World Series: Did You Know?

The 1919 Cincinnati Reds used five starting pitchers to help proper them to victory. The Chicago White Sox, due to an injury to Red Faber (A future Hall-of-Famer), had to make due with two great starters and one average one.

So putting aside all this "Black Sox" talk, it's fair to say that Cincinnati had the edge in the World Series where it counted in 1919, on the hill. And while Dickie Kerr of Chicago was a surprise star in the Fall Classic, Red Faber (Who was only 11-9 with a 3.83 earned run average during the regular season) was needed.

Faber's loss meant that Chicago had to use other pitchers more than the White Sox would have wanted. Manager Kid Gleason knew a thing or two about pitching, having won 138 games on the hill himself back in his playing days, but now had to make a choice on who's arm would get some serious strain. There was an option with Grover Lowdermilk and Dickie Kerr, and obviously the manager went with the later. Lowdermilk had appeared in twenty games in '19, starting eleven. He was 5-5 with a 2.79 earned run average.

Kerr started seventeen games, and relived an additional twenty-two times. He finished 1919 13-7 with a 2.88 ERA.

So, things didn't get off on the right foot for the Chicago White Sox. Their starting pitcher, Eddie Cicotte, was routed. He lasted just 3 2/3 innings, surrendering six runs on seven hits. His relievers didn't stop Cincy, either. Roy Wilkinson gave up two more runs in just 3 1/3 innings. Lowdermilk gave up the ninth and final Reds' tally in the eighth.

Meanwhile, it was Cincinnati's pitcher Dutch Ruether that was masterful. He allowed just one run. The only Chicago player to really hurt him was Chick Gandil. Gandil, who was by so many accounts the mastermind behind this World Series fix, was the only White Sox player to pick up more than one hit.

Early on, though, the Cincinnati pitcher was having problems. The defence behind him could be good, but then it could also let him down.

In the top of the first, Eddie Collins was on with one out, but Chicago did not score. Collins was caught stealing, and then Buck Weaver was robbed of a hit on a fine catch by centre fielder Edd Roush.

The Cincinnati Reds had gotten good pitching from Dutch Ruether all season long. Ruether, in fact, had starred in a 6-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on opening day. The Cards managed just six hits off the Reds' starting pitcher, who even added a single of his own.

Well, here in October, the left-handed was trying to set the tone. His team, playing at home at Redland Field, wasted no time in getting ahead. They scored a run in the first, but left a man on and earlier committed a dumb baserunning mistake as Jake Daubert was caught stealing.

The run that Chicago scored was unearned. Larry Kopf made a bat throw to first in the second on a grounder. Joe Jackson made it all the way to second. And to third on a bunt. And home on a single to left by Chick Gandil. Gandil was then promptly thrown out by catcher Ivey Wingo on an attempted swipe of second base. Wingo was 2-2 on runners trying to steal. A walk to Swede Risberg was merely stranded. Still, it had been a bit of a rough start by the Reds' pitcher.

The lefty got helped out his battery mate in the fourth. Ivey Wingo put Cincinnati ahead for good with a single in the bottom of the fourth. It was a clutch hit, as there were two away. Dutch Ruether was the next batter. If Eddie Cicotte retired him, it would be a fairly tame inning. But the left-handed pitcher drove home Greasy Neale and Wingo with a triple! The Reds' battery were having themselves quite a game! Ruether scored on a Morrie Rath double.

Chick Gandil was also having himself quite a game. Though Cincinnati ended up scoring five times in the fourth, Gandil greeted Dutch Reuther with a single in the fifth. Swede Risberg, who was also in on the fix, gave it a ride to the gap in right, but the ball was caught. The Reds' lefty made sure Chicago didn't hit the ball out of the infield in the inning. The White Sox got two hits in the sixth, before Reuther got out of there.

Evidentially, a 6-1 deficit did not discourage Chicago. But what about Reuther's big stick. Big stick? Yeah, his bat! His single in the bottom of the sixth didn't do anything, but his triple in the eighth did. It scored the final run of the ballgame. Long after the Reds had disposed of Eddie Cicotte, it was their own hurler who stood alone in all facets of the game when the opening tilt ended.

“While the Reds were boring their way through Eddie [Cicotte]'s delivery,” wrote Jack Ryder in The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Walter Ruether was setting back the White Sox sluggers with regularity and precision.”

Dutch Ruether. Complete game, six-hitter. Three for three at the plate. You ask me, it appears the pitcher of Cincinnati beat Chicago, not the play of the Black Sox. Two hits by Chick Gandil, another by pinch hitter Fred McMullin. Joe Jackson scores the lone run. Buck Weaver, who's involvement in the scandal was minimal (Like Joe Jackson's), also came up with a hit. These guys weren't trying? Then neither were the rest of the team, who collected just two hits. Don't let what you know about 1919 take away from the Cincinnati pitcher's dominance!

"In five of the nine rounds Walter [Reuther] retired the side in order and they (Chicago) could never stage any sort of approach to a real attack," summed up Ryder in the same article.
 
So for second game, the Reds turned to Slim Sallee. Sallee had seen this Chicago team two years before, in the 1917 World Series. They'd given him a tough time. At this point, is it worth bringing up, the obvious question: Who was the Cincinnati ace?

Well, with five quality pitchers, it's hard to choose just one. Sallee was the only one to win twenty games. 21 wins against just 7 losses. Dutch Reuther had looked awesome in game one, and pretty much all year. Nineteen wins, 1.82 earned run average. Hod Eller, who'd be heard from later, also won nineteen games.

Should Sallee have started the opening tilt? His 2.06 ERA would justify that without a second guess. Two years earlier, Slim had won eighteen, lost just seven, and posted a 2.17 earned run average for the New York Giants. In the World Series that year, Sallee took a tough loss in the opening game, 2-1. The fifth contest, which Slim started, wasn't good. He allowed thirteen hits in just seven-and-a-third innings, taking another loss, this time 8-5.

So which version of the Reds' pitcher would show up? Like Reuther, he threw from the port side.

The White Sox pressed the attack from the get-go. They found Sallee much easier to hit than Reuther. A double play got him out of a one on, one out situation in the top of the first.

Shoeless Joe Jackson sure had himself a great game. Three hits, two of them doubles. But Sallee would strand him at third all three times the outfielder reached first. Lefty Williams, the Chicago starting pitcher, seemed to take a page out of Dutch Reuther's book in this contest. Not only was he pitching well, but Williams even collected a single in the top of the third.

Maybe Chick Gandil was to blame for this debacle. The White Sox didn't get a key hit all game long, while the Cincinnati fielders did the trick. At least, until the top of the seventh. Both Buck Weaver and Joe Jackson singled in the top of the fourth. With two on and nobody out, Happy Felsch got them both into scoring position with a bunt. There was no way a grounder would get Slim Sallee out of this. He wasn't about to walk the next batter, Chick Gandil. Gandil did hit a grounder, and Buck Weaver tried to score. First basemen Jake Daubert made a great effort to stop the ground ball, and then gunned out Weaver at the dish. The play caught Buck by such surprise, he didn't even bother to slide!

But the Reds battery failed to keep Gandil at first. It seems like Bill Rariden and Sallee weren't invested in Chick Gandil as they were Joe Jackson at third. Rariden perhaps wasn't the fielder that Ivey Wingo was, at least as far as holding runners on. Wingo had gunned out 66 baserunners trying to steal in 1919, good enough for fourth place in the National League. Rariden had 42 himself. The stolen base percentages off Wingo (.481) and Rariden (.461), were close, though. They'd split the catching duties.

Here though, Rariden just returned a pitch to Sallee. And...Gandil stole second. There was no way the battery wasn't wearing red faces. The Reds had to get out of this. Swede Risberg was up. And Jake Daubert did the third out honours by catching up to his pop fly.

The Reds broke the game open in their half of the fourth with timely hitting. With two on and just one out, Edd Roush singled to break the ice. Roush, though, took his turn as a Red-Faced-Red. He tried to steal second, only to a dead duck. While Cincinnati was going with a platoon in regards with catchers, as Ivey Wingo faced righties and Bill Rariden faced portsiders, it was different for the Pale Hose. The White Sox went with Ray Schalk for all eight contests (Well, sort of). Schalk could nail 'em trying thievery. Back in 1915, Ray led all American League catchers in caught stealing (53%). Schalk nailed Jake Daubert and Pat Duncan in the first contest, to keep pace with Ivey Wingo. 

But Pat Duncan then drew the third walk of the inning off Lefty Williams. Larry Koft came up with the biggest blow of the ballgame, driving home two with a three-bagger. 

