World Series: Did You Know?

Tommy Thevenow hit two regular season home runs in 1926. Then he hit another in that year's Fall Classic. Those three would prove to be the only longballs of his MLB career! So the St. Louis Cardinals of '26 were getting power from the player you'd expect the least to do it!

Tommy wasn't much of a threat at the dish as he hit just .247 lifetime, so this has got to be one of the least likely World Series home runs ever.

It was in game two vs. the New York Yankees. I guess the fact that it came against a team that had Babe Ruth made it seem all the more unlikely. The Babe and his 'mates had taken game one, at home, 2-1. But Ruth did not go deep.

In game two, it was the Yankees' Urban Shocker and the Cardinals' Grover Cleveland Alexander. Thevenow got a single in the top of the second, but was subsequently stranded by the Cards. New York made 'em pay for that when they scored twice in the bottom of the frame. When you miss, the other team doesn't. It just seems like that in the Fall Classic!

But St. Louis came back with a pair of their own in the top of the third, in this most important game. And Alexander settled down. For a while, though, Shocker matched him.

In the top of the eighth, St. Louis pulled ahead. Thevenow singled a runner to third. Then, with two on and two outs, Billy Southworth proved his worth by belting a three-run home run. It must have shocked Shocker and the Yankees! Suddenly, it was 5-2, St. Louis.

However, there was still our boy's moment right? That came in the top of the ninth. You have Ruth and Lou Gehrig on New York, so a comeback isn't out of the question at this stage of the game. St. Louis would need more. And they got it.

New York had a new pitcher on the hill. Sad Sam Jones. Thevenow came up with the bases empty and one out. He hit a fly to right that dropped in despite Babe Ruth's best effort. Tommy raced around the bases and beat The Babe's throw home. It was the last run of the game. Ruth himself was the second last out of the game.

The World Series is like that sometimes. You have great sluggers who fail to go yard. And then you have someone who has no right to hit a home run, even an inside-the-park one. Thevenow went on to play exactly 1000 more games in the regular season, and even seven most games in the Fall Classic without ever hitting another home run! The Babe would hit three home runs alone in game four of this clash!

But that is what makes the Fall Classic so fun to watch! Imagine today, in the social media age. How would you hastag it? Here's how I would:

#TheBabe fails to #goyard and #Thevenow #does!


References


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. 30 Sept. 2015. <www.retrosheet.org>.

Sports Reference LLC.  Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.

Thorn, John, and Pete Palmer. Total Baseball. Vers. 1994. Portland, OR: Creative Multimedia Corp., 1994. Computer software. CD-ROM.

Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 30 Sept. 2014. <https://en.wikipedia.org>.

World Series: Did You Know?

Babe Ruth was invovled in the last out of both the 1926 and 1928 World Series.

And both were against my St. Louis Cardinals.

Actually, it looked like Ruth was going to bring it home all by himself in 1926! In game 4 of the Series, The Sultan Of Swat went deep. Three times! The Yankees took the game, 10-5.

But the Series was destined to go the limit.

In game 7, Ruth continued his heroics by slugging a home run of Hall Of Famer Jessie Haines to put the Yankees up 1-0 in the bottom of the 3rd. But the Cards weren't about to let this Series slip away.

In the top of the 4th, the Cardinals scored 3 runs. Two costly errors did in the Yankees. Third basemen Joe Dugan and left fielder Bob Meusel made a gaffe each and that cost starting pitcher Waite Hoyt dearly. None of the runs scored were earned.

Hoyt left after 6 innings, having allowed just 5 hits. Herb Pennock came in and blanked the Cardinals the rest of the way. With Ruth, Lou Gehrig and some other potent hitters around, New York were far from finished.

Indeed, with 2 down in bottom of the 6th, Dugan singled. He must have felt some redemption as Hank Severeid (a rather underrated player playing his final game) drove him home with a double. When Spencer Adams came in to pinch run for Hank, Severeid's career was over. New York could not get him home.

But the Yankees looked like they were going to send Severeid out a winner as they loaded the bases the very next inning against Haines. In came Grover Cleveland Alexander.

The batter was Tony Lazzeri.

Lazzeri lined a pitch just foul down the line, which might have scored at least 2 runs. Grover then fanned poor Tony. Was that it?

With 2 down in the bottom of the 9th, all that stood between the Cardinals and the crown was Ruth. St. Louis had the smarts to walk him. Bob Meusel was next. But Ruth decided he needed to be in scoring position.

Ruth tried to steal and was gunned out by catcher Bob O'Farrell, who fired to Rogers Hornsby. Hornsby, (2nd basemen for those who don't know) slapped the tag on Ruth to end it.

But when the two teams played 2 years later, Ruth and his mates were out for revenge. Quick revenge. New York took the first 3 games 4-1, 9-3 and 7-3.

They actually trailed 2-1 in game 4, but a 4-run 7th put the Bombers up by 3 runs. Two more runs in the top of the 8th made it 7-2, Yankees.

In the bottom of the 9th, the Cardinals scored a run to make it 7-3. But there were now two outs. However, two singles put runners on the corners. Would the Yankees lose it now?

Frankie Frisch lifted a flyball in foul territory to left. It appeared to be heading into the seats.

Well, it was. But the very man who put a lot of baseballs into the seats (fair) was there to make sure it never made it! The Bambino, who was a better fielder than given credit for (and not to mention playing with a injured ankle), raced over and caught it over the railing. Ruth continued on into the dugout. There was nothing more to say, really.

But hey, when Ruth is involved in the last out of a World Series, what fan would not be on the edge of their seats?