It's a bit of a tough call as to what catcher had a better Fall Classic in 1909.
I pointed out that George Gibson held the immortal Ty Cobb in check on the basepaths in that Fall Classic. Gibson was one awesome defensive catcher with his ability to stop 'em from running. During the '09 season, Mooney threw out a league-leading 148 baserunners. The Pittsburgh Pirates' hurlers could rely on their backstopper to stop 'em cold.
George had a 51.7 percent success rate with would-be theives. The Pirates also had catchers Mike Simon and Paddy O'Connor, but neither of them appeared much. It was Gibson or bust.
Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers had Boss Schmidt and Oscar Stanage behind the dish. Schmidt caught about 50 percent of stolen base attempts. Stanage, 41. There were two other catchers, Henry Beckendorf and Joe Casey, but neither played much.
So the thing is, Honus Wagner and company swiped eighteen bases, Ty Cobb and company, six. A clear-cut win by Pittsburgh. Not that the Tigers' catchers would give a poor account of themselves. They found other ways to contribute.
And if Pittsburgh thought it'd be easy to stop Cobb, they had to think again. The Detroit Tigers' outfielder drew a walk in the top of the first inning in game one, and scored the first run of the 1909 World Series.
Boss Schmidt was behind the plate for Detroit. And he could do things besides catch thieves. In the third inning, for instance, he caught Pittsburgh's Bill Abstein off first base, killing a rally.
The Pirates tied the game via a Fred Clarke home run (in the last of the fourth).
Ty Cobb was having quite a game. He hit into a force in the top of the fifth. But he made up for it by stealing second. Sam Crawford, the all-time leader in career triples, left The Georgia Peach there by popping out.
Bill Abstein started the bottom of the fifth by sending a grounder that Jim Delahanty couldn't come up with. And an error by right fielder Ty Cobb resulted in Abstein getting ninety feet away from home.
George Gibson got in on the ace with a double. Pitcher Babe Adams reached on an error. After Bobby Byrne was Tommy Leach was plunked, the sacs with full. Tommy Leach got it to the outfield, and the Pittsburgh catcher crossed home, making it 3-1, Pirates.
Bill Abstein picked up another RBI in the sixth, to extend the lead to 4-1 for the Bucks. The inning promised more. The Flying Dutchman, Honus Wagner, started this uprising with a double...Then got picked off second base by Boss Schmidt. But the Detroit Tigers' catcher made a poor throw. So, Wagner went to third. Abstein's ground out cashed him in. You gotta get those speedsters when you have the chance!
The Detroit catcher saw his counterpart up at the dish. Boss Schmidt allowed a passed ball. George Gibson was staring down a "Single, RBI" situation. But George Mullin got him to fly out.
Neither team would touch home again, but the game continued. Boss Schmidt was retired to start the seventh, but Detroit mounted a comeback attempt. With two away, a hit and a walk extended the inning. For the Georgia Peach. Ty gave it quite ride to centre. But just a long, loud out.
The Pirates weren't about to take the pedal off the metal. The game was in the bag, so when they batted in the last of the eighth, they tried to get one last run. Honus Wagner made the second out, and George Mullin seemed poised for a 1-2-3 inning. Mullin had pitched well: 4 hits, 2 earned runs!
Alas, it was Miller Time.
Dots Miller singled, and then made life tough for Boss Schmidt. He stole second. Mullin settled down, fanning Bill Abstein.
So what do we find here? The spotlight was on two guys named Cobb and Wagner. Both pitchers were great. How about the men behind the dish? Schmidt had an interesting afternoon.
He was 0-3, but drew a walk, plus third basemen Bobby Byrne made a fine play at third to take away a hit in the third. One stolen base against Schmidt. Two pickoffs happened. One by pitcher George Mullin, and the other by his catcher. However, as mentioned, one of the pickoff plays was merely an error for Schmidt, which eventually led to Honus Wagner scoring later in the inning.