Slim Sallee seemed to settle down after that, but it was time for his defence to shine. Buck Weaver doubled in the top of the sixth. He made it to third on a balk. With two away, Happy Felsch seemed to have driven him home on a well-hit ball to centre. That's where Edd Roush leather made a most-welcome appearance. As Jake Ryder saw it:

“...Roush turned instantly and his long stride carried him rapidly towards the boundary. He had judged the ball before it was twenty feet from the ground and he rushed backward at a full speed without turning again to mark its course. When he had reached the point where he had marked the fall, he swung around. But even then he had to jump to reach the sphere, so extended was the drive. He had barely checked his speed when he was forced to leap high in the air, but he came down with the ball firmly gripped. He was within a few feet of the centerfield wall when he made the catch and just missed colliding with the concrete as he staggered back with the ball in his glove.” 

Although Cincinnati added a seemingly meaningless run in the sixth, they'd need it. And Greasy Neale ended the inning by getting caught stealing. Don't run on Ray Schalk. The Reds' run proved to be big, and their catcher would soon regret trying to swipe second.

The White Sox scored two runs in the top of the seventh, to narrow this contest to 4-2. The runs came via two hits and an error. The poor fielding was a case of trying to do too much. One run would not have been so bad, but in trying to get Ray Schalk at second, all the home team did was give out two unearned runs.

Cincy tried to get it back. Edd Roush wanted to make Lefty Williams pay for his wildness. Another walk in the bottom of the eighth gave the Reds' centre fielder a plate appearance with one on and one out. He sent one to short centre, where Happy Felsch got payback on Roush. He made the catch. He doubled Heinie Groh off first. This left it all up to Slim Sallee to get it done in the ninth.

The pitcher had not helped with the bat, as Sallee was 0-3. The top of the ninth started badly. Chick Gandil greeted him with a single. Swede Risberg then hit into a double play, and suddenly Cincinnati was but one out away from a 2-0 lead in this 1919 World Series. Ray Schalk kept the game going with a single. Lefty Williams was next, but Fred McMullin hit for him. McMullin was looking to add to his pinch-hit single in the first contest. No one knows for sure his involvement in the scandal, as there have been no interviews uncovered of Fred. No one seems to know how much money he got, either.

But what we do know, is McMullin only batted twice, total, in the 1919 World Series. Slim Sallee got him to ground out, and Fred McMullin would watch the rest of this Fall Classic from the sidelines.

The Reds had collected just four hits, and knew they would need more to keep the ball rolling as they boarded a train to Chicago. But there, it seemed like Cincinnati had the edge for the third contest.

They trotted out Ray Fisher, 14-5, to try and make it a 3-0 series lead. Ray did well. That 2.17 earned run average in the regular season was about to be demonstrated.

Dickey Kerr might not have been the pitcher that Fisher was, but was determined to make a series out of this. The Reds had trouble hitting Lefty Williams the previous contest, collecting just four hits. It was worse in game three for Cincinnati.

After going down in order in the first, it was Pat Duncan with the game's first hit in the top of the second. But Pat, who'd have a fine World Series himself in 1919, was stranded. Chicago jumped on Ray Fisher in the bottom of the frame. Joe Jackson singled to start it. Bad fielding undid Fisher.

Happy Felsch tried to get Jackson into scoring position. By bunting it back to the mound, it looked like a force at second. But all Ray Fisher did was make a throwing miscue. Larry Koft was already on the second base bag, and perhaps a double play wouldn't be out of the question had the pitcher pegged it better. But the ball never got to second. It was too high. So it went a sailin' into centre field. When the dust had settled, Jackson was on third, and Felsch on second.

Two on for Chick Gandil. He'd had an RBI with a single in game one. Chick got two more here with a single to right, against a drawn-in infield. So it was 2-0, Chicago. But neither run was earned. The problem was, Ray Fisher was in bad situation. Gandil ended up on second on the throw home. Still nobody out. Swede Risberg initially tried to bunt, but then got on via ball four.

Ray Fisher faced Ray Schalk. The Chicago catcher did get the bunt down, but Gandil seemed to go at 3/4 speed. So the mastermind of the fix was not trying? Perhaps. Fisher to Heinie Groh covering third...Out! That was just the break the pitcher and his team needed, as Ray settled down and got two more force plays to keep the rally at just two tallies.

Fisher himself got a hit in the top of the third, and the tying run was on for the Reds. But it was Dickie Kerr's day. He stranded Fisher that inning. In the fourth, Heinie Groh opened with a walk, and a grounder moved him to second. Pat Duncan, who'd have a great series both at the dish and in left field, lined into a double play.

The White Sox added a run in the bottom of the frame as Risberg tripled and Ray Schalk got the bunt down. Schalk and his teammates had done the old squeeze play to perfection. But then Ray was caught stealing and Dickie Kerr grounded out. The run was earned, but Ray Fisher settled down.

The Reds kept trying to get into the contest, but it seemed like either Kerr or the White Sox infield kept turning 'em back. They got the leadoff man on in the fifth, but then no one could get it out of the infield. No one knew it at the time, but the Chicago White Sox's starter went into God-mode after that. Kerr finished the game having retired the last fifteen men.

Not that Fisher conceded anything. I was too hard on his catcher, too. While Bill Rariden might have had to take a backseat to his Chicago counterpart behind the plate here, the Reds' man behind the dish made it clear no one tries for second on him.

Come the bottom of the sixth, Joe Jackson singled. And was caught stealing. Happy Felsch followed with a walk. And was caught stealing. Ray Fisher took over from there, fanning Chick Gandil.

After a fine 1-2-3 seventh, where Chicago did not get it out of the infield, manager Pat Moran lifted his superb hurler in favour of a pinch hitter. Sherry Magee batted for the pitcher, but could only fly out to Shano Collins in right.

The final score was 3-0, White Sox. But, it wasn't as if the Cincinnati pitching was bat. Fisher lasted seven innings, allowing just one earned run and seven hits. But just one over the last three frames. Reliever Dolph Luque had himself a 1-2-3 inning in the eighth.

So, the home team had held sever through three games. But here is where Cincinnati had the big edge. They sent out Jimmy Ring for game four, whereas Chicago had to go back to Eddie Cicotte.

Ring seemed to have some control problems early. After a good first inning, the second frame started out on the wrong foot. No one could come up with Joe Jackson's short fly. And by the time someone got it back to the infield, the White Sox had a man at second. Happy Felsch then got Jackson to third with a bunt.

It appeared that Jimmy Ring righted the ship when he got Chick Gandil to get under one. Heinie Groh got under it. Two away. But then Swede Risberg walked.

Now, we've seen this before. Jackson ninety feet away, also a runner on first. Too much time spent worrying on Joe at third? I guess so. Risberg stole second on a bad pitch that catcher Ivey Wingo blocked from getting away from him. With Ray Schalk up and Eddie Cicotte due to bat behind him, the Reds decided it would be wise to put the catcher on. Cicotte almost made them pay. 

Cicotte, whose start in the opening tilt must have raised some eyebrows, made a good bit for a hit. Second basemen Morrie Rath had to do a bit of glove work to get to it, and get it over to Jake Daubert at first. Jimmy Ring had gotten out of this mess, barely.

Ring himself walked up to the plate with his battery mate Wingo on first in the next inning. However, Jimmy Ring was not much of a hitter (.097) in 1919, compared to his superb pitching (10-9, 2.26 earned run average). Ring went down swinging. Wingo decided to test his counterpart on Chicago. The White Sox catcher gunned out the Reds' catcher at second.

So in the bottom of the third, Chicago was at it again. This time, though, it was half the pitcher's fault, half Morrie Rath's.

Jimmy Ring got the first batter out, then hit Eddie Collins. Buck Weaver grounded to Jake Daubert at first for the second out, as Collins made it to second. Joe Jackson hit a grounder towards second basemen Morrie Rath, but the Reds' second basemen couldn't come up with it. Here we go again, runners on the corners.

Joe Jackson did not attempt to steal second. It took Ring just one pitch to correct this problem. Happy Felsch grounded out to third basemen Heinie Groh.

So Cincinnati waited until the fifth frame to make their move. With one away, it was Pat Duncan who got a good piece of it and sent it towards the mound. It was too hot to handle for the pitcher. Eddie Cicotte eventually came up with it, but his heave to first was wide. This got Duncan to second.

Larry Kopf followed with a single to left. Joe Jackson came up with it, only to see his pitcher screw up the peg. Eddie Cicotte deflected the ball out of catcher Ray Schalk's reach, and Pat Duncan crossed the dish. A double to left by Greasy Neale plated a second run.

