The Detroit Tigers stole just six bases in the seven-game tournament in 1909. During the regular season, the Bengals stole 280 bases in just 158 contests.
The Pittsburgh Pirates, the Tigers' National League counter-part, were looking to win their first Fall Classic. They'd been upset six years earlier by Boston. Detroit, meanwhile, had come in the runner-up in the October Classic the previous two seasons. But what the Tigers didn't realize is the Bucs had a few surprises up their sleeves.
Obviously, one surprise that wasn't was Honus Wagner. Wagner was just amazing. The Pittsburgh shortstop drove in 100 runs, all the while hitting .339 and stealing 35 bases himself. But then, there was catcher George Gibson and rookie Babe Adams. Gibson didn't seem like much to write home about, and Adams was just a rookie. But for a first-year man, Babe had won a dozen contests (Pitching just 25 games) and had an earned run average of just 1.11. The two aces of Pittsburgh were Vic Willis and Howie Camnitz. Willis won 22 games. Camnitz went 25-6 with an ERA of just 1.62. Another pitcher to look out for was Lefty Leifeld (19-8).
So when this big thing got started in Pittsburgh, Babe Adams had to be a bit of a surprise. But he won game one, right there at Forbes Field. Things hadn't gotten off to a good start. Detroit scored a run in the top of the first. Davvy Jones and Ty Cobb had drawn walks off a shaky Adams. Babe Adams had gotten one out when Donie Bush bunted Jones to second. That's when Cobb looked at ball four. Sam Crawford forced Jones at third. But Jim Delahanty drove in Cobb with the first hit of the game.
I guess you'd have expected the rookie pitcher to fold after that. Instead, Babe gained confidence. There was the matter of his batterymate, George Gibson. The Canadian catcher had tied for the National League in baserunners caught stealing. More than one out of every two attempts to pilfer a base were nailed by George that season (138 out of 267 attempts went for not, for a 51.7 caught stealing percentage). Having said all that, it was Ty Cobb himself who nabbed the only base for Detroit in the first contest.
Cobb's theft of second was in the top of the fifth. The game was tied 1-1, but Sam Crawford stranded him there by popping out to end the inning. You should have seen George Gibson in the bottom of the frame. First, he doubled home Bill Abstein to put Pittsburgh ahead to stay. Later that frame, he crossed home with some insurance.
The Pirates had been held to just five hits and committed four errors, but had themselves a win. The Tigers came right back and won the second contest in a laugher, 7-2. Ty Cobb again was daring on the bases, and stole home. Honus Wagner also stole a base. George Gibson himself ended up with one, but it didn't help the outcome.
For his part, behind the dish, George Gibson gunned out Davy Jones, who was trying to steal third in the top of the first. Ironically, the batter was Cobb when this happened. With one on and two away in the top of the sixth, Cobb again watched from the batter's box as a teammate was denied by Gibson. This time, the victim was Donnie Bush. Honus Wagner, after reaching on an error, would be thrown out on an attempted steal of his own in the bottom of the frame.
Ty Cobb finished the game with a hit and a walk. His steal of home was part of a three-run third for Detroit that broke the game open.
But as the series shifted to Detroit, momentum was quickly grabbed by Pittsburgh. They crossed the plate five times in the top of the first. Then they added another run an inning later. The Pirates looked like they had an easy victory. But Ty Cobb and company didn't go away quietly.
George Gibson had other people to contend on the bases besides Cobb (Who finished the contest with two hits and two RBIs). The Tigers, meanwhile, got overwhelmed by Honus Wagner alone, on the base paths. Wagner stole three bases. Yet it was a play that didn't result in a stolen base for anyone where the Pirates picked up a valuable run.
With runners on first and third in the second inning, Honus Wagner took off towards second. As he did, player / manager Tommy Leach headed towards home from third. Boss Schmidt, the Pirates' catcher, threw to second basemen Jim Delahanty. This was to pave the way for an easy trip home by Leach. But Leach was then caught in a rundown as he tried to complete his half of the bargain. This run was the lone tally by the visitors in the top of the second.
Gibson nailed George Moriarty trying to swipe second in the bottom of the eighth. Detroit hinted at a comeback as they'd scored four times in the last of the seventh. The Pirates came back with two more tallies of their own in the top of the ninth. Ty Cobb then came up with two on in the last of the ninth and hit a ground-rule double, to cash in Davy Jones. Sam Crawford scored the sixth Detroit run by grounding out. Cobb was in scoring position for Jim Delahanty, but the game ended when he flew out to Fred Clarke in left.