Gibson was clutch. One run scored, one run driven in. 1-3 at the plate. On the negative side, Ty Cobb stole a base of him.
Ty's team bounced back in the second contest.
Seemed like Detroit was not about to wait around. In the top of the first, Davy Jones made it to first on a bunt. He was the very first batter in the game. A bunt moved him to third. However, when Jones tried to steal third, it was George Gibson to Bobby Byrne for the DOA. Ty Cobb was up, so why steal third? Cobb grounded out.
The Pirates went ahead 2-0 in the bottom of the first, but then The Boss got his team back in the bottom of the frame. He doubled home two men.
His counterpart tried to get Pittsburgh back on top. In the second inning, George Gibson walked and stole second. But he was stranded.
The immortal Ty Cobb really helped the cause next inning. His walked loaded 'em up. One out later, Jim Delahanty drove home two men with a single. And Cobb was at third. A new pitcher, Vic Willis, was brought in to put out the fire.
George Moriarty was up. Elementary, my dear Gibson. Cobb, blink and you miss him. A steal of home! 5-2, Detroit. Moriarty was still up. Elementary, my dear Willis. Ball four.
Tom Jones (Not the singer, obviously), hit into a force. But that was only for the second out. Two on for Boss Schmidt. Schmidt flew out.
Gibson was retired in the bottom of the fourth, and the next inning, Schmidt showed him how it's done. Two on, two outs, bases loaded. Single by The Boss. 7-2, as Sam Crawford and Jim Delahantry scored. Alas, Tom Jones tried for third and was a dead duck.
Maybe the Bengals were trying to embarrass the Bucs. But, really, don't deny Ty a chance at an RBI. Which is exactly what Donie Bush did. He was caught stealing by George Gibson in the top of the sixth. Cobb would have to wait.
So Honus Wagner tried to steal second of Schmidt in the bottom of the frame. Boss got 'em!
Cobb added a single in the seventh, only to be erased on a double play. But in the bottom of the play, a potential big inning went down the drain as Gibson hit into one himself.
Schmidt was retired his last time up, but the drama was not over. The Flying Dutchman led of the bottom of the ninth for the defiant Pirates. He singled. Wagner then stole second. Dots Miller grounded out. The score was still 7-2 for the Tigers, but the Bucs had a chance to make it a bit closer. Bill Donovan sealed the deal with a strikeout of Bill Abstein and a fly to centre off the bat of Owen Wilson (Not the actor, obviously).
Schmidt was 1-2 in stopping the great Wagner. But 0-1 in stopping his pal Gibson. Mooney, meanwhile, had to deal with Ty Cobb's electrifying steal of home, but caught the only two other would-be thieves.
It was no contest with the bat. Gibson, who'd had one RBI in the opening tilt, had no runs scored, no hits. Just a walk. Schmidt? Four runs driven in.
It was on to Detroit, but Pittsburgh was determined to end the third contest before it began. They pushed across five runs in the top of the first, and another in the second. Honus Wagner only reached on an error by Donie Bush, which two runs scored on. But once on the fireworks began. He stole second, and Boss Schmidt's bad throw got The Flying Dutchman to third. A wild pitch, and Wagner had scored.
Mooney Gibson was not able to contribute in either inning. Honus Wagner was on first when Tommy Leach tried to steal home off Ed Willett. An error by the pitcher when they had the runner trapped allowed Leach to score, and Wagner to go all the way to third.
Wagner added a second stolen base to his name this afternoon in the fifth. The game appeared to be over, 6-0 for Pittsburgh. In the seventh, though, he went to the well one too many times, and Boss Schmidt nailed him.
Schmidt came up with two on in the bottom of the seventh. The Tigers were still trying to make a game of it, and had even broken up the shutout. The score stayed 6-1, as Schmidt popped to third. Singles by Donie Bush and Ty Cobb made it 6-4. They needed their catcher to have come through.