So with a man on second, there was just one out. The Reds should have been thinking, "Hit the ball to the pitcher!" But Ivey Wingo hit it to second and was retired. Neale made it to third, so Jimmy Ring had another chance to help out the cause. Just like his battery mate, Ring was retired on a grounder to Eddie Collins, the second basemen.

The defence behind Jimmy Ring was mixed this afternoon. Heinie Groh made a two-base error in the fifth, which put Nemo Leibold in scoring position in scoring position. Ring again rose to the challenge. Eddie Collins grounded to Groh, who redeemed himself. Heinie saw that Nemo Leibold was trying to make it to third. Forgetting about Eddie Collins, Groh fired to second, and Leibold was a dead duck.  Buck Weaver grounded out.

How about some nice defence? Happy Felsch smashed one deep to left in the sixth, where Pat Duncan retreated just a few feet shy of the wall. That was two up, two down. Chick Gandil followed with a hit, so the inning continued. Swede Risberg hit it to right in foul territory. That's where Greasy Neale ran full pelt to grab it, before slamming into the wall. Neale held on.

Chicago got a nice play themselves when third basemen Buck Weaver robbed Pat Duncan of a hit in the seventh. It went into the books as just a 5-3 putout. The defence for the Pale Hose was very good this day, with the exception of the pitcher. This put the onus squarely on the visiting Cincinnati Reds to make the 2-0 lead stand up. Eddie Cicotte would finish the game without allowing another hit. The Reds would finish the game with five hits, total. 

As for Jimmy Ring, he found ways to make life a little of a walk on the wild side this game. In fact, he hit another batter, Ray Schalk to put a man on to start the last of the seventh. But again, Ring settled down. He got the next three men out. 

Come the top of the eighth, was the last chance for Cincinnati to get another run. Jimmy Ring was scheduled to bat second. In today's day and age, he would likely not have hit for himself, especially when Ivey Wingo got the inning off on the right foot. The Reds' catcher singled. Wingo really liked hitting against Eddie Cicotte!

The crowd saluted the Cincinnati pitcher, who stepped in. But really, Jimmy Ring was on a wing (Not Wingo) and a prayer. He grounded into a double play.

More good defense was on the way behind Jimmy, however. Buck Weaver started the eighth by lofting one behind Jake Daubert at first. It was too far in front of Greasy Neale. So it was up to Morrie Rath to race over and snare it. This stopped any potential uprising, although Happy Felsch got a meaningless two-out single. Ring, who'd fanned Joe Jackson earlier this inning for his first K, then got his second and Chick Gandil fanned.

The White Sox got one last batter on in the ninth, as Ray Schalk walked, but Jimmy Ring stranded him. It was an odd game for him. He'd allowed just three hits. However, Jimmy walked three men and hit two batters. Plus, Cincinnati had made two errors. So, ten men had reached base against the Reds in this big game four. Ring did good to make sure Chicago didn't score. The Cincinnati pitcher had impressed at least one Chicago scribe.

"Ring had the White Sox feeding out of his hands," wrote I.E. Sanborn of the Chicago Sunday Tribute, "As the two hits and a scratch [hit] credited to them demonstrates. He was not as steady as Cicotte, giving three base hits on balls and hitting two batsmen, while not a man of the visitors walked, but when he was rough going ring was there or thereabouts every time. 

As, too, did Hod Eller the next contest. Eller, making his first World Series appearance, went out of his way to ensure it was memorable.

But just as Jimmy Ring had experienced some trouble the previous game, so too did Hod Eller in the fifth contest. Nemo Leibold led off the Chicago half of the first by walking. Ironically, Lefty Williams had done the exact same thing by issuing a bases on balls to the fist batter of the game.

But the walk against Williams was all Cincinnati got. Chicago's Eddie Collins grounded out, but that moved Leibold into scoring position. Buck Weaver then singled, the first of two hits on the afternoon. Eller got Joe Jackson to pop out to third and Happy Felsch to fly out to left.

The White Sox would rue this missed opportunity. Hod Eller struck out the side in the second. And third.

Eller waved the big bat, too. His double in the top of the sixth was a good omen. Actually, the hit was somewhat gifted to the Reds' pitcher. The outfield had seen the centre fielder shifted towards right, leaving a bigger gap than normal between Joe Jackson in left and Happy Felsch in centre. Worse still for Chicago, Felsch made a bad throw to Swede Risberg after getting to the hit, enabling the Cincinnati pitcher to get to third. Felsch had himself a bad inning.

Morrie Rath singled home Eller. It was all the offence the Cincinnati pitcher would need. A bunt and a walk put runners on first and second. That's when Edd Roush send one to centre that Happy Felsch completely misplayed. It ended up being scored a triple, but it was clearly a bad play on Felsch's part. In any event, it seemed to Chicago that only one run should have scored. The throw came into catcher Ray Schalk in what the masked man felt was in time to get Heinie Groh. Schalk was so mad, he ended up getting ejected.

A fly to left followed off the bat of Pat Duncan. Joe Jackson made the catch for the second out. The throw home wasn't properly handled by new catcher Byrd Lynn. The play was scored a sacrifice fly.

A tough series of events for Chicago. In particular Lefty Williams, who pitched well outside this fatal sixth. His mound adversary, however, gave a performance in a big contest worthy of praise from both teams.

Eller had no problem with Chicago in the sixth, seventh and eighth, although Eddie Collins sure gave it a ride when the White Sox finally got a chance to bat again following that debacle. Collins also made a fine play on Greasy Neale grounder in the seventh. But in the eighth, the second basemen made a crucial error. Cincinnati took advantage of it, as they scored their fifth and final run off reliever Erskine Mayer. The Reds managed to do that without a hit.

Buck Weaver, having himself a fine game, launched a two-out triple in the ninth, but Hod Eller retired Joe Jackson on a grounder to end that. There was no celebration on the field or in the dugout. This was a best-of-nine affair, so Cincinnati needed one more win.

Heading home, the Reds turned to their game one winner to do it again. Dutch Reuther was looking to build on an amazing performance that got this whole show going. And for a while, his pitching and hitting overwhelmed Chicago again.

The stage appeared to be set for a quick a decisive win for the hometown boys. Though the Reds didn't score until the third inning, the pitching and defence of Cincinnati was clicking.

Happy Felsch had given one a rid into deep right in the second. But it was just a long, loud out. Cincinnati got two hits in the bottom of the first, but did not score. In the second inning, Swede Risberg (Who was in on the fix, as was Felsch), made the first of two errors on the afternoon, but Cincinnati did not score. This was a missed opportunity for Dutch Reuther. He came up with runners on a the corners and two away, but Dickie Kerr got him on a comebacker.

In the top of the third, the home team started to get all the breaks. Chicago had a man on second with two away for Eddie Collins, who lashed one to left. Pat Duncan somehow got to it.

Cincinnati showed Chicago how it's done in the bottom of the frame. Jake Daubert was on first, but there were two outs. Then Daubert was on second, having swiped the bag. Edd Roush was then hit by a pitch, and Pat Duncan hit a two-run double to break the ice.

After blanking the White Sox in the top of the fourth, Dutch Ruether picked up some lumber, and got an RBI. His one-out double scored Greasy Neale to make it 3-0. A grounder to short saw Swede Risberg at it again. Instead of getting the sure out at first, Swede tried to get Ruether at third. He got him, alright. On the back. Before any Chicago player could get to the projectile, the Cincinnati pitcher crossed home. 4-0.

Morrie Rath made it to second when all these shenanigans were transpiring. Then, he stole third. Jake Daubert flied out to Joe Jackson in left, but when Rath tried to tag up and cross home, he was DOA at the dish.

Chicago countered with a run of their own in the top of the fifth. A mix up at second saw the inning end via Dickie Kerr running into an occupied base. For this, the White Sox ran themselves out of the inning, and Edd Roush had his first of two double plays turned in this contest.

The Reds did not score again, alas. They still had a winnable lead. Pat Duncan even made it to third in bottom of the fifth on Happy Felsch's error. Happy was having his troubles in the field in games five and six. He was in on the fix, perhaps "earning" his pay.

In any event, it seems ironic that Happy played a part in getting rid of Dutch Reuther. Three straight hits by the White Sox is what happened to start the top of the sixth. Had Duncan scored the previous inning, it might not have been such a big deal. But now, Buck Weaver, Joe Jackson and Happy Felsch had made it a 4-3 ballgame. Felsch was the last batter a now totally-hittable Dutch Reuther would face.

Jimmy Ring came in, and retired the next two batters. But when Ray Schalk singled to score Happy Felsch, there went any chance of Dutch Reuther from picking up his second win of the 1919 World Series.