Lefty Leifield tried to keep the ball rolling before this thing came back home for his team. But the Pittsburgh hurler was handed a 5-0 loss in game four. Davy Jones was again caught stealing, this time in the bottom of the sixth. Ty Cobb extended the first inning by taking one for the team. But the, he made a big mistake. George Gibson caught a pitch and had The Georgia Peach right where he wanted him on the basepaths. But Ty Cobb persevered in the ensuing rundown, and when Pittsburgh first baseman Bill Abstein dropped the ball, The Georgia Peach was in scoring position. There are different conclusions as to whether this play was a caught stealing or a pickoff. The play ended up making no difference, as Sam Crawford flied out to centre fielder Tommy Leach.
Cobb twice tried to bunt for hits, in the third and seventh, but both times Gibson got him. However, Ty was not gonna be denied the chance to contribute in this contest, which Detroit needed. In the bottom of the fourth, he hit a clutch two-out, two-run double to extend the Detroit lead to 5-0.
The Pirates weren't discouraged. The action shifted from Bennett Park to Forbes Field for game five. It was there that George Gibson had a great game. By scoring on a wild pitch in the bottom of the second, Gibson helped the Pirates break a 1-1 tie. They added a run the next inning to go up 3-1.
The game hadn't started off so well for the home team, though. Davy Jones, the very first Detroit batter, hit a home run. Donie Bush walked. Ty Cobb had a chance to make a difference, but could only fly out to centre fielder Tommy Leach made the catch. Sam Crawford singled to keep the rally going. The Pirates didn't want the Tigers to get any insurance. This was a big test for starting pitcher Babe Adams.
Jim Delahanty fanned. But Crawford elected to challenge George Gibson. Sam succeeded in swiping second. But rather than becoming unglued, Babe Adams got George Moriarty to pop out to first keep Detroit to the single tally. For a while, it appeared the Bengals would be held to just that one run.
It was in the top of the sixth that Ty Cobb made Babe Adams' day a little tougher. A one-out single by Ty started a rally. Sam Crawford doubled him home to make it a 3-2 ballgame. Jim Delahanty sent a ground ball to Honus Wagner. But the Flying Dutchman made a bad throw to first. So bad, that Crawford scored from second. Ty's single had helped propel his team to a tie ballgame!
But Adams got the side out 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh, after Detroit pitcher Ed Summers did the same in the last of the sixth. Summers retired his mound adversary to start the bottom of the seventh, but then Pittsburgh open the offence flood gates.
Bobby Byrne singled. Tommy Leach followed suit. Fred Clarke hit a three-run home run. The Pirates were now doubling up on the Tigers. They weren't done. Honus Wagner was hit by a pitch. Wagner then stole second and third, scoring when Detroit tried to nail him at third.
Sam Crawford, having a strong game of his own, got one run back for the visitors with a solo home run in the top of the eighth. George Gibson helped the home team in the bottom of the frame. He singled home Owen Wilson, who led off the inning with a two-bagger. Gibson, who'd stolen only two bases all year, then took a page out of Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner's book, by swiping second. Alas, Gibson got too greedy. When he tried to steal third, Boss Schmidt gunned him out.
It didn't really matter, as Pittsburgh was just one win away from the World Championship following this 8-4 win. Detroit went back home and made sure that the fans wouldn't have to see another team celebrate on their turf.
Well, the Bucs scored three in the top of the first. Sam Crawford got one back with a double in the bottom of the frame. Things still looked bad for Detroit, but they picked up two runs in the fourth and another in the fifth. Ty Cobb didn't have anything to do with them. In fact, he was 0-3 until the bottom of the sixth. But The Georgia Peach hit another clutch double, scoring Davy Jones (Who'd hit into a force, but then stolen second) and making it 5-3.
George Gibson singled with one away in the top of the seventh, but nothing came of that. Two singles and an error on a sacrifice bunt in the top of the ninth scored Dots Miller. George Gibson had a chance to tie it. There were now runners on the corners and nobody out. But the Pittsburgh catcher sent a grounder to first. Sam Crawford, who regularly played in centre field next to Ty Cobb, had just been moved from that position to first. So here, Crawford spotted Bill Abstein heading for home. But the tying run would not score as a 3-2 putout was made.
