Common Denominator

"On the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1914 World Series and New York Yankees in 1927."

That would be Herb Pennock and Bob Shawkey. They were on the receiving end of a sweep, but years later, would more than atone for it.

The Philadelphia A's of the early 1910s were basically a dynasty. One of the earlier ones. They'd won it all in 1910, 1911, and 1913 (Pennock was there that season). But in 1914, they looked liked they'd add a fourth World Series to the decade.

It didn't happen. The surprising Boston Braves made it to the grand finale for the first time, and then proceeded to shock 'em. The Athletics didn't win a game despite the presence of Bob Shawkey and Herb Pennock. Not to mention Bullet Joe Bush and Chief Bender. That was a great pitching staff.

But the Fall Classic was a Brave New World for the National Leaguers, and they went about their business in a confident manner. Outside of the first contest, all the games were close. But try as they might, they couldn't stop Boston. Shawkey took the loss in the clincher, despite some stellar relief from Pennock.

Shawkey found himself on the New York Yankees the next season, before Pennock and Babe Ruth. It took New York until 1921 to make it to the Fall Classic. Ruth and co. seemed primed, with The Bambino having won it three times with the Boston Red Sox. But it was their cross-town rivals who prevailed that year and in 1922.

Poor Bob. He had to absorbe another World Series game lost in 1921. He did not get decision at all in 1922, as the Yankees failed to win a game. The next year, Herb Pennock was with Bob, having joined Babe Ruth on the Boston Red Sox in 1915. Shawkey won one game against the Giants in their third go-around, and Pennock won two. The Bronx Bomber won their first Fall Classic in six games.

Shawkey was being used less, however. When New York next made it to the World Series, he was only 8-7. This was 1926, so we still have a year to go. Pennock continued to contribute much in the postseason. While Shawkey lost his only decision to the St. Louis Cardinals in October of '26, Pennock registered another two wins. He was now 4-0 in the Fall Classic on the Yankees. However, it was St. Louis that prevailed in seven games.

So Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and some amazing pitchers were back with a vengeance in 1927. Only, Shawkey really wasn't. He'd only appeared in 29 games in '26 (10 starts), and '27 was worse. Despite a fine 2.89 ERA, he was behind the likes of Pennock, Waite Hoyt, Urban Shocker,Dutch Ruether, George Pipgras and closer Wilcy Moore. There was no need for Shawkey, who was now really more of one of the two roles with the team: Pitcher and pitching coach!

The coach was named to the Yankees postseason roster, as New York faced an overmatched Pittsburgh Pirates team. Shawkey would not be needed. All the Bronx Bombers needed was the pitching of Pipgras, Pennock, Moore and Hoyt. It was all over in just four games.


References

Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series: Complete Play-by-play of Every Game, 1903-1989. New York: St. Martin's, 1990. Print.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 15 Mar. 2016.

Retrosheet. Web. 15 Mar. 2016. <www.retrosheet.org>

World Series: Did You Know?

Hawk Gowdy was a one-man wrecking machine in the 1914 Fall Classic. His "Miracle Braves" got the pitching from Bill James and Dick Rudolph (2-0, each), but it was a case of "Move over guys, I'll provide the offence, here!"

And supply it, the catcher did. The favourited Philadelphia Athletics were in for a quick surprise that was as fast as it was shocking. The Boston Braves were on their way to a stunning sweep.

Gowdy hat hit .243 with only three home runs and forty-six RBIs in the regular season. But you've all seen it from Billy Martin in 1953, Bobby Richardson in 1960 (And 1964 for good measure). Bucky Dent in 1977, and Ray Knight in 1986. For that matter, Kirk Gibson was not supposed to play at all in 1988, and we all know how that appearance ended.

Gowdy did hit a home run, but it was not as dramatic. But with that, he had more home runs then all other players in the 1914 World Series combined. His assault of Philadelphia pitching came in his very first plate appearance of game one. Philly was at home and about to get embarassed.

Even the great Chief Bender could do nothing to stop Gowdy, who doubled home a run in the top of the second, and came around to score later. It was all Boston needed. But Gowdy was not done, and neither were his teammates. He added two more hits, scored another run, drew a walk, and never was retired. The final score was Boston 7, Philadelphia 1. Game two was closer, but Boston won it, too!

Gowdy could only draw two walks in the second tilt. But Bill James pitched a two-hit shutout. Boston themselves managed only seven hits and one run. Nonetheless, they were heading home up two games, and this thing was not about to head back to The City Of Brotherly Love.

Philly sure gave it their all in a must-win game three. Thew led 1-0, 2-1, and even 4-2 after 9 1/2, but Boston was not about to be denied. Gowdy tied it in the bottom of the second with a double, then went to work in the important bottom of the tenth. Leading off, he went yard to make it, 4-3. The Braves squared this thing at four with a sac fly. The coupe-de-grace was provided by Hank in the bottom of the twelfth. Gowdy got it all started with his second double of the game and third of this Fall Classic. He later scored the winning run on an error. Boston was now up 3-0 and looking for the sweep.

Philly did not go down easily. The teams traded runs in the bottom of the fourth and top of the fifth. But in the bottom of that frame, it was Boston's Johnny Evers with a double of his own, and it scored two, breaking the deadlock. Boston hung on from there, being held to just six hits (none by Gowdy, who could only draw a walk) to Philadelphia's seven. But with a 3-1 win, the Miracle Braves had won it all.

Gowdy did it all.