Both pitchers hung on until extras. The Reds hit Dickie Kerr well, finishing with eleven safeties. There was even a time in the eighth where it appeared Kerr might be finished after Larry Kopf lined one right at the Chicago hurler. The White Sox seemed to have the same problem the Reds did from innings six through nine: They just couldn't get that one key hit!

In the tenth, though, Chicago did. Two on, one out. It was Chick Gandil with a hit to centre, not getting all of it. Had Cincinnati played the infield back, they get a glove on the ball. Not that you could say they didn't have sharp defence this inning. With more runners on, Swede Risberg smashed a hard one. Much better struck than Gandil's. But this time, the infield was amazing. Larry Kopf snared the missle, and doubled Joe Jackson off second!

All for naught. The Reds went down in order against Dickie Kerr. A winnable game, eleven hits for Cincinnati, and three White Sox errors, but not enough clutch hits!

The nice things about this situation for Cincinnati is that game seven was at home again, so plenty of time to regroup. The problem was, Chicago would get the pitcher they'd had a lot of success with in the past, Slim Sallee.

I'm not sure this was a good move by the Reds' manager Pat Moran. The last two times out against the Chicago White Sox (Game five of the 1917 Fall Classic, the second contest of this World Series), Sallee had given up 23 hits in just 16 1/3 innings. Maybe Chicago wasn't trying, and maybe the White Sox had a questionable Eddie Cicotte going themselves, but this looked like a bad move.

It was quickly apparent it was Chicago's day. This was the third time in the 1919 World Series the Pale Hose would reach double digits in hits. But like the previous contest, their bats cooled off once Cincinnati brought in someone for mop-up.

Joe Jackson singled home a run in the first. Another in the third. Sallee got through the second inning without allowing a run, but his team seemingly hit the wall rather than the ball against Eddie Cicotte. Morrie Rath reached on an error in the first, but was stranded. Larry Koft singled in the second, only to then be caught stealing. Ivey Wingo walked for the first of three times the next frame, but was left at first when the third out occurred.

Slim Sallee got through the fourth without anyone scoring, but that was the last time it was really a game. Happy Felsch's two-run single in the fifth finished Sallee. To be fair, the Reds committed two errors that inning, so none of the runs were earned. Ray Fischer got Cincy out of that inning with no further scoring.

And from there, the bullpen of the Reds did the job. It was their starter that cost 'em.

Well, Cincinnati tried to get back in the contest. But it seemed like a futile effort for so long. Greasy Neale singled with one out in the fifth. Ivey Wingo (You guessed it) drew a bases on balls of Eddie Cicotte.

A most surprising cameo in this game then made an appearance. The very man who couldn't get the job done yesterday on the hill was sent up to bat. Yes, Dutch Reuther hit for Ray Fischer. A pitcher, pinch-hitter. Dutch was hitting .800 (4-5). Your manager Pat Moran. You got anyone better in mind?

Ruether popped up, however. Morrie Rath grounded out, the bat shattering on impact with the projectile. So much for a good scoring opportunity.

Cuban Dolf Luque took over on the mound. It would be nice if I could tell you his four shutout innings, one-hit ball weren't wasted, but they were. What a difference: Slim Sallee allows nine hits in four and a third innings, whereas Ray Fischer and Dolph Luque combined for four and two-third innings, one hit allowed! (Amazing, when you consider it was Cincinnati who committed four errors in this contest. Which begs the question, "What team was throwing it, again?")

Eddie Cicotte finished with a fine seven-hitter. The 4-1 win by the White Sox sent the World Series back to Chicago. It would be Hod Eller again.

Now, this looked better. Big shutout man against the man with two losses (Lefty Williams). And Cincinnati started better. They put up a four on in the top of the first to give Eller some runs to work with. Hod no doubt was a tad disappointed with himself. He left men on second and third by flying out to Happy Felsch in right. That was the third out, finally.

Hod had his troubles, though. Chicago wasted no time in getting to him. It looked like another hitting exhibition for the Pale Hose on this day. Nemo Leibold greeted him with a single to start the bottom of the first. Eddie Collins, who's bat had been warming up, stayed hot with a two-bagger.

So, it appeared that it could be early showers for Hod Eller. He settled down. Buck Weaver went down on strikes. Joe Jackson popped it up behind third. Larry Kopf, the Reds' shortstop, raced back for it, hauling it in on a fine play. For some reason, which has never to this day been explained, Nemo Leibold decided not to tag up, in a situation that clearly called for it. It still would have been 4-1, Cincinnati, but at least Chicago would have broke the shutout bid. It stayed 4-0 as Happy Felsch batted. Eller made him strikeout victim number two.

The Reds managed to survive another scare in the second as the White Sox got a walk and a single. Hod Eller ended the inning with his third K of the afternoon, Nemo Leibold the victim. Chicago was now desperate, as Edd Roush had made it 5-0 in the top of the inning with a double to centre, on which he got too aggressive. Roush was nailed trying to stretch a double into a triple.

Still, Chicago did not get on the board until Hod Eller gave up a solo home run to Joe Jackson in the third. But Cincinnati made it 6-1 in the fifth. And then in the sixth, turned to Hod Eller for more.

The Reds' pitcher had gotten Chicago 1-2-3 in the fourth and fifth, collecting two more strikeouts on the way. It was a most dominating performance, which proved his game five win was no fluke.

Now, if you are a pitcher, you are happy with a 6-1 lead, allowing just four hits and fanning five (In as many innings), but not Hod. His single in the top of the sixth led to three more runs. And it could have been more had Larry Koft not been picked off second base with the bases loaded. An odd way to end a big inning for Cincinnati. But now, with the score 9-1, it was just a matter of counting down the last few innings.

In the bottom of the inning, Chicago showed some fight. Buck Weaver led off with a single. Joe Jackson hit a deep drive, “...which was nearly as long as his homer...” in the words of Jack Ryder. Edd Roush, who'd been a star all throughout the 1919 World Series, got under it. Hod Eller was the big star of this game through six frames, though. He was doing it all. He got Felsch and Chick Gandil to fly out, and was working on a five-hitter by the time this contest concluded seven frames. With the lumber, Eller was 1-2 through six. Hod also had reached on base when reliever Bill James hit him with a pitch back in the forth. If you want to find a fault with the Cincinnati starter, you could bring up Hod was nailed at home trying to score on a single that inning. In the seventh, he fanned against Roy Wilkinson.

The Reds scored one last run in the eighth, and it looked like Cincinnati might get more. Bill Rariden singled home Edd Roush, and advanced two more runners into scoring position. So Hod Eller would bat with two on and two out. Alas, the pitcher grounded out.

It was in the bottom of the frame that Chicago woke up. But the thing is, it wasn't exactly Eller's fault the Pale Hose plated four runners. Two were Hod's fault. Eddie Collins singled with one out. Buck Weaver and Joe Jackson followed with two-baggers. However, that made it just 10-3. Happy Felsch was retired on a pop fly to first. So then Chick Gandil hit one to centre that the afternoon sun blocked Greasy Neale's vison. It ended up being a triple instead of an inng-ending fly. The normally sure-handed Edd Roush got in on the shenanigan's act by muffing up a fly that came his way off the bat of Swede Risberg. The White Sox had only three hits, yet four runs. Eller's day suddenly wasn't looking so good. Ray Schalk finally ended the inning by grounding out.

Roush redeemed himself in the ninth. Hod Eller hit pinch hitter Eddie Murphy to start the bottom of the frame. Eller didn't want Chicago getting any closer. Yet Nemo Leibold sent one to centre. It looked like a hit until the Reds' centre fielder made a diving grab of the projectile. Edd Roush had been doing it with the glove all series' long.

But he couldn't get anything on Eddie Collins hit to centre, which got Eddie Murphy to second. Two on, one out. Today, Hod Eller's day would be done. But in 1919, it was Eller or bust.

He got Buck Weaver, who'd finish the World Series with no RBIs, to fly out. Nemo Leibold tagged and made it to third. With Joe Jackson up, things were tough. Jackson was 2-4, having hit the ball well all day. Two runs scored, three RBIs, two balls smoked to the outfield. Had Leibold tagged up when he should have back in the first, who knows how that affects the outcome.

Jackson hit it on the ground where "[Morrie] Rath made a fine stop of his (Jackson's) wicked grounder...Which wound up the game after the Sox threatened to count a few more runs," wrote Ryder.

