Mule Haas is the last player to hit an inside-the-park home run in the Fall Classic. And it was back in 1929. A timely blow, too. Assisted, I have to say, by Hack Wilson. The Chicago Cubs seemed to have Haas' Philadelphia Athletics right were they wanted them. It was game four, and Chicago looked liked they were about to square things!
Wilson had made two fine catches in game three, which the Cubbies won. Now, leading 8-0 after 6 1/2, it was looking grim for the home side. But a miracle happened.
Al Simmons got it all started with a home run off Charlie Root, who gave up Babe Ruth's called shot three years later. Four straight singles followed, making the score 8-3. Root got the next batter out, but there were runners on the corners. Max Bishop, who would start a winning rally for the Athletics in game five with a single, hit one here. The lead was officially cut in half, 8-4. Root was out of the game and Art Neft was in. Mule Haas to the plate.
He hit it to centre, scoring two runners as is. But Haas never stopped running. Second, third, home? Yes! He beat the throw to cut the lead to 8-7. Philly had some life, and still two more outs in them, bottom of the eighth. Inspired, the A's scored three more times for a 10-8 lead. And they showed Chicago how it's done by holding on for the win. Philadelphia was up three games to one.
Haas' heroics did not stop there. Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the ninth the next game, he tied it with a home run. A double by Bing Miller scored Al Simmons, making Philadelphia the last World Series champs of The Roaring Twenties.
On a team with the likes of Lefty Grove, Simmons and Jimmy Foxx, plus manager Connie Mack and moneyball player (The way it's looked at now) in Bishop, there just isn't room to think of Mule on that great Philly team. They won with the long ball, as in over-the-fence stuff. Yet, Philly fans of the time no doubt would have shuddered to think without a four-bagger of the shortest kind, what the outcome might have been in this unforgettable game.
References
Baseball Almanac, Inc. “Baseball Almanac: Baseball History, Baseball Records and Baseball Research. Baseball Almanac, Inc. Web. 16 May 2015, <http://www.baseball-almanac.com/>.
Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.
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.
Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.
Retrosheet. Web. 16 May. 2015. <www.retrosheet.org>
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 16 May. 2015.
Wilson had made two fine catches in game three, which the Cubbies won. Now, leading 8-0 after 6 1/2, it was looking grim for the home side. But a miracle happened.
Al Simmons got it all started with a home run off Charlie Root, who gave up Babe Ruth's called shot three years later. Four straight singles followed, making the score 8-3. Root got the next batter out, but there were runners on the corners. Max Bishop, who would start a winning rally for the Athletics in game five with a single, hit one here. The lead was officially cut in half, 8-4. Root was out of the game and Art Neft was in. Mule Haas to the plate.
He hit it to centre, scoring two runners as is. But Haas never stopped running. Second, third, home? Yes! He beat the throw to cut the lead to 8-7. Philly had some life, and still two more outs in them, bottom of the eighth. Inspired, the A's scored three more times for a 10-8 lead. And they showed Chicago how it's done by holding on for the win. Philadelphia was up three games to one.
Haas' heroics did not stop there. Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the ninth the next game, he tied it with a home run. A double by Bing Miller scored Al Simmons, making Philadelphia the last World Series champs of The Roaring Twenties.
On a team with the likes of Lefty Grove, Simmons and Jimmy Foxx, plus manager Connie Mack and moneyball player (The way it's looked at now) in Bishop, there just isn't room to think of Mule on that great Philly team. They won with the long ball, as in over-the-fence stuff. Yet, Philly fans of the time no doubt would have shuddered to think without a four-bagger of the shortest kind, what the outcome might have been in this unforgettable game.
References
Baseball Almanac, Inc. “Baseball Almanac: Baseball History, Baseball Records and Baseball Research. Baseball Almanac, Inc. Web. 16 May 2015, <http://www.baseball-almanac.com/>.
Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.
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.
Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.
Retrosheet. Web. 16 May. 2015. <www.retrosheet.org>
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 16 May. 2015.
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