John McGraw was the first manager to appear in the Fall Classic in the 1900s, 1910s, and 1920s. He was quite a manager, and the New York Giants continued appearances in the World Series reflected this.
McGraw, who still played occasionally until 1907, saw his Giants in the Fall Classic in 1905. Actually, why weren't they there in 1904? Wasn't the first World Series played the year before? Let me explain.
McGraw, who piloted his team to the National League pennant in '04, didn't like the president of the American League, Ban Johnson. And New York's owner didn't want a Fall Classic between his Giants and the cross-town Highlanders of the American League. As it turns out, New York ended up beaten for the AL Flag by the Boston Americans, who'd won the original October Classic the year before. Alas, McGraw and company stuck to their guns: No World Series!
A change in heart perhaps the next season? Not quite. The owners in both leagues had decided that what happened in 1903 was better for everyone than what happened the next season. A World Series would be played at the end of every season.
So McGraw and his Giants took on the Philadelphia Athletics in the second edition of the Fall Classic. Christy Mathewson pitched three shutouts for his boss, John McGraw. The other big gun, Joe McGinnity, was awesome on the hill, too. He was beaten by the A's Chief Bender in the second contest, but won game four, 1-0. It was over in just five games.
McGraw had won, essentially, with just two pitchers. Although Philly touched home three times in the second game, all of the runs they scored were unearned. And the Athletics didn't score any other runs in the Fall Classic. The Giants' team ERA of 0.00 will never be beaten, of course. Red Ames, a 22-game winner for New York that year, got into just one Fall Classic game despite his excellent record.
The A's waited six years for a rematch, and this time McGraw's boys came away second best. It went six games, but it was Philadelphia that won. The Giants nearly pulled it off a year later. They lost in walk-off style against the Boston Red Sox in the eight game (Boston and New York played a tie). McGraw would make it back in 1911, but the A's needed just five game to take it away from the Giants this time.
But then in 1921, with the New York Giants back in the Fall Classic, a new challenger appeared for McGraw. The Highlanders had changed their name to the New York Yankees in 1913, and broke through with their first pennant eight years later. And they had some chap named Babe Ruth on the team.
Ruth was hurt in the series, and was able to make it into only six of the eight games (It was a best-of-nine format). The Bambino served notice that he would do any and all things to help his team beat their National League counterparts: He hit .313, clubbed a home run, drove in four, scored three. On the basepaths, he swiped second and third in succession at one point. Ruth even tied teammate Wally Schang in most walks in that Fall Classic with five.
However, despite falling behind 2-0 and 3-2 in the tournament, John McGraw wasn't about to be denied. Once again, it was his pitching staff that made the difference. Granted, they weren't as dominating as they'd been sixteen years earlier, but it was good enough.
Jesse Barnes pitched three games, won two contest and posted an ERA of 1.65. Phil Douglas also won two games and posted an ERA of 2.08. A man who would be excellent for McGraw his entire career in the Fall Classic, Art Neft, was the tough-luck pitcher on the staff. Despite his 1.38 ERA in the World Series, Neft could go only 1-2 (But his win was a shutout).
McGraw's great pitching was confined to just his starting staff. Indeed, John McGraw was one of the first managers to utilize a bullpen. His 1905 team featured Hooks Wiltse. Although 15-6 that year and starting nineteen times, McGraw would use him to finish games, too. By the time the season was over that year, Hooks had finished twelve games and collected three saves. The NL leader in saves that season was another Giant, Claude Elliott. Wiltse would go on to 139 wins and 33 saves.
By the 1920s, little had changed in McGraw's approach to the bullpen. His starting staff in 1921 was very good, but his bullpen was even better. Rosy Ryan was only 7-10 but posted a respectable 3.73 ERA and finished nineteen games. Slim Sallee, who'd carved out a fine career as a starter (And had previously been a Giant from 1916 to 1918), found himself in the bullpen, exclusively, in '21. This is someone who'd helped the Cincinnati Reds win it all in 1919. McGraw, however, had been wise enough to recognize Sallee's talents out of the 'pen. He'd the lead the National League in saves three times (1912, 1914 and 1917) so the change was a wise one. Sure, Slim struggled a bit with a 3.64 ERA, but topped all senior circuit relievers with six wins. Sallee finished nineteen games himself.
The rest of the relief corps was pretty good, too. Another former Cincinnati pitcher, Rube Benton, went 5-2 in eighteen games (Nine in relief). Rube posted a 2.88 ERA. Red Shea only appeared in nine games, total. Despite only starting two games, Red went 5-2 himself in 1921. Other pitchers like Red Causey, Pol Perritt, Claude Jonnard and Walter Zink, didn't see much action but were effective when called upon.