So Hod Eller had his second win, and Cincinnati had the World Championship, five games to three. It can certainly be said that, come the second time around, things weren't so easy for Cincinnati. Dutch Ruther and Hod Eller both were hit hard in games six and eight. Slim Sallee got rocked for ten hits in the second contest, and nine more in the seventh. Jimmy Ring ended up with an excellent start very good relief outing, for a 0.64 earned run average (Tops on both teams).

It is a bit of a shame, as Ray Fisher also had a great ERA, 1.17. A second start by either Ring or Fisher seemed more than warranted. Such was the depth on the Cincinnati pitching staff, that these two were held back a bit. Eller was actually the only Red to win two games, joining Dickie Kerr for tournament lead. The White Sox could have used that kind of pitching depth.



References

Cook, William A. The 1919 World Series: What Really Happened? Kindle ed., McFarland, 2001. 

Dunn, Jay. “Jay Dunn: A Look Back at the Infamous 1919 World Series Scandal.” Trentonian, MediaNews Group, 19 Aug. 2021, https://www.trentonian.com/2019/05/08/jay-dunn-a-look-back-at-the-infamous-1919-world-series-scandal/. 23 Mar. 2023.

Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005.

Fountain, Charles. Betrayal: The 1919 World Series and the Birth of Modern Baseball. OXFORD University Press, 2017. 

Morissey, Scott C. 114 World Series in 1 Book. Updated ed., Pandamonium Publishing House, 2020. 

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

--------------. The World Series: Complete Play-By-Play of Every Game, 1903-1989, St. Martin's Press, 1990.

Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Publications International, 1993. 


Ritter, Lawrence S. The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It. Harper Perennial, 2010. 


Ryder, Jack. “Chicago, Outclassed, Loses First Game 9-1.” The Cincinnati Enquirer, 2 Oct. 1919. (Reprinted in 1919 Cincinnati Reds, Sewell, J. Scott)


---------------. "Reds Defeat Kid Gleason's Second Ace 4-2." The Cincinnati Enquirer, 3 Oct. 1919. (Reprinted in 1919 Cincinnati Reds, Sewell, J. Scott)


---------------. "Reds End Series With Slaughter Of Sox Pitchers, Winning Baseball Classic, Five Games To Three." The Cincinnati Enquirer, 10 Oct. 1919. (Reprinted in 1919 Cincinnati Reds, Sewell, J. Scott)


Sanborn, I E. “Sox Humbled In Fourth Game, 2-0.” Chicago Sunday Tribute, 5 Oct. 1919. (Reprinted in 1919 Cincinnati Reds, Sewell, J. Scott)


Sewell, J. Scott. 1919 Cincinnati Reds. J. Scott Sewell, 2020. 


Shoeless Joe Jackson Virtual Hall of Fame, https://www.blackbetsy.com/. 23 Mar. 2023.


Snyder, John S. World Series!: Great Moments and Dubious Achievements. Chronicle Books, 1995.

Society for American Baseball Research, SABR, https://sabr.org/. 23 Mar. 2023.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. 23 Mar. 2023.

Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, https://en.wikipedia.org/. 23 Mar. 2023.

Not Quite 20: Jerry Reuss!

Jerry Reuss never won twenty games in any season pitched. But that didn't stop the lefty from putting up a terrific career, although there were times where Jerry was overshadowed. Being a portsider isn't easy on the Los Angeles Dodgers is never easy. You get unfair comparisons to Sandy Koufax, Johhny Podres, and even Fernando Valenzuela. Today, Reuss sort of pales in comparison to the great Clayton Kershaw.

Reuss, pitching on that famed 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers' team, just seemed to be that "other" guy. You had the rookie, Fernando Valenzuela. You had Bob Welch. You had Burt Hooton. You had Steve Howe. You even a kid, Dave Stewart, who'd pitch a no-hitter on the same day as Valenzuela nine years later. Jerry was a tall (6'5) portsider, but no one seemed to notice him.

Bob Welch was also on the team. He didn't throw a no-hitter nine years later, but he won 27 games in 1990. Jerry Reuss never won more than eighteen. Dave Stewart won twenty games four years in a row, 1987-1990. So Reuss gets lost in the mix.

But Jerry Reuss was a very good pitcher. Sometimes great. He started with St. Louis in 1969, but who was going to notice him on a team where Bob Gibson was clearly #1 on the staff. Steve Carlton was also there. So the new kid who was a lefty? Or the 17-game winner who was a lefty? Carlton, of course. Gibson won 20 that year. Nelson Briles, 15. Reuss only pitched once for St. Louis that year, but it was a good game. Seven innings, two hits and no runs allowed.

Steadily, he improved. Yet it seemed, when he'd finally arrived, Reuss would have a new home. It was not until he arrived in LA in 1979 that Jerry had truly found a home. But there would be a stop in Houston, too.

He was just 7-8 in 1970, but a fourteen game winner in his last season in St. Louis in 1971. But then, Reuss was on the move to Houston. He skidded back to just 9-13 his first year with the Astros, but improved to a career-best (To that point) sixteen wins in 1973. Alas, that was Jerry's last year in Houston.

But this time, Jerry Reuss seemed to have found a home. In Pittsburgh. Another 16 win season his first season there. An eighteen win season his second. Jerry dropped his earned run average to just 2.54 in 1975. The next season was his last big year with the Pirates. Jerry won fourteen games in 1976, but slipped back to just 10-13 and 3-2 in his final two years in Pittsburgh.

But he got a break. Los Angeles was looking for another pitcher to get them over the edge. The Dodgers had been close. They'd made it to the World Series three times in the 1970s: '74, '77 and '78. But they had nothing to show for their efforts. What they had was a solid rotation: Bob Welch, Tommy John, Rick Sutcliffe and Burt Hooton!

Now, in 1979, they traded for Jerry Reuss!

Reuss was only 7-14 for Los Angeles in '79, but his ERA was 3.54. Not bad. Rick Sutcliffe topped the team with seventeen wins. The rest of the staff did not quite live up to what they were supposed to be. But in 1980, they did. The team won 92 games that year, and Jerry Reuss had a lot to do with that.

Obviously, it wasn't just Reuss. Burt Hooton won fourteen games. Don Sutton won thirteen. Bob Welch, like Hooton, won fourteen. But the team's big winner in '80 was Jerry Reuss. Jerry went 18-6 with a 2.51 earned run average. One of Reuss' starts was a no-hitter. And Jerry finished second for the National League Cy Young Award. Yet the Dodgers somehow didn't make it to the postseason. What would it take to get them back there?

So, would the addition of Fernando Valenzuela put the LA Dodgers over the top in '81? The season itself was interrupted by a work stoppage. But Los Angeles had a staff to contend with.

Valenzuela won fourteen games as LA only played 110 games that season. ERA? 2.48. Burt Hooton had a 2.28 earned run average. Bob Welch was 9-5, but his ERA was just 3.44. Not bad for the fourth starter. But it was Jerry Reuss that made 'em, "The Big Four". Reuss won ten, lost only four and posted an ERA of just 2.30.

Steve Howe, Dave Stewart and another rookie, Alejando Pena, posted earned run averages of less than three out of the bullpen. The Los Angeles Dodgers edged both the Houston Astros (In the very first Division Series, created that year as compensation for the short schedule) and Montreal Expos 3-2 to make it to the Fall Classic. The New York Yankees, who'd beaten the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games in 1977 and '78 were waiting. This time, it was the Dodgers who won in six games.

It was a true team effort. Reuss, Hooton, Valenzuela and Howe shared the four wins, which came after New York had taken the first two contests of the World Series.

This wasn't the end for Jerry. He won eighteen games for the third time in his career in 1982, but LA did not return to the World Series. He had two more good seasons with the Dodgers, twice more having ERA's under two. But a slump in 1986 carried over to '87 and Reuss was on the move. A sore shoulder saw him get released twice, and a poor 4-10 record with a 5.97 earned run average with the Dodgers / Reds / Angels that year.

Was Jerry finally done? He was 38. He'd been in the bigs for eighteen long years. Well, he was through winning eighteen games, but Reuss won thirteen with the Chicago White Sox in 1988, his last good year, although he started 9-5 the next season. The White Sox traded him to the Milwaukee Brewers, but Jerry Reuss lost all four of his decisions, ended the 1989 season just 9-9 with an ERA over five. Still, he perservered, as always.

He signed with Houston in 1990, his fourth decade in the majors. However, after going down to the minors, a return to the bigs seemed unlikely. Though he pitched well for their "AA" team, Columbus (1-0, 1.66 ERA in ten appearances), their was a huge obstacle to making their big-league club. His stay at "AAA" Tuscson was real bad: An earned run average of 15.19 in five contests! So, the Astros cut him.