Highest batting average, .545
Highest on-base percentage, .688
Most runs scored, 3
Most doubles, 3
Most triples, 1
Most home runs, 1
Most RBIs, 3 (Tied with  Rabbit Maranville)
Most walks, 5.

Gowdy must have been the miracle man on the 1914 Boston Braves!


References

Baseball Almanac, Inc. Baseball Almanac: Baseball History, Baseball Records and Baseball Research. Baseball Almanac, Inc. Web. 12 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. 13 May. 2015.  <www.retrosheet.org>

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 12 May. 2015.

Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 12 May 2015. <https://en.wikipedia.org/>.

World Series: Did You Know?

The Braves are the only franchise to reach the pinnacle of baseball from three different franchise locations. They've had a long history and each stop in a city has been a Brave New World.

The first appearance of this National League team in the Fall Classic was back, 100 years ago. The Braves were actually in Boston, and were 12 games back on July 25th of that year. But they made a nice charge to make it up and came in home at first, 10 1/2 games up. They didn't stop there. Facing the Philadelphia A's (who themselves moved twice. First to Kansas and later to Oakland. But they never reached the World Series in Kansas), the Braves needed just four games to win it all.

From there, though, the Braves fell on hard times and only reached one more World Series. They faced a tough Cleveland Indians team. It was a close six-game affair. And Boston did amazing to beat Bob Feller twice. But it proved to be the only two games the Braves would win.

A move to Milwaukee in 1953 seemed to bring them back on track. They sold out. Then, in 1957, they made the Fall Classic and took a splendid seven-game affair from the New York Yankees.

New York took their revenge the next year, and Milwaukee was knocked out in a two-of-three playoff series by Los Angeles in 1959. The team won 83 or more games from 1960 to 1965, and had Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews as the sluggers, plus Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette as hurlers. But they did not return to the Fall Classic again in Milwaukee. They moved again to Atlanta in 1966 and were swept by the New York Mets in the inaugural National League Championship Series, three games to none in 1969.

For what it's worth, an American League team came to Milwaukee in 1970 after the Seattle Pilots lasted just one year. But, to date, they have failed to win the Fall Classic.

Atlanta actually had to wait until 1991 to reach the World Series. There, they lost a classic, seven-game World Series in the seventh game on a 1-0, walkoff to the Minnesota Twins.



They made it back to the World Series in 1992, and gave the Toronto Blue Jays all they could handle. Again, it was a classic, but Toronto prevailed in six games.



The Braves were undaunted, and looked set to return for a third straight appearance in 1993, but the Philadelpha Phillies upset them in six games in the NLCS.

After not getting a chance due to the 1994 strike, it was on to 1995, where Atlanta took on the Cleveland Indians, who had won two Fall Classics by staying dead smack in the middle of Cleveland. Atlanta wasn't about to let this one slip away.

It went six games. But Tom Glavine's masterful 1-0, 1-hitter in game six brought it all home for this seemingly jinxed team. And it was Bobby Cox, in his second tour of duty as manager with Atlanta, who finally had his first Fall Classic win.



Few, if any baseball teams stay in their original location. With expansion to the west and later the sunbelt states, franchises were likely to find greener pastures. The Braves have managed to be a winner no matter where they end up. If they should ever relocate again, my money's on them winning it all no matter where they end up!

References

Enders, Eric. 100 years of the World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.

Mantle, Mickey, and Mickey Herskowitz. All My Octobers: My Memories of Twelve World Series When the Yankees Ruled Baseball. New York: HarperCollins, 1994. 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.

Sports Reference LLC.  Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 21 Dec. 2014.

World Series: Did You Know?

Ruth isn't the only player with good timing in the 1920s. Stuffy McInnis had some good timing during his stay on teams in both leagues. In doing so, he became the first player to win a World Series in both!

He only played in 38 games for the 1910 Philadelphia A's, and didn't appear in the World Series as the Athletics won. The next year, though, he appeared in 126 games, batted .321, knocked in 77 runs, and was there in October as Philly took home the Fall Classic for the second straight year.

McIinnis seemed to lack a great World Series performance, though. He appeared in just 1 game in the 1911 Fall Classic and never got to bat. In 1913, the A's won the World Series again, having missed out on a three-peat in 1912. Stuffy batted just .118 in the 5 game stanza. When the Athletics made it back in 1914, they lost. McInnis batted just .143 in the 1914 World Series.

On Stuffy McInnis went to the Boston Red Sox in 1918. Here, Stuffy batted .250 and knocked in just 1 run. But he got another ring. It seemed to be his last as McInnis went from Boston to Cleveland to Boston (NL) in the 1920s. He continued to put up good numbers, hitting over .300 four times.

But then Stuffy found his way to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1925. And it was good timing! They made the World Series. In game 1 against Washington, McInnis batted once in the bottom of the 8th. Facing the Senators' Walter Johnson as a pinch hitter, he fanned. He also had plenty of company as The Big Train had a total of 10 in the game. The Pirates lost.

The Pirates also lost 3 of the first 4 games. They looked down and out, and McInnis didn't play in any of them. But he was back in game 5.

He managed to get a hit in 5 trips to the plate. The hit drove in a valuable insurance run as the Pirates were clinging to a one-run lead at the time. The Pirates managed to win that game.

The also won the next game, but Stuffy failed to get a hit. Game 7 would be Walter Johnson on the hill for the Senators. McInnis would play.

Stuffy picked up 2 hits that did not fare into the scoring. But with a 9-7 win, the Pittsbrurgh Pirates were the World Series winners for 1925. McInnis became the first player to win a World Series with a team from both leagues!