In the eighth, the Bengals looked for more. They got two walks, but the first was erased as George Moriarty was nailed at second by George Gibson. Tom Jones kept the inning alive by drawing a free pass. But Boss Schmidt ended any hope of a run by flying out to Fred Clarke in left.
Clarke drove home a run in the bottom of the frame, and Honus Wagner did, too. 8-4, and Wagner wanted more. He continued torment Schmidt, stealing his this base of the contest.
It just wasn't George Gibson's day, though. The Tigers would make the game closer. But they might not have had the Pirates' catcher done more. A ground out in the first, in which Pittsburgh was on a roll. Another ground out in the second. A liner to centre next time up. Finally, in the top of the eighth, with a man on third, he left Bill Abstein at third as he sent it up in foul territory behind the dish to Boss Schmidt.
Abstein's error at third opened to the door for a Detroit rally in the last of the ninth. Donie Bush followed with a single. That set the stage for Ty Cobb's clutch ground-rule double. 8-5. Followed by Sam Crawford grounder. 8-6. Nick Maddox then got Jim Delahanty to fly out to left. What had started out as a rout turned into a very tight affair. The Tigers had shown plenty of fight, Cobb especially.
The Flying Dutchman had led the charge. The poor Tigers' catcher had a field day with Honus Wagner and company. A field day of frustration. But, actually, take away Wagner, Boss Schmidt acquitted himself just fine. Schmidt caught Tommy Leach once, and throw in Wagner's one time failing, and it was not all bad. The throwing error in first was a huge mistake. The biggest problem was Schmidt's 0-4 afternoon. As it was, the Tigers scored six times. But perhaps a better performance by Boss, and they might have not fallen behind 6-0. Still, this had to be one of the best games in terms of the spotlight being on the big guns in the World Series. Crawford, Cobb and Wagner all turned in a great defensive play.
Gibson caught the only Tiger who tried to steal a base in George Moriarty. Mooney didn't commit an error. In fact, the only Pirates' errors this afternoon were committed by Bill Abstein, with two. (Both of which led to Tiger uprising). Gibson struggled at the plate, going 0-4. And he stranded two runners.
The good news for Pittsburgh was they were up 2-1. The bad news was Detroit was just plain awesome in the fourth contest.
Cobb was a little too daring on the base paths in the bottom of the first. Having been hit by a pitch from Lefty Leifield, it was time to get into scoring position for Sam Crawford. There were two outs, and suddenly George Gibson had him. Ty Cobb was between first and second, and Bill Abstein had the ball. The Georgia Peach was picked off. Well, he should have been. The feed from Honus Wagner to Bill Abstein was dropped. Ty was in scoring position. But Detroit did not score. Well, not then.
So Gibson had a pickoff to his name. And he'd nail Davy Jones trying a theft later, too.
However, all of Mooney's heroics went for not. He was struggling with the bat, leaving two on top of the second. Pittsburgh had their chances in this game, but couldn't get the man home.
The Tigers scored two runs in their half of the second. It could of been worse. There were runners on the corners on for Tom Jones. Jones hit a comebacker to pitcher Lefty Leifield. Leifield went to Gibson at the plate for the force, and the Pirates' just did get Jim Delahanty at the plate. The problem was for the Bucs, the next batter (Oscar Stanage) singled. While the Pirates had gotten the man at the dish the previous play, both Jones and George Moriarty advanced two bases. So when Oscar Stanage got his hit, Moriarty and Jones scored.
It was all pitched George Mullin needed. The Pirates still had fight in them come the third. Bobby Byrne and Tommy Leach executed a daring double steal. But on the play, Fred Clarke fanned. And when Honus Wagner followed suit, a promising scoring opportunity went out the window.
Three more runs in the fourth gave Detroit a huge 5-0 lead. George Gibson, 0-2 in this game and oh for his last nine, singled in the seventh.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Bengals looked for more. Oscar Stanage, taking over behind the dish from Boss Schmidt, had a mixed game. He had two RBIs, but had been retired twice. Stanage had hit into a double play. But another big hit here would make 'em all forget.