But then the Pittsburgh Pirates signed Jerry. But once again, he'd have to prove himself in the minors. Reuss was only 4-4 with a 3.52 ERA at Buffalo ("AA") but made it to the Pirates' roster in September. In four appearances (7 2/3 IP), Reuss kept his earned run average at 3.52.

Jerry decided to end his career on the mound right there. Well, Jerry Reuss had not quite won twenty games in one season. However, Reuss had won 220 in his four-decade career, and been a part of a memorable World Championship team.


Referecnes


Hirsch, Paul. “Jerry Reuss.” Society for American Baseball Research, SABR, 22 Apr. 2011, sabr.org/bioproj/person/61767eee. Web. 25 May, 2020.

“Jerry Reuss.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 8 May 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Reuss. Web. 25 May, 2020.

Morissey, Scott C. 114 World Series In 1 Book. Updated ed., Pandamonium Publishing House. Print.

Nemec, David, editor. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle. (Collector's Edition). Publications International, Ltd., 1993. Print.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. https://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 25 May, 2020.

Common Denominator: Don Larsen and Bob Turley

"Starting pitchers acquired by the New York Yankees from the Baltimore / St. Louis organization in the 1950s and pitched with a no-windup."

That would be Don Larsen and Bob Turley. Larsen passed away six days ago at the age of ninety. Turley had passed back in 2013.

About the same age (Larsen was born in 1929 and Turley the next year), it was the same story in St. Louis. Pitching for the woeful Browns, Turley was bombed out in his one appearance in 1951. Larsen got there in 1953, the team's last year in St. Louis, and went just 7-12 as a rookie. But Turley improved. Having spent all of 1952 in the minors, it worked! Although just 2-6 in '53, Bob's ERA was just 3.28.

The next season Turley posted a nearly .500 W%, 14-15. Larsen, though, was 3-21. It was their only season pitching for Baltimore. Off to The Big Apple!

The Yankees' best pitcher in 1955 was Whitey Ford. The 26-year old was 18-7 with a low ERA of just 2.63. But...The two new arrivals fit right in. And they were joined by Tommy Byrne, who had been reacquired by the Yankees from Washington. But before that, he'd once been a Brown, too!

But New York wasn't quite as good as they'd once been. That was due to some of their formidable pitchers either not being around, or no longer effective.

Back in 1949, the New York Yankees got a new manager, Casey Stengel. Casey was an instant hit in the Bronx. He kept 'em winning...winning...winning. It was the great Yankee pitching staff which distanced them from the rest of the American League.

Vic Raschi had won 21 games in 1949. Allie Reynolds was 17-6. Tommy Byrne, in his first tour of duty with New York, was 15-7. Then there was Ed Lopat, who was a better-than-it-looked 15-10. The Yankees had the league's top closer in Joe Page. He won thirteen games and saved 27 to go along with a 2.59 ERA. The rest of the bullpen was not very good however. And once Page lost some zip of the fastball, he wasn't the same.

The starting staff returned the next year to find another ace with them. Whitey Ford. In twenty games (twelve starts) Ford was 9-1. But no one was really able to get the job done in the bullpen. Page skidded to just 3-7 with thirteen saves and an ERA over five. Tom Ferrick was 8-4 and saved nine.

The Yankees kept winning. By the end of  the 1953 season, the team had five straight World Series. In 1954, they finished second to Cleveland despite 103 regular season wins. Only Lopat and Reynolds were still around. The Superchief had gotten hurt in a fluke accident when the team bus crashed when trying to park at an airport. It had hit an abutment that overhead in a lane meant for cars, not buses. His back was damaged, and it made it impossible to do conditioning. This made pitching a chore for him. He retired after '54 despite a 13-4 record that year.

Lopat was 12-4 that year, but like Reynolds, not the pitcher he once was. As it turns out, it was his last good season. Ed was just 4-8 the next season with New York and was traded to Baltimore before the year was over.

On the plus side of '55, Byrne went 16-5 with an ERA of 3.15. Turley had an ERA of just 3.06, winning seventeen games himself. However, Bob lost thirteen games somehow. Larsen matched Turley with a 3.06 ERA in just nineteen games pitched. However, Don was an impressive 9-2 in those outings.

There wasn't room for Bob or Don in the bullpen, and both could have used more outings, there. Ford pitched six times in relief, Turley two, Larsen six. So Don only started just thirteen games.

The bullpen was just fine the way it was, alas. Ex-Phillies pitcher Jim Konstanty was 7-2 with an ERA 2.32 and twelve saves. Tom Morgan was 7-3 with eleven saves of his own. Johhny Kucks was 8-7 but posted a fine 3.41 ERA. Bob Grim was 7-5, starting eleven games. Grim failed to match his twenty-win season of 1954. Tom Sturdivant rounded out the bullpen. Although only 1-3, his ERA was 3.16.

It seemed like, while neither Larsen or Turley were "The Pitcher" on the Yankees' loaded staff during their stay in New York, there were times when Don and Bob weren't seen as that far behind Whitey Ford in terms of value. Whitey had the finesse and the smarts, which gave him the edge. Casey Stengel would save him for "Big" games, so he always seemed to have plenty of rest. In the years to come, though, Turley and Larsen would achieve some amazing results. Sometimes their pitching stats weren't an overall indication of their effectiveness, either.

Don Larsen improved to 11-5 in '56, the year of his perfect game in the World Series. Turley was only 8-4 with an ERA over five. But both were clutch in the Fall Classic that year. It was sweet redemption as both lost their only start in the World Series in 1955. New York had lost the '55 series to Brooklyn in seven. A year later, it went seven again.

Larsen lost game two at Ebbets' Field, but came back with the perfect game in the fifth contest. Turley had a perfect 1.1 innings combined in relief appearances in the first and second contests. He'd fanned three batters. In game six, Bob looked to put the Dodgers away as the Yankees had a 3-2 series edge. Over his 9 2/3 innings pitcher, Brooklyn managed just four hits and one run. But Bob's mound opponent, Clem Labine, topped that: 10 IP, 7H, 0R, and a 1-0 win.

Neither pitcher appeared in game seven, because they weren't needed. Johhny Kuck had enjoyed his best season (18-9) and shutout the home team on a fine three-hitter in the finale. What a difference a year had made for Bob, Don and the New York Yankees!

Over the next two seasons, both Larsen and Turley contributed to New York. Bob was back with a 13-6 season in 1957, lowing his ERA to just 2.71. Whitey Ford was still #1, as he went 11-5 with a 2.57 ERA (But not enough IP to qualify for the Earned Run Average title). Kucks faltered, however, going just 8-10 despite a pretty good ERA of 3.56 ERA. It must have been tough for him. Look at all the other starters! Bobby Shantz was 11-5 like Ford, so two lefties were excellent, as his ERA was 2.45 in 173 innings. Tom Sturdivant led the team with sixteen wins. And Larsen? 10-4, but more great pitching in the World Series. The Yankees ultimately came up short against the Milwaukee Braves, though.

Turley struggled in his game three start in Milwaukee, but guess who picked him up? Bob went just 1 2/3 innings, before leaving. The Braves got three hits, a run and four walks off him. Don Larsen came in. Bases loaded! Two outs. Hank Aaron at the dish. Larsen got him to fly out to Hank Bauer in right.

Don got the next six batters out. In the last of the fifth, Johnny Logan singled off him. One out later, Aaron took Larsen out of the park. But even so, it was still 7-3 New York. They added five more runs for an easy win. The Braves did not score again.

Milwaukee won the next two games at home, sending it back to New York for game six. Turley did much better this time. He managed to win a close contest, 3-2, so the Yankees were in another game seven. Larsen started it, but the Braves knocked him out early. Lew Burdette went the distance and blanked New York 5-0.

The New York Yankees seemed to be a team determined to win it back in 1958. Turley went 21-7 with an ERA of just 2.97. Ford was Ford, 14-7, 2.01 ERA. Larsen contributed nine wins and a 3.07 ERA in just nineteen games pitched. Tom Sturdivant had gotten hurt and was just 3-6. No one else put good numbers, but what they did was enough. Duke Maas came over from Detroit and went 7-3. Another new face was veteran Virgil Trucks. Trucks came over from Kansas City and was 2-1, pitching out of the bullpen, collecting two saves.

As for the rest of the starters, they posted winning records. Bobby Shantz was 7-6 in 33 appearances, thirteen starts. Johhny Kucks was 8-8 in 34 games, fifteen starts. He added four saves. Art Ditmar was 9-8 with four saves and a 3.46 ERA. Some forgotten men also started games. Zack Monroe went 4-2 in just 21 games, six of which were starts. Trucks, remarkably, was not the only starter over 40. Sal Maglie and Murray Dickson were there. Maglie was 1-1 in just seven games but was purchases by the St. Louis Cardinals. Dickson was obtained from Kansas just before the end of August, and was named to the postseason roster.

