Thursday, June 9, 2016

World Series: Did You Know?

Just one day after Rube Benton became the first left-handed pitcher to get a shutout, Ferdie Schupp became the second. The 1917 New York Giants lost the first two games of the Fall Classic that year to the Chicago White Sox, then went into "Lights Out" mode on the mound. The poor Sox didn't seem to have a chance in either games three or four. The Polo Grounds' gathering loved every minute of it!

After not pitching much for the Giants from 1913 to 1915 (Including a stint in '15 out of the bullpen), Schupp got some time as a starter in 1916. All he did was go 9-3 with an ERA of 0.90. How about a full season, then what?

Okay, so 1917 arrived, and Schupp was a regular starter. He won 21 games, posted a league-leading .750 W%, 1.95 ERA and allowed a National League low 6.7 hits against per nine innings. This guy looked like he had a promising career ahead of him. But what happened on the grand stage?

Schupp was brought down to earth by the White Sox in the second contest. He was pulled in the second inning after Chicago got four hits off him. He looked for some redemption in the fourth contest. It was a big one. New York trailed Chicago 2-1, and another loss would mean the White Sox could clinch in the fifth game at home. All the pressure in the world was on young Schupp to keep his team in the hunt.

Not having been charged with the loss (Although New York was beaten 7-2, no less) the lefty would have to do more than that this time. He pretty much had be the winning pitcher.

The White Sox got a hit in the top of the first by Fred McMullin. But the three other batters failed to get the ball out of the infield. Shoeless Joe Jackson made the last out by grounding out to second. The Sox went 1-2-3 in the second, again, failing to get the ball out of the infield. Schupp was doing his job. How about the Giants' hitters?

Benny Kauff hit an inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the bottom of the fourth. 1-0!

Chick Gandil singled to start the fifth inning for Chicago. Buck Weaver hit into a double play. Another single by Ray Schalk brought pitcher Red Faber to the dish. It was the early days of baseball, and a pinch hitter here would have seemed odd. And a little early. But Faber was retired on a grounder, and the inning was over. Faber the pitcher went back to the hill to keep Chicago close, but to no avail.

New York made it 2-0 in the bottom of the frame on three straight singles (Two of them on bunts), a double play, and another single. That was by Schupp himself. Could Ferdie hold the fort?

Shano Collins got it going for Chicago with a single to start the top of the sixth. But McMullin fanned. Collins was dead on the basepaths on an attempted theft, but the infield let Ferdie Schupp down. No matter. The other Collins, Eddie, flew out. Jackson grounded out. The White Sox really needed a run here.

New York scored for the third time as Bill Rariden singled in the last of the seventh. Faber was pinch hit for in the top of the eighth. In the bottom of the frame, the Giants scored the final two runs of the game on a two-run home run by Kauff. That made it 5-0.

The White Sox got Eddie Collins to second on a walk and an steal in the top of the ninth. There was only one out. But Happy Felsch and Chick Gandil were retired by Schupp, who got the shutout! Some gutsy pitching complete the fine seven-hitter.

The White Sox went home, winning game five in the rout, 7-2. Despite a return to the Polo Grounds, it was the visitors who triumphed, 4-2. Rube Benton couldn't do the job this time. Schupp didn't pitch again in the 1917 World Series.

Ferdie, as it turns out, never got a chance at an encore. His career, which had shown so much promise in 1916 and '17, seemed to fizzle in the coming years. A sore arm the next season shelved him for much of the season. He had only one more good season, 1920 (Where he won 20 games). Two seasons later, he pitched in the bigs for the last time. But Schupp will always be the second lefty to go nine scoreless in the Fall Classic.


References

Frommer, Harvey. Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball. Dallas, TX: Taylor Pub., 1992. Print, pp 77-79

Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.

Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series: Complete Play-by-play of Every Game, 1903-1989. 4th ed. New York: St. Martin's, 1990. 66-70. Print.

Sports Reference LLC. " Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 09 June. 2016.

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