With runners on first and second, Oscar bunted. The sacrifice moved 'em both up. Deacon Phillippe, on in relief of Lefty Leifield, settled down. And down went George Mullin on strikes. Davy Jones walked to keep the top of the ninth looking dangerous. Bases loaded, two away. Donie Bush grounded out.
For the Pirates, it was Dots Miller got a one out single. George Gibson would bat after Owen Wilson. But before that, Bill Abstein would bat. Abstein grounded out to the pitcher. Miller was on second. But then Wilson ended the game, grounding out to first basemen Tom Jones.
Oscar Stange had been shown how it's done by George Gibson. Stanage allowed both Tommy Leach and Bobby Byrne to steal a base, whereas no Tiger stole a base off Gibson. To have picked off Ty Cobb was amazing. And Davy Jones had tried to steal off the Canadian, but was out.
Each catcher was 1-3, but obviously Gibson had not come through when it mattered. Stanage sure did with two RBIs back in the second.
So, the 1909 World Series was tied, 2-2. Game five was big.
Davy Jones greeted pitcher Babe Adams with a home run to start the game. Donie Bush followed with a walk. Now, Ty Cobb was up, and this could have very easily been "Game over" for Adams. But Cobb flied out to Tommy Leach in centre.
Babe Adams wasn't out of the woods. Sam Crawford singled. Now there were runners on the corners. Crawford made life miserable for the Pirates' battery when he stole second. George Moriarty popped out to first basemen Bill Abstein.
Abstein had made two errors in each of the last two contests. Here, he coaxed a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the first to tie it.
And the next inning, the battery of Pittsburgh put them on top.
George Gibson singled. Babe Adams got him to second with a bunt. A ground ball and a wild pitch saw Mooney cross the dish! 2-1, Pirates! The Pirates made it three innings, three runs in the third. As for Oscar Stanage's game performance? Two times up. Two strikeouts. Ouch. He would not finish this contest.
The Pirates tied the game in the top of the sixth, and this World Series was too close to call. 2-2 in games, 3-3 in the fifth contest. Something had to give.
One thing that changed was the Detroit Tigers. Since Oscar Stanage had fanned in both the second and fifth inning, he was removed for a pinch hitter in the seventh. And then Boss Schmidt took over behind the plate. Was it a good move?
Schmidt took over behind the dish in the bottom of the seventh. It was a disastrously bad thing he saw.
Fred Clarke hit a three-run home run. Honus Wagner was hit by a pitch...Then stole second and third. On the steal of third, Schmidt threw wildly. Wagner scored to make it 7-3.
Sam Crawford got one run back, hitting a solo home run off Adams in the eighth. However, George Gibson got that right back. Owen Wilson had doubled to start the bottom of the frame. Gibson singled him home.
Babe Adams tried to keep the rally going. But his bunt attempt went in the air and was caught at first by Tom Jones. So, as Bobby Byrne fanned, Gibson stole second. Mooney was up to two steals in just five games! However, when he tried to pilfer third, Boss Schmidt nailed him.
Detroit gave it one last try. In the ninth, Tom Jones reached on an error with one away. George Gibson had held the Tigers to no stolen bases since the first. But with his counterpart at the dish, Jones stole second. Boss Schmidt grounded out, with Tom Jones holding at second. The Tigers sent up a pinch hitter for Ed Willett, and it ended up being a George Mullin who grab some lumber. Mullin, with 228 wins to his name, had hit just .214 in 1909, but .262 for his career. But Babe Adams got him to pop out to short.
So George Gibson had one big game. He allowed two stolen bases, but picked up one himself. He drove home a run, while scoring one himself. On the other hand, he'd been a dead duck on his other stolen base attempt. His teammate, Honus Wagner, had two stolen bases off Boss Schmidt, while Fred Clarke pilfered a base off Oscar Stanage. Stanage was 0-1 at the plate, making Tigers' catchers 0-3 on the day.