But the biggest pitching newcomer was another former St. Louis Brown property. Ryne Duren. Duren had been the property of the Browns since 1949. And he was still on the club when they moved from St. Louis to Baltimore. Then he was traded to Kansas City for the 1957 season. New York got him in a deal involving Billy Martin before the year was over. Ryne had been just 0-3 with the Athletics with a 5.27 ERA. He was going nowhere, seemingly. New York assigned him to their "AA" club, Denver. Ryne found it. The rest of the year he went 13-2 with a 3.06 ERA. 1958, and Ryne was back in the bigs. All he did was 6-4 with nineteen saves and a 2.01 ERA. He'd found his niche as a closer. Suddenly Don Larsen and Bob Turley's (And the rest of the starting staff's) jobs had gotten a whole lot easier. Just keep 'em in the game, then watch as the big bats and / or Ryne Duren will take over from there.

In the Fall Classic that year, a rematch against Milwaukee, it was the Don Larsen, Bob Turley and Ryne Duren show. Whitey Ford lost game one in Milwaukee. Turley lost game two there. Back in New York, Larsen and Duren combined on a 4-0 shutout. Ford lost game four to Warren Spahn. But Bob Turley beat Lew Burdette in the third contest at home. Burdette had won all four of his postseason starts against New York prior to that. It was a big win no matter how you slice it. The Yankees rode that confidence through games six and seven in Milwaukee.

Duren entered the sixth contest in the last of the sixth and his team tied. 2-2. Yogi Berra had driven home Mickey Mantle with a sac fly in the top of the frame. The Yankees had then gotten men to second and third against Warren Spahn (Who was looking for his third win of the 1958 World Series) with two away, and pinch hit for pitcher Art Ditmar. Spahn fanned Jerry Lumpe. So the game was in the hands of Duren.

Four the next four innings, Ryne allowed Milwaukee just a hit and a walk and fanned seven. But New York could do nothing with Spahn through nine. In the tenth, they finally broke through!

Gil McDougald led off with a home run. Three singles then made it 4-2 for the visitors. Three more outs, and the series was tied at three. But Duren faltered. Red Schoendienst grounded out to second, the throw just getting him at first. But Johhny Logan drew the second walk of Duren. Eddie Mathews fanned for the eighth K by Ryne. However, for some reason Duren forgot about Logan as he pitched to Hank Aaron. Duren used a full windup on a pitch, enabling Logan to make it to second without a throw or even anyone covering. Aaron singled. 4-3. Joe Adcock got the third Brave hit off Duren, Aaron making it to third.

The tying run was ninety feet away. The World Series-winning run was at first. Duren was spent. Guess who came in? Bob Turley! Frank Torre batted for Del Crandall, the catcher. Turley got him to pop out to the outfield near second.

Game seven was Larsen's. Then Turley's. Ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the third, Larsen faltered. He'd been lucky to get out of the last of the first allowing just a single run. But Billy Bruton singled to start it. Aaron singled with one away. Turley was needed again. Wes Covington grounded out, both runners advancing a base. With first open and two down, Bob Turley walked the dangerous Eddie Mathews. Del Crandall grounded out to end that.

Turley thrived off that escape. The very next inning, he appeared to be ready to even help the cause with his bat. Elston Howard was on second and Tony Kubek was on first. There were two outs. Turley forced Kubek at second, however.

But pitching was Bob's forte. He faced just six batters the next two innings. Lew Burdette, the Braves' pitcher, was staying right with him. The Yankees held their 2-1 lead until Del Crandall blasted a game-tying home run in the bottom of the sixth. Neither team scored in the seventh, and New York appeared doomed again in the eighth. Gil McDougald flied out. Mickey Mantle fanned. Yogi Berra broke Burdette's spell with a double. Elston Howard cashed him in with a single. Andy Carey singled Howard to third. Then, Moose Skowron got the big hit. A three-run home run gave the Yankees a 6-2 lead.

Turley had no such difficulty in the bottom of the frame. The Braves were retired in order. The Yankees then looked for more offence off new pitcher Don McMahon in the top of the ninth. Gil McDougald singled with two outs. Mantle followed with a walk. But Berra couldn't repeat his heroics of the previous inning and grounded out.

Eddie Mathews then got the home team off on the right foot in the last of the ninth. He coaxed a walk off Turley. Crandall and Logan were retired on fly balls, and New York needed just one more out. Joe Adcock batted for McMahon and delivered a single to keep Milwaukee's hopes alive. But then Red Schoendienst flied out to Mickey Mantle in centre. Not a bad way for Turley to finish the 1958 Fall Classic: In the last three games he'd collected two wins and a save!

But Larsen had also gotten a win. Duren picked up a win and a save of his own. The former Browns' property had delivered in this World Series! It would never quite be the same for two of them, alas.

Turley was only 8-11 in 1959 due to a sore arm. While he finished the year still on New York's roster, there was no Fall Classic for him and his teammates. The Yankees finished just 79-75. Larsen fared little better, he was 6-7 with a 4.33 ERA. Something was really wrong with the Bronx Bombers that year. Injuries played a huge part. But their pitching staff wasn't good anymore. Look at those ERA's! Turley's was 4.32. Duke Maas' was 4.43 (Although he was 14-8). Eli Grba, who looked surprisingly like Ryne Duren, wasn't pitching like him. Eli was able to go just 2-5 with a 6.44 ERA. Jim Bronstad's was 5.22. Tom Sturdivant was 0-2, 4.97 and was traded. As, too, was Johnny Kucks, 0-1, 8.64 ERA.

Larsen was traded in the off-season. New York had enough bright spots they no longer needed him. Ralph Terry, in his second tour of duty with the Yankees, was 3-7. But his ERA was good: 3.39!

The bullpen of Bobby Shantz, Ryne Duren and Jim Coates wasn't going anywhere, either. Duren posted 14 saves, a 1.88 ERA despite a 3-6 record. But he ended up finishing the year on the disabled list. Coates was 6-1 with 2.87 ERA. Shantz was good, as always: 7-3, 2.38 ERA.

At this point, Whitey Ford and Art Ditmar were the aces of the Yankees. Ford was 16-10 with an ERA just over three. Ditmar was 13-9 with a 2.90 ERA. All of this made Larsen expendable.

Turley must have felt like he was a bit alone among strangers the next season. His record of 9-3 with a 3.27 ERA and five saves was even better than it would indicate. The team didn't lose much when he pitched. How's this for New York's record in Turley's appearances in 1960: 27-7! 20-4 in his starts!

After winning just one game in May (None in April), Bob went 4-0 with two saves in June. The team really wasn't playing that well. Just 18-15 when Turley got a no decision in a fine 6-4 win over Washington on May 29th. When Bob beat Kansas 5-2 on June 28th, New York was suddenly thirteen games over .500 (38-25). He'd turned 'em from competitive to dominating in the course of a month.

But September was probably Bob's best month. In August, Turley's ERA had climbed to 3.61, and he'd failed to win a game. The next month, Bob couldn't lose a game! He went 2-0 with two saves and a 1.72 ERA. Turley made sure the Yankees were right back where they belonged come October, the World Series.

Obviously, Bob wasn't the only reason for the turnaround in '60. Ford was again, still Ford. His numbers, too, were not an indication of his effectiveness. Although 12-9, Whitey posted an ERA of just 3.08. The Yankees were 19-10 in games started by him. And like Turley, Ford had a strong finish. His ERA climbed, though. It had been 2.79 at the end of August. And Whitey lost his first two September decisions to drop his record to 9-9 as late as the thirteenth. But then Ford went into the zone. Neither he nor Turley would a game the rest of the season. Or postseason. Whitey was 2-0 in the World Series with a pair of shutouts and Turley was 1-0.

The rest of the staff wasn't quite as good as the two, sadly. Okay, Art Ditmar was 15-9 and Jim Coates was 13-3. But neither were money pitchers like Whitey and Bobby. Ralph Terry still wasn't quite a big winner yet. He was able to go just 10-8 despite a credible 3.40 ERA. The bullpen though, was excellent, as it had been when Bob Turley and Don Larsen arrived.

Duke Maas, Johhny James and newcomer Luis Arroyo all went 5-1. Eli Grba started just nine games, but ended up pitching 24 games, going 6-4 with a 3.68 ERA. John Gabler was 3-3. Bill Stafford, a rookie and destined to be in the starting rotation the next two seasons, was 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA in eight starts, eleven appearances. Bobby Shantz, in his last season as a Yankee, was 5-4 but had a great ERA, 2.79.

