, it was the Tigers that coaxed a walk from Overall. Germany Schaefer, the clown of his day, also tried for second on a stolen base attempt. He, too, was out.

The fifth inning involved a double by both teams. With one out in the top of the 5th, Kling walked and Overall bunted him to second. Another walk followed. Johnny Evers doubled Kling home. It was 2-0, Chicago.

In the bottom of the frame, Detroit got a single and a double to put the tying run at second with only one out. Overall got Charley O'Leary out on a fly. Sam Crawford then became Overall's 9th strikeout victim of the game. Orval must have looked like the Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson of his day.

Overall got Schaefer in the 6th for his 10th K, and he continued his mastery of the Tigers. Meanwhile, his teammates continued to get several glorious chances to put this one away.

In the top of the 7th inning, it was Orval helping out his own cause with a single. But then he hurt the cause when he was hit on a single by Jimmy Sheckard. The batter is out automatically under those circumstances. The Cubs continued on self-destruction mode in this inning when Donovan picked off Sheckard.

In the top of the 8th, it was Evers that started things out with a single. With one out, Chance singled. First and third with just one out. Steinfeldt fanned for the second out. As this was happening, Chance headed towards second on a delayed double steal. Boss Schmidt seemed to fall for it and gunned the ball to second. Schaefer, at second, got the ball. He noticed Evers going home. And Germany fired a perfect strike to home to nail Johnny. Even the clowns can make the big plays at World Series time. It was still a 2-0 game that could go either way.

I've been writing so much about Evers and Chance. Well what about Tinker? He was 0-3 going into the top of the 9th, but a single with just one out gave Chicago ten hits. Kling grounded to third, where Tiger third sacker Bill Coughlin picked it up and whipped it over to first. Claude Rossman caught the ball at first and Kling was out. Tinker tried to go to third and Rossman fired a strike to Coughlin. Tinker was out number three. Ten hits for the Cubs and just two runs.

Good thing Overall finished with a three-hit shutout. He retired the last twelve batters to face him. Orval even got the last five batters to ground out, meaning the fielders were fast at work. But it was a grand effort on both team's part, as some daring baserunning meant errors were inevitable. But at the end of the day, a "0" showed up under the "E" in the scorebooks. Baseball of this era was a game of singles and speed, with gloves still very primitive. Not everyone was serious (Schaefer come to mind?) about glovework, but this game is one I would have loved to see!

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