Still, Detroit had plenty of fight left in them. They watched as the home team, as they fell behind 3-0 before picking up their lumber. Sam Crawford got one run back with a double in the bottom of the first.
In the top of the second, George Gibson fanned, but Boss Schmidt had to complete the strikeout. But the Pirates continued to look for more offence. They got two on in the third without a hit. An error, a bunt and a grounder put Tommy Leach on third. Dots Miller walked and stole second off Schmidt. Miller time again for The Boss. But then Bill Abstein fanned.
George Mullin singled to start the bottom of the frame, and Ty Cobb could smell another RBI chance. Davy Jones hit a liner, which resulted in a double play. Ouch. Donie Bush took one for the team, and Cobb had to settle for a man on first when he batted. Bush stole second, so there was still a chance for Ty Cobb. But he popped out.
But it was Sam Crawford who laid the foundation for a Detroit rally in the fourth. He walked. The next three men singled, and it was suddenly all tied up. Boss Schmidt came up with Tom Jones and second and walked.
It was a chance for a really big inning. Two runs were already in, plus a good-hitting pitcher was next up in George Mullin. Mullin sent one to short left, but the ball was caught by Fred Clarke. Clarke then put the squeeze on Davy Jones fly his direction, and the inning was over.
While Mullin couldn't come through at the dish, he kept the momentum going for the Tigers. Down went the Bucs 1-2-3 in the top of the five. It didn't take the Bengals very long to get another rally going.
Donnie Bush singled. And while Vic Willis got the two big guns (Cobb and Crawford) to ground out, Bush was at third. Jim Delahanty, whose brothers Ed, Joe and Tom all played in the bigs, was up. And clutch Del was! His double to left cashed in Bush. The ice-breaker.
Mullin got Honus Wagner to fly out in the top of the sixth, but then had to rely on his batterymate to get him out of trouble. Dots Miller sent one to centre that dropped in. Bill Abstein popped one back behind the dish, and Boss Schmidt raced back to get it, making one fine catch. Miller tried to make something out of this (second) out. He dashed for second. Schmidt had himself a 2-6 putout.
Schmidt then tried to get his batterymate some needed insurance in the home half of the sixth. Facing new pitcher Howie Camnitz, Boss hit a long ball to right, which ended up in the crowd for a ground-rule double. But when George Mullin grounded back to the mound, it was Schmidt erased at third on a fielder's choice. Davy Jones also hit into a fielder's choice for the second out, but then swiped second.
Donie Bush followed with a walk, and Ty Cobb was back to the dish. His clutch double, which also bounced into the crowd, plated Jones.
The Pirates trailed 5-3, and their catcher tried to get something going, as time was running out in this sixth contest. With one away in the top of the seventh, the Pittsburgh backstopper singled. But that was all the Bucs got.
One last chance to tie it emerged in the top of the ninth for Pittsburgh. Two straight singles and an error by first basemen Tom Jones, narrowed the margin to just 5-4. And there was two on with nobody out. Jones, the Bengals' first basemen, was hurt on a collision with Owen Wilson, who'd collided with him. He had to be taken off the field on a stretcher
George Gibson was the batter. The Tigers made some switches, and Sam Crawford was now playing first base. With runners on the corners, Gibson sent one Crawford's way. Bill Abstein tried to score, and was out.
Ed Abbaticchio batted for the pitcher. The tying run was still in scoring position (Wilson) and Gibson now represented the go-ahead run at first. A hit into the gap would mean Pittsburgh would lead, 6-5. But with one out, the Tigers' battery got it done.
George Mullin threw strike three past Abbaticchio. Good thing his catcher held on to it. Wilson broke to third. Boss Schmidt gunned him out there! What a win by Detroit. They'd held on for a gutsy 5-4 decision. For the first time ever, a World Series would come down to a seventh and deciding contest.