But there was still just one out, and two one. The tying run was at second now, with the go-ahead runner on first. It seems rather odd that the Pirates didn't put in a pinch runner for George Gibson. It was not odd that there was a pinch hitter.
Deacon Phillippe, the Pittsburgh pitcher was due up. He'd pitched a splendid two innings for relief. But it would be Ed Abbaticchio who batted. You have to think that the Pirates were hoping for more than what they got in Abbaticchio's at-bat.
The batter swung and missed. And worse, still, Owen Wilson tried for third. He was caught stealing. So Detroit had sent it to a seventh game.
Alas, it was all anti-climatic. Game eight was all Pittsburgh's and Babe Adams. The rookie was amazing.
The Tigers kept it tied for one inning. The Pirates had put two men on against Bill Donovan in the top of the first, only to strand them both. Donnie Bush was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the frame, but George Gibson cut him down on the bases.
Pittsburgh scored twice in the top of the second, grabbing the lead for good. Bill Abstein drew a leadoff walk. He stole second. Bill was trying to make up for what had happened in game six. Coming into this deciding contest, the Bucs' first basemen had made five errors and fanned eight times. So there was much to atone for.
It was the Pirates' day. And certainly not Bill Donovan's. He was having all sorts of trouble finding the plate. It was a bit of luck that he'd escaped the first inning unscathed. In that inning, Donovan hit leadoff hitter Bobby Byrne. A sacrifice by Tommy Leach moved Byrne to second. Bobby tried to steal third, only to be caught, and even get nailed with third basemen George Moriarty's spikes. Neither player walked away uninjured.
From there, though, the Detroit pitcher continued to miss the mark. Fred Clarke, who would have a very interesting game, drew the second free pass off Bill Donovan. Clarke showed 'em how it's done with a theft of second. Honus Wagner became the third Pirate to draw a walk of Donovan in the first. Dots Miller forced Wagner at second to end that.
Well, the top of the first ended with no hits for Pittsburgh. And no runs. But they took notice of Bill Donovan's three walks. They used the same patience in the second inning. This time, the Pirates were rewarded.
So Bill Abstein was on second. Owen Wilson tried to bunt, and Detroit tried to nail Abstein at third. The throw from catcher Boss Schmidt was too late. Back to our pitcher and his control problems.
So Bill Donovan faced George Gibson, speaking of catchers. He got him to pop out. But then Babe Adams, who'd hit just .051 for the season, walked. Bill Donovan had gotten four outs and walked five batters.
Ham Hyatt flied out, but Bill Abstein scored the first run of the ballgame. Pittsburgh still didn't have a hit. A pair of walks forced in another run. Honus Wagner came up with two outs and the bases loaded, but ended the inning by flying out to Ty Cobb in right.
It actually looked like Detroit would come right back and tie it in their half of the second. Sam Crawford was retired by Babe Adams to tie it, but then the Pittsburgh pitcher issued his first bases on balls. With Jim Delahanty on first, George Moriarty hit a ground rule double. Moriarty, though, was still feeling it from that first inning encounter with Bobby Byrne and was replaced by Charley O'Leary.
But Babe Adams got Tom Jones to pop out and Boss Schmidt to ground right back to him. Pittsburgh then looked like they were ready to knock Bill Donovan out of the game in the top of the third.
Dots Miller got it all going with the first hit of the afternoon for the Bucs. Bill Abstein got two bases on a hit to left. There was no way Pittsburgh wasn't going to score. But Owen Wilson hit one to short. Donie Bush wanted to keep this a two-run game. There was Miller heading for home. Bush to Boss Schmidt at home. Got him.
And to compound the felony, Bill Abstein was too far past second. Schmidt to second baseman Jim Delahanty. Got 'em. Detroit had somehow gotten out of that dire situation unscathed.
In any event, Bill Donovan was removed. The Tigers had run out of patience. They didn't want this game getting out of hand. Pitcher George Mullin batted for him in the bottom of the third and was out on a fly to Owen Wilson. Davy Jones made it to first on a bunt. Donie Bush hit a sac bunt to move Jones into scoring position. This was normally where Ty Cobb came through. But all the Georgia Peach could do was ground out to Babe Adams.
