May 14, 1915
Phillies vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
As was usual these days, World War I news gripped the
headlines in Philadelphia. The Italians
were demonstrating in the streets in favor of joining the war effort. Prime Minister Antonio Salandra had dismissed
the cabinet before the discussion of war against Austria and Germany could be
addressed and the citizens were not happy.
All over, from Rome to Milan, protesters begged for King Victor Emmanuel
III to force the cabinet to reform so war could be declared. Was this unrest a vision of the future in the
United States? Possibly, but for now the US was relatively calm. There was some low-level
anxiety, though, because President Woodrow Wilson was anticipating a prompt
reply from the Germans in regards to the demands he made of them to make the
Lusitania bombing right in the eyes of America.
He found out he would not receive the message today, though, because the
telegraph cables were too tied up with transmissions. State officials were saying it would probably
be a week before the German government would respond to the message Wilson sent
last night. A week! Could you imagine such an important message
taking that long today? What people
would do? I mean a slow trickle of news
about Marcus Mariota a few weeks ago sent everyone off into speculation and
mayhem, imagine if we had to wait a week for any news at all about whether or
not the country was going to war. As
this was happening, news was coming from across the Atlantic that the British
were rounding up Germans for internment camps, and from across the Pacific that
Chinese citizens were protesting against the Japanese. If this mess of a world was what Americans
were reading about day in and day out, no wonder they wanted to stay the hell
out of European affairs.[1]
Plus there was no baseball in the European affairs! And today was a great day to be a baseball
fan in Philadelphia. The Athletics had
the day off, so there was no need to worry about how awful they were going to
play today, and the Phillies played a great game against the Pirates. It certainly didn’t start out great, but
all’s well that ends well, especially when the club is in a bit of a winning
slump. George Chalmers took the hill for
the Phillies for his fourth start of the season. He pitched exceptionally well but once again
the defense failed him. Through the
first five innings, Chalmers let up three runs, but all were unearned because
the Phillies committed five errors.
Could you imagine how quiet the Baker Bowl must have been? The previous two weeks was full of bad
defense and bad hitting, and, here we go again, balls booted about the infield
have the Pirates up 3-0.
Pittsburgh had a 21-year old righty that was in the process
of transitioning from a reliever to a starter named Al Mamaux start the
game. Whether he was magnificent or the
Phillies were still slumping is unknown, but he managed to hold Philadelphia to
three hits through the first six innings.
Ugh. When will the
underperforming stop with this club?!
Well, it just so happens that the answer to that question is "the seventh inning."
Apparently the Phillies were trying to be extra patient by waiting until
they had two strikes before offering at a pitch. Mamaux was in control today, which meant that
the two-strike pitch often became an out for the Phillies. In the seventh inning, the Phillies changed