Had Schmidt helped? He'd gotten a hit and a walk, but that only raised his batting average to .200. He'd contributed to two double plays. He caught a man trying to steal to end the game. Dots Miller accounted for Pittsburgh's only steal of the ballgame. Detroit, meanwhile had two stolen bases of George Gibson, who was just 1-4 at the dish.
The seventh game would be anti-climatic. After all the excitement leading up to it, the last game of the 1909 World Series was huge let-down.
The Pirates started it out on the right foot, as they threatened in the first. They didn't score, and made two attempts to steal bases. Boss Schmidt was 1-2 in his success rate.
Donie Bush was hit by Babe Adams in the bottom of the first. But Detroit did not score. Bush was caught stealing with Sam Crawford up.
Bill Abstein, who was sort of wearing goat-horns in this Fall Classic, wanted to help. He'd made five errors for the Bucs. In the top of the second, he did a lot more than help. He led off with a single against Bill Donovan, whose nickname was "Wild". Donovan sure lived up to that here. Not that his bullpen helped.
Abstein stole second. Boss Schmidt would really have to be on guard all game. The Pirates were playing for one run, so Owen Wilson put down a bunt. The Tigers didn't get the out. Schmidt's throw to first was too late.
So one catcher's mistake opened the door for another. George Gibson batted. But all he could do was pop out to Donie Bush at short.
A walk. A fly. Two more walks. Pittsburgh was up, 2-0. Jim Delahanty
Detroit wasn't discouraged, and looked to equal it in their half. With one away, Jim Delahanty drew a bases on balls. George Moriarty hit a ground-rule double. The tying run was at second. However, Moriarty hurt himself on the basepaths, and was replaced by Charley O'Leary. It was a big loss, as Moriarty was hitting .273 in the World Series. O'Leary was 0-3 in this game.
Tom Jones popped out. Boss Schmidt grounded back to Babe Adams. The Tigers best chance to tie the game had slipped away.
So in the top of the third, a situation presented itself to George Gibson to make Detroit pay. The Pirates had runners on second and third, and Owen Wilson up. Wilson only had to get the ball to the outfield and it'd be 3-0, with just one out.
But Wilson hit it to the shortstop, Donie Bush. Bush saw Dots Miller break to home, and gunned it to Boss Schmidt for the 6-2 putout. Then there was Bill Abstein, just a wee bit past second. Well, Schmidt took care of that. Schmidt to Jim Delahanty for the double play! Gibson finally got up, only to force Wilson at second.
While the Pirates did not score, they did succeed in getting Bill Donovan out of the game. He'd walked six men. Donovan was lifted in favour of a pinch hitter in the bottom of the third. The pinch hitter ended up being George Mullin, who'd pitched well. In 26 innings pitched in the 1909 Fall Classic, Mullin had posted a 1.73 earned run average.
But Dots Miller's two-run single off Mullins in the fourth made it a 4-0 ballgame. Miller swiped second before Mullin got Detroit out of the inning. The pitcher retired Bill Abstein, who was caught looking at strike three. But Pittsburgh was not done with the Detroit reliever.
Babe Adams allowed two hits before getting out of the fourth. Boss Schmidt was the last out. Mullin appeared to settle down after a rough greeting, as he got the side 1-2-3 in the fifth. The next inning, however, it was Honus Wagner with a huge hit. Tommy Leach was on second, and player-manager Fred Clarke was on first, after drawing a walk. Wagner hit a triple, and the game was essentially over. To add insult to injury, The Flying Dutchman ended up scoring on the play when Davy Jones tried to nail him at third.
Gibson, who'd been a bit silent with the stick all game (0-3), doubled in the seventh, only to be stranded. His counterpart on Detroit (0-2) also hit a double that inning, keeping the inning alive. But George Mullin wasn't getting it done with the stick, either. He flied out to left.
Pittsburgh's Fred Clarke walked (his fourth of the contest) and stole second in the eight. Clarke ended up scoring when Sam Crawford dropped Dots Miller's fly to centre. There were two outs at the time. Clarke had somehow scored twice and driven in a run without getting a hit!