Adams himself was retired to start the fourth inning. However, his team had an inning where they got two hits and drew a pair of walks. The end result was a 4-0 lead. The Tigers also got two hits in their half of the inning. But no runs.
If there was any doubt as to the outcome of this contest, it was Honus Wagner himself that doused that thought. After a very uneventful fifth inning, the visitors once again made life miserable for the Detroit faithful.
With one away, Tommy Leach hit a double. Fred Clark then drew the third walk off George Mullin. The Tigers' pitchers had combined for nine walks in 5 1/3 innings. Honus Wagner scored both base runners with a triple. The Flying Dutchman himself would score when left fielder Davy Jones tried to nail him at third. The game was now over, with Pittsburgh up by a score of 7-0.
So the rest of the game was played just for the sake of playing it. The Pirates were not actually done. They failed to score on the top of the seventh, even though George Gibson hit a double. In the bottom of the frame, Gibson's counterpart on the Tigers, Boss Schmidt, hit a double of his own. He, too, failed to score.
But in the eighth, it was Pittsburgh who tallied for the eighth time. No hits were needed.
Fred Clarke drew a walk with only one out. Detroit had allowed ten walks in less than eight innings. Clarke stole second with Honus Wagner back up. Wagner did not deliver, as all he could do was fly out to Sam Crawford in centre. Crawford failed to handle Dots Miller's fly, and Clarke crossed home with the eight and final run of the ballgame.
Babe Adams raced through the Tigers 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eighth. With one away in the top of the ninth, George Gibson reached first via an error by Detroit shortstop Donie Bush. So Babe Adams bunted his catcher to second. George Mullin got outta that by getting Ham Hyatt to pop up to Boss Schmidt.
Sam Crawford and Detroit came up one last time. Crawford grounded out to Honus Wagner at short. Jim Delahanty doubled to left. It was the Bengals sixth and final hit of the contest, half of them two-baggers. Charley O'Leary popped out and Tom Jones stepped up to the plate. He flied out to Fred Clarke in left.
So Babe Adams had his third win of the 1909 World Series. A shutout. The Tigers had been contained at bat and on the bases. Though Detroit had stolen six bases, they were nailed five times trying for 'em. And picked off once. George Gibson had hit just .240, but had a lot to do with stopping the Tigers offence. Gibson drove in two and scored a pair of runs. And he'd helped the rookie Babe Adams get through this Fall Classic.
It had been unexpected of Adams. If you look at the other starting pitchers on the Pittsburgh staff, they had a poor earned run average in the 1909 Fall Classic. In fact, the only starting pitcher to post a better ERA than Babe Adams in the World Series was Nick Maddox. But Nick only pitched in one game (However, it was a gem, going nine innings and allowing just one earned run). So Adams was second on the team in earned run average. But compare that to Howie Camnitz (13.50), Lefty Leifield (11.25) and Vic Willis (4.63). Even Deacon Phillippe, who'd been the big star with Pittsburgh in 1903 when they first played in the World Series, was sort of on the back burner six years later. Phillippe, a six-time twenty-game winner for the Pirates, pitched twice in the '09 Fall Classic, not getting a decision despite a 0.00 ERA over six innings. Deacon had won three contests in the 1903 October Classic, but had also lost two.
The Pirates had certainly had an impressive pitching staff in 1909. During the regular season, their team earned run average was 2.07. They didn't come close to that in the World Series, but Babe Adams 1.33 ERA over twenty-seven innings was one of the key reasons for the championship.
It was crucial for Adams. In 1909, he was just a rookie pitcher, but a twelve-game winner. The next season, the pitching staff was not as good (Although Pittsburgh got twelve wins from Howie Camnitz, 15 from Lefty Leifeld, 14 from Deacon Phillipe and 10 from Kirby White) but the Pirates had an 18-game winner in Babe Adams. He took the next step and became the ace of the Bucs, winning 153 games from 1911 to 1923.
References
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Kendall, Brian. "Mooney Gibson Puts The Breaks On Ty Cobb." Great Moments In Canadian Baseball. Lester, 1995. Print.
Morissey, Scott C. 114 World Series in 1 Book. Updated ed. Pandamonium Publishing House, 2020.
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.
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Nemec, et al. The Baseball Chronicle: Year-By-Year History of Major League Baseball. Publications International, Ltd., 2008.
Retrosheet, Retrosheet, https://www.retrosheet.org/. 22 Jan. 2022.
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