The New York Giants repeated in 1922, needed just five games (One a tie) to sweep the Yankees this time around. Ruth hit just .118. The Giants' pitching staff posted a World Series ERA of just 1.76.
Their bid for a three-peat fell a little short in 1923, as the Yankees got their revenge in six games. Still, the Giants' bullpen held the Yankees in check in the first two games and Art Neft pitched a shutout in the third contest. The Yankees' bats came alive in the fourth game, however, and they outscored McGraw's team 22-9 the rest of the way.
But the Giants made it all the way back in 1924, losing narrowly to the Washington Senators in seven games. New York beat Walter Johnson in both of "The Big Train's" starts. It ended up being John McGraw's last World Series.
The Little Napolean, as he was known, had left quite a legacy. One of his star players was Casey Stengel, who'd go on to manage the Yankees from 1949 to 1960, winning ten pennants in twelve years. McGraw had ten pennants himself, and 2763 regular season wins to his name. The Giants returned to the World Series in 1933, winning it in just five games over the Washington Senators. They would stay competitive for the rest of the decade, appearing in two more Fall Classics.
But no Giant manager (And few skippers, period) could match John McGraw.
References
Anderson, Dave. Pennant Races: Baseball At Its Best. New York: Doubleday, 1994. Print.
Baseball: A Film By Ken Burns. Prod. Ken Burns. PBS. 1994. Television Mini-Series.
Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.
Golenbock, Peter. Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964. Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary Books, 2000. Print.
Montville, Leigh. The Big Bam: The Life Andd Times Of Babe Ruth. Broadway, 2007. 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.
Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series: Complete Play-By-Play oO Every Game, 1903-1989. 4th ed. New York: St. Martin's, 1990. Print.
Nemec, David. The Baseball Chronicle: Year-By-Year History Of Major League Baseball. Publications International, Ltd., 2008. Print.
Society For American Baseball Research, SABR, <sabr.org/>. Web. 20 July. 2019.
Seaver, Tom, and Martin Appel. Great Moments in Baseball. New York, NY: Carol Pub. Group, 1992. Print.
“Society For American Baseball Research: Society for American Baseball Research.” Society For American Baseball Research | Society for American Baseball Research, SABR, sabr.org/.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 20 July. 2019.
Thorn, John, and Pete Palmer. Total Baseball. Vers. 1994. Portland, OR: Creative Multimedia Corp., 1994. Computer software. CD-ROM.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 20 July. 2019. <https://en.wikipedia.org>.
McGraw, who still played occasionally until 1907, saw his Giants in the Fall Classic in 1905. Actually, why weren't they there in 1904? Wasn't the first World Series played the year before? Let me explain.
McGraw, who piloted his team to the National League pennant in '04, didn't like the president of the American League, Ban Johnson. And New York's owner didn't want a Fall Classic between his Giants and the cross-town Highlanders of the American League. As it turns out, New York ended up beaten for the AL Flag by the Boston Americans, who'd won the original October Classic the year before. Alas, McGraw and company stuck to their guns: No World Series!
A change in heart perhaps the next season? Not quite. The owners in both leagues had decided that what happened in 1903 was better for everyone than what happened the next season. A World Series would be played at the end of every season.
So McGraw and his Giants took on the Philadelphia Athletics in the second edition of the Fall Classic. Christy Mathewson pitched three shutouts for his boss, John McGraw. The other big gun, Joe McGinnity, was awesome on the hill, too. He was beaten by the A's Chief Bender in the second contest, but won game four, 1-0. It was over in just five games.
McGraw had won, essentially, with just two pitchers. Although Philly touched home three times in the second game, all of the runs they scored were unearned. And the Athletics didn't score any other runs in the Fall Classic. The Giants' team ERA of 0.00 will never be beaten, of course. Red Ames, a 22-game winner for New York that year, got into just one Fall Classic game despite his excellent record.
The A's waited six years for a rematch, and this time McGraw's boys came away second best. It went six games, but it was Philadelphia that won. The Giants nearly pulled it off a year later. They lost in walk-off style against the Boston Red Sox in the eight game (Boston and New York played a tie). McGraw would make it back in 1911, but the A's needed just five game to take it away from the Giants this time.
But then in 1921, with the New York Giants back in the Fall Classic, a new challenger appeared for McGraw. The Highlanders had changed their name to the New York Yankees in 1913, and broke through with their first pennant eight years later. And they had some chap named Babe Ruth on the team.
Ruth was hurt in the series, and was able to make it into only six of the eight games (It was a best-of-nine format). The Bambino served notice that he would do any and all things to help his team beat their National League counterparts: He hit .313, clubbed a home run, drove in four, scored three. On the basepaths, he swiped second and third in succession at one point. Ruth even tied teammate Wally Schang in most walks in that Fall Classic with five.
