Babe Ruth made just a pinch-hitting appearance in the 1915 Fall Classic. He did not pitch to one batter. The Boston Red Sox won it all, anyways!
Ruth was actually still a rookie, despite five appearances in 1914. He hit .315 in 1915. His first home run, ironically enough, was hit on May 6th vs. the New York Yankees. For the record, it was Jack Warhop who gave it up. But Babe actually lost the game. I don't think that factored into the decision not to use him in October. Ruth hit his second off Warhop later that season and ended up with four home runs.
But how about on the mound? All The Babe did was go 18-8 with a 2.44 ERA. The win total was only good enough for ninth in the American League. But his winning percentage (.692) was fourth and his 6.9 hits allowed per nine inning was second. So he had arrived on the mound and at the plate.
Yet come October, it was Ernie Shore in action in game one against the Philadelphia Phillies. You have to remember, it was Ruth and Shore who "combined" on a no-hitter (And 27 straight outs from Shore, right?) two years later. Shore knew a thing or two about pitching.
On this day, though, it was Grover Cleveland Alexander going for Philly. He was bound to make Shore and the Red Sox look silly, right?
Just that. The Phillies were left to swim towards shore and find it rocky. They also found Shore's offering a little tough to get around on. However, the Great Grover was a little too strong. He won the game 3-1. Shore, though, gave up just five hits. It was Alexander who gave up eight.
Ruth got in their in the top of the ninth. The Red Sox had one out, and one out. The Babe batted for Shore, and probably would have pitched the bottom of the ninth. But Alexander got him to ground out. When Harry Hooper popped out to first, this thing was in the books. However, this proved to be Philly's only win of the 1915 Fall Classic.
Yep, The Babe had teammates. Pitchers!
Rube Foster spun a three-hitter to square things in game two. He evened it up with a 2-1 win. In game three, it was another pitching duel. Actually, it was another 2-1 Red Sox win. Alexander lost this one to Dutch Leonard. Dutch had lead the junior circut in ERA the previous year with an 0.96 mark. Old Pete could not overcome Dutch's three-hitter!
Shore came back to win game four, again 2-1. George Chalmers pitched well for Philadelphia, but it was not enough. The Red Sox, with three straight 2-1 wins, needed only one more victory.
They got it, but it was close again, 5-4. Rube Foster won his second game in this one. So Foster was 2-0, Leonard 1-0, and Shore 1-1. The Babe had some pretty stiff competition on the Red Sox staff that year. And despite his good numbers, there just wasn't room for him to pitch. And when their was, a legend in Pete got into his way.
World Series don't always start off the way you want them too. You can be Mickey Mantle, and only get into two games the first time because you tripped on a drain cover. You can be Rube Waddell and miss the entire Fall Classic because of a nervous break down. And The Babe had to pay his dues!
References
Golenbock, Peter. "Enter The Babe; Exit Tris." Red Sox Nation: An Unexpurgated History of the Boston Red Sox. Chicago, IL: Triumph Books, 2005. Print. pp. 45-46.
Montville, Leigh. "Chapter Four.: The Big Bam: The Life Andd Times Of Babe Ruth. Broadway, 2007. Print. pp. 52.
Retrosheet. Retrosheet. Web. 27 Jan. 2015. <www.retrosheet.org>.
Ruth was actually still a rookie, despite five appearances in 1914. He hit .315 in 1915. His first home run, ironically enough, was hit on May 6th vs. the New York Yankees. For the record, it was Jack Warhop who gave it up. But Babe actually lost the game. I don't think that factored into the decision not to use him in October. Ruth hit his second off Warhop later that season and ended up with four home runs.
But how about on the mound? All The Babe did was go 18-8 with a 2.44 ERA. The win total was only good enough for ninth in the American League. But his winning percentage (.692) was fourth and his 6.9 hits allowed per nine inning was second. So he had arrived on the mound and at the plate.
Yet come October, it was Ernie Shore in action in game one against the Philadelphia Phillies. You have to remember, it was Ruth and Shore who "combined" on a no-hitter (And 27 straight outs from Shore, right?) two years later. Shore knew a thing or two about pitching.
On this day, though, it was Grover Cleveland Alexander going for Philly. He was bound to make Shore and the Red Sox look silly, right?
Just that. The Phillies were left to swim towards shore and find it rocky. They also found Shore's offering a little tough to get around on. However, the Great Grover was a little too strong. He won the game 3-1. Shore, though, gave up just five hits. It was Alexander who gave up eight.
Ruth got in their in the top of the ninth. The Red Sox had one out, and one out. The Babe batted for Shore, and probably would have pitched the bottom of the ninth. But Alexander got him to ground out. When Harry Hooper popped out to first, this thing was in the books. However, this proved to be Philly's only win of the 1915 Fall Classic.
Yep, The Babe had teammates. Pitchers!
Rube Foster spun a three-hitter to square things in game two. He evened it up with a 2-1 win. In game three, it was another pitching duel. Actually, it was another 2-1 Red Sox win. Alexander lost this one to Dutch Leonard. Dutch had lead the junior circut in ERA the previous year with an 0.96 mark. Old Pete could not overcome Dutch's three-hitter!
Shore came back to win game four, again 2-1. George Chalmers pitched well for Philadelphia, but it was not enough. The Red Sox, with three straight 2-1 wins, needed only one more victory.
They got it, but it was close again, 5-4. Rube Foster won his second game in this one. So Foster was 2-0, Leonard 1-0, and Shore 1-1. The Babe had some pretty stiff competition on the Red Sox staff that year. And despite his good numbers, there just wasn't room for him to pitch. And when their was, a legend in Pete got into his way.
World Series don't always start off the way you want them too. You can be Mickey Mantle, and only get into two games the first time because you tripped on a drain cover. You can be Rube Waddell and miss the entire Fall Classic because of a nervous break down. And The Babe had to pay his dues!
References
Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
2005. Print.
Golenbock, Peter. "Enter The Babe; Exit Tris." Red Sox Nation: An Unexpurgated History of the Boston Red Sox. Chicago, IL: Triumph Books, 2005. Print. pp. 45-46.
Montville, Leigh. "Chapter Four.: The Big Bam: The Life Andd Times Of Babe Ruth. Broadway, 2007. Print. pp. 52.
Retrosheet. Retrosheet. Web. 27 Jan. 2015. <www.retrosheet.org>.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major
League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/.
Web. 27 Jan. 2015.
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