George Gibson ended the game 1-5, but ended up reaching on an error in the ninth. A bunt moved him to second with two away. Ham Hyatt made the last Pittsburgh out of the game when he popped out to Boss Schmidt. Schmidt would not get a chance to walk up to the plate.
He was the next scheduled batter in the bottom of the ninth as Tom Jones came up. The last hit of the 1909 World Series was a one-out two-bagger by Jim Delahanty. But then Charley O'Leary finished of his hitless day by popping out to Tommy Leach. Tom Jones flew out to Clarke in left.
Clarke had stolen two bases in the clincher, Bill Abstein and Dots Miller one each. The only Buc to be stopped on the basepaths had been Bobby Byrne. The one and only Tiger (Donie Bush) who tried his luck at stealing had been a dead duck. It had been a rout, no matter how to slice the seventh contest. Babe Adams walked one batter. The two Tigers' hurlers combined for ten!
So the 1909 World Championship belonged to Pittsburgh, who'd lost it to Boston six years earlier. There was much to celebrate. Obviously, the two big stars were Honus Wagner and Babe Adams. Wagner hat hit .333 record an on-base percentage of .467 (Bested only by Donie Bush), driven in six and scored four times. Adams was 3-0 on the hill, going all the way in game seven. He became the first pitcher to win a game seven (To decide the World Series) with a shutout.
The big story was the Cobb / Wagner matchup. Ty Cobb had actually come up with a number of key hits, resulting in five RBI. Just one less than Honus Wagner. The Georgia Peach had also scored three runs. Again, just one less than the Flying Dutchman. So, contrary to what has been said, it wasn't all a one-sided win for Wagner. Cobb hit just .231, and stole just one base, getting caught once for a 67 percent success rate. Wagner had six stolen bases, getting caught just once. Wagner had also been picked off base. Cobb was also picked off in game three, but as I explained earlier, Ty made it to second anyways. It seems, though, that pickoff discouraged him. Cobb didn't steal another base the rest of the 1909 Fall Classic, or even attempt one.
How about the catchers? What do we find?
George Gibson hit .240, drove in two runs, and scored twice. For good measure, he matched Cobb in stolen bases, with two. Boss Schmidt and Oscar Stanage both hit worse than Gibson, but if you look at their RBI total, you might give pause. Schmidt hit only .222, but knocked in four runs in only six games. Stanage got into just two games, and had only five at-bats. Yet, despite hitting .200, Oscar drove in two runs himself. Meaning, the Detroit catchers overall had four more RBIs than George Gibson. But, neither Schmidt nor Stanage scored a run.
Schmidt picked off one base runner, while his pitcher, George Mullin, got one himself. Overall, Boss nailed 6 runners out of 21 batters to steal. The Pirates also were 2-2 in steal attempts off Oscar Stanage. So overall, Pittsburgh stole 17 out of 23 bases. George Gibson nailed 5 of the eleven attempted base thefts against him. Plus, he'd picked off Ty Cobb in game four, even though the Georgia Peach made it out of that mess. But while Gibson had not committed an error, Boss Schmidt had three to his name in the 1909 Fall Classic. Plus Schmidt had allowed a pass ball.
The 1909 World Series was the last for not only Ty Cobb, but also Honus Wagner (Who'd previously appeared in the original Fall Classic, back in 1903). This tends to make it memorable, as two great stars went mano-e-mano. But it wasn't as if their any less heroics from the men behind the dish. This World Series went to the limit, and there were a lot of supporting cast along for the ride.
References
Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005.
Society for American Baseball Research, SABR, https://sabr.org/. 03 Apr. Mar. 2023.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. https://www.baseball-reference.com/. 03 Apr. 2023.
Thorn, John, and Pete Palmer. Total Baseball, Creative Multimedia Corp, 1994. CD-Rom edition.
Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, https://en.wikipedia.org/. 03 Apr. 2023.
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