However, despite falling behind 2-0 and 3-2 in the tournament, John McGraw wasn't about to be denied. Once again, it was his pitching staff that made the difference. Granted, they weren't as dominating as they'd been sixteen years earlier, but it was good enough.
Jesse Barnes pitched three games, won two contest and posted an ERA of 1.65. Phil Douglas also won two games and posted an ERA of 2.08. A man who would be excellent for McGraw his entire career in the Fall Classic, Art Neft, was the tough-luck pitcher on the staff. Despite his 1.38 ERA in the World Series, Neft could go only 1-2 (But his win was a shutout).
McGraw's great pitching was confined to just his starting staff. Indeed, John McGraw was one of the first managers to utilize a bullpen. His 1905 team featured Hooks Wiltse. Although 15-6 that year and starting nineteen times, McGraw would use him to finish games, too. By the time the season was over that year, Hooks had finished twelve games and collected three saves. The NL leader in saves that season was another Giant, Claude Elliott. Wiltse would go on to 139 wins and 33 saves.
By the 1920s, little had changed in McGraw's approach to the bullpen. His starting staff in 1921 was very good, but his bullpen was even better. Rosy Ryan was only 7-10 but posted a respectable 3.73 ERA and finished nineteen games. Slim Sallee, who'd carved out a fine career as a starter (And had previously been a Giant from 1916 to 1918), found himself in the bullpen, exclusively, in '21. This is someone who'd helped the Cincinnati Reds win it all in 1919. McGraw, however, had been wise enough to recognize Sallee's talents out of the 'pen. He'd the lead the National League in saves three times (1912, 1914 and 1917) so the change was a wise one. Sure, Slim struggled a bit with a 3.64 ERA, but topped all senior circuit relievers with six wins. Sallee finished nineteen games himself.
The rest of the relief corps was pretty good, too. Another former Cincinnati pitcher, Rube Benton, went 5-2 in eighteen games (Nine in relief). Rube posted a 2.88 ERA. Red Shea only appeared in nine games, total. Despite only starting two games, Red went 5-2 himself in 1921. Other pitchers like Red Causey, Pol Perritt, Claude Jonnard and Walter Zink, didn't see much action but were effective when called upon.
The New York Giants repeated in 1922, needed just five games (One a tie) to sweep the Yankees this time around. Ruth hit just .118. The Giants' pitching staff posted a World Series ERA of just 1.76.
Their bid for a three-peat fell a little short in 1923, as the Yankees got their revenge in six games. Still, the Giants' bullpen held the Yankees in check in the first two games and Art Neft pitched a shutout in the third contest. The Yankees' bats came alive in the fourth game, however, and they outscored McGraw's team 22-9 the rest of the way.
But the Giants made it all the way back in 1924, losing narrowly to the Washington Senators in seven games. New York beat Walter Johnson in both of "The Big Train's" starts. It ended up being John McGraw's last World Series.
The Little Napolean, as he was known, had left quite a legacy. One of his star players was Casey Stengel, who'd go on to manage the Yankees from 1949 to 1960, winning ten pennants in twelve years. McGraw had ten pennants himself, and 2763 regular season wins to his name. The Giants returned to the World Series in 1933, winning it in just five games over the Washington Senators. They would stay competitive for the rest of the decade, appearing in two more Fall Classics.
But no Giant manager (And few skippers, period) could match John McGraw.
References
Anderson, Dave. Pennant Races: Baseball At Its Best. New York: Doubleday, 1994. Print.
Baseball: A Film By Ken Burns. Prod. Ken Burns. PBS. 1994. Television Mini-Series.
Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.
Golenbock, Peter. Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964. Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary Books, 2000. Print.
Montville, Leigh. The Big Bam: The Life Andd Times Of Babe Ruth. Broadway, 2007. 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.
Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series: Complete Play-By-Play oO Every Game, 1903-1989. 4th ed. New York: St. Martin's, 1990. Print.
Nemec, David. The Baseball Chronicle: Year-By-Year History Of Major League Baseball. Publications International, Ltd., 2008. Print.
Society For American Baseball Research, SABR, <sabr.org/>. Web. 20 July. 2019.
“Society For American Baseball Research: Society for American Baseball Research.” Society For American Baseball Research | Society for American Baseball Research, SABR, sabr.org/.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 20 July. 2019.
Thorn, John, and Pete Palmer. Total Baseball. Vers. 1994. Portland, OR: Creative Multimedia Corp., 1994. Computer software. CD-ROM.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 20 July. 2019. <https://en.wikipedia.org>.
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