The big let-down was Ryne Duren. He'd be traded early the next season. He ended up being the only bullpen regular to have a losing record (3-4). His ERA was nearly five (4.96). He basically lost his job as the fireman of the bullpen. Shantz saved a team-high eleven games, Arroyo seven in just 29 appearances. Duren had only eight saves in 42 appearances and Maas had four himself.

And in the World Series, managed Casey Stengel didn't use the right guys. Ditmar was beaten 6-4 in the opening game on the road against Pittsburgh. Turley won game two with amazing ease, 16-3. And two of those runs against him scored in the bottom of the ninth. Ford won game three with a complete-game 10-0 shutout at home. But neither he or Turley would start again until the Fall Classic went back to Pittsburgh. New York lost the next two games by scores of 3-2 and 5-2. Ford was back with a 12-0 shutout in game six. Another complete game...But why did Stengel leave him in when it was 6-0 after three and 8-0 after five-and-a-half? Ford should have been rested with an obvious game seven needed. Turley would start.

Alas, Bob could do it. Though he got the first two batters out in the bottom of the first, Bob Skinner induced a walk from Bob. Rocky Nelson got the crowd on it's feet by following with a two-run home run!

The Yankees went down 1-2-3 in the top of the first and second. But when Smoky Burgess singled to start the last of the second, Bob was off to the showers. The Pittsburgh Pirates added two more runs for a 4-0 lead.

Ultimately, New York lost the game 10-9. Whitey Ford and Ryne Duren were not used. That was a big reason they lost. Stengel was fired.

Ralph Houk took over in 1961 and the Yankees won it all. But with little contribution from Turley. Things got off to a promising start as he won his first two starts in April. But from there Bob was not effective. His sore arm returned. Despite a win in early May to up his record to 3-1, Turley was 0-4 the rest of the season. The injury kept him from pitching after July, as Bob made just a single September appearance. New York kept him around the next season, and they won it all again, but Bob must have been frustrated by not contributing more. Here, the team was better than ever and Turley was able to go just 3-3 with a 4.57 ERA. He'd been hurt for the '61 World Series, but the good news was Bob was named to the postseason roster in '62. He did not appear in the 1962 World Series, though. His old pal Don Larsen pitched, though.

Don had gotten around to the San Francisco Giants. In a must-win game four at Yankee Stadium, Don was the winning pitcher in relief for San Fran against his old team! It wasn't enough as Ralph Terry clinched it in game seven with a 1-0 shutout of the Giants. I guess the team really didn't need Bob and Don anymore.

But Larsen and Turley had won four World Series games each. Not bad! Bob's ERA was 3.19 and Larsen's was even better, 2.75. And that's not to overlook their contribution to New York in the regular season. Larsen was 45-26 (.652 W%) and Turley was 82-52 (.612 W%). So maybe not all their stats were up there with Whitey Ford and others on the Yankees during that time, both the former St. Louis pitchers found ways to contribute to the New York dynasty.

World Series: Did You Know?

The 1993 Toronto Blue Jays knocked out the Philadelphia Phillies starter in the seventh inning or earlier in five of the six games. Only in game five, a complete game gem by Curt Schilling, did the Jays not get to the Phillies' hill-taker. The Jays had hit .279 in the regular season, and were tough to set down.

Schilling actually took game the mound in game one, and Toronto went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the first. Good start. But then Joe Carter and John Olerud delivered back-to-back singles to get it going. Schilling then threw one in the dirt to Paul Molitor, and both runners were in scoring position. Philadelphia, up 2-0 at this point, was about to see their lead evaporate. Molitor got an infield single, 2-1. A fielder's choice by Tony Fernandez tied it.

Philly took leads of 3-2 and 4-3, but the Jays were not about to let the visitors win. Devon White's mammoth home run in the bottom of the fourth tied it. Olerud delivered a home run to put the home side up for good. Schilling was gone after just 6 1/3 innings and six earned runs. To be fair, Juan Guzman, the Toronto starter, did not fair much better, as he was gone after five. But the Jays would gladly take that trade-off, as they won the ballgame 8-5.

In game two, Philly sent Terry Mulholland, a left-hander. This seemed to work to the Phillies advantage. They got to Toronto starter Dave Stewart early, scoring five runs in the top of the fifth. That, however, proved to be the only offence Philadelphia got off Stewart, who settled down and left after six innings. Mulholland was not so lucky, as he was unable to finish the sixth inning.

Toronto's offence took a little bit to get going, but once it did, look out. Joe Carter's two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth got the Jays to within three runs, 5-2. Toronto kept coming at Terry. White hit a double the next inning with two down, and was stranded. But Fernandez hit a double of his own the next inning, again with two down. But this time, it scored Roberto Alomar, who'd kept the inning alive with a single before that. 5-3. Mulholland was gone after 5 2/3 innings, three (earned) runs and seven hits allowed. The good news for the Phillies is they went on to win, but could anyone stop the Toronto offence?

Not in game three at Veterans Stadium. It was Danny Jackson's turn to try. He'd beaten Toronto in game five of the 1985 ALCS with Kansas. Here, no such luck. Toronto had to bench John Olerud with Paul Molitor playing first and no DH, but it didn't matter. The Blue Jays scored three times before Philadelphia even got to bat, with two of them scoring on a Molitor triple. A home run from Paul in the top of the third made it 4-0. Then, Toronto loaded the bases. To his credit, Danny settled down and got out of that, and retired the Jays 1-2-3 in the next two innings. Philadelphia, however, was totally handcuffed by Pat Hentgen, the Toronto starter. He left after six innings himself, but had the game in the bag, up 5-1. Toronto went on to an easy 10-3 lead.

That wild game four? Well, Tommy Greene started for Philly, and Toronto again put up a "3" on the scoreboard before they could even pick up a bat. The Phillies actually seemed to thrive on Toronto's pitching for a while, scoring four times themselves in the bottom of the first off Todd Stottlemyre. Another two runs in the bottom of the second made it 6-3, and finished Todd. Toronto, however, put up a "4" of their own in the top of the third. Greene was out of there. 2 1/3, 7 earned runs. Toronto was later down 12-7 and 14-9, but rallied to win, 15-14.

Curt Schilling then went out and delivered for Philly in game five. Big time! Toronto managed just five hits and were shutout, 2-0. Guzman, too, improved from his game one performance. In trouble all night but showing a lot of pride, only one of the two runs the Phillies scored was earned. He left after seven, allowing just five hits himself. Danny Cox came in, walked two and fanned the side. What hurt Toronto was all those walks. Guzman walked six to give the Jays eight for the game. In eight innings. So it was back to the SkyDome for game six.

It was another rematch. This time Stewart and Mulholland. Stew picked up where he left off in game two. Mulholland did as well, with the Jays hitting him hard and often. Toronto scored three runs again in their first at-bats. Philly got a run off Stewart in the top of the fourth, but the Jays matched that. A solo home run from Paul Molitor in the fifth made it 5-1, and Mulholland was gone after that inning. Philly, however, showed tremendous fighting spirit, scoring five runs in the top of the seventh to knock Stewart out of the game. Philly, leading 6-5, lost the ballgame in the bottom of the ninth, when Joe Carter's dramatic three-run walk-off gave Toronto their second straight Fall Classic win!

It was hard to be a pitcher and face the Toronto Blue Jays of 1993. No lead was safe. The number nine hitter, Pat Borders, had nine home runs and 55 RBIs in only 138 games (Plus, he was always clutch in the postseason...And he was hitting in the last spot, go figure). Every hitter, with the exception of Tony Fernandez, seemed capable of hitting a long ball. With the lineup so stacked, you couldn't really pitch around any batter. Philly was in over their heads. And while Mitch Williams, who was the losing pitcher in games four and six, usually takes the rap, the truth is, he was always coming in facing the Jays on a night where no pitcher could stop them. Kind of like the situation which all pitchers in 2015 are in when their facing the Blue Jays and their big bats! Night in, night out. Asking the starter to go seven...Asking a lot!


References

1993 World Series. Performance by Len Cariou, Major League Baseball Productions, 1993. DVD.

Bingley, Phil, et al. Another World: the Toronto Stars Tribute To The’ 93 Blue Jays. Toronto Star for Doubleday Canada, 1993. Print.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 29 Sept. 2015.

Retrosheet. Web. 29 Sept. 2015.  www.retrosheet.org. 

Youtube. Web. 29 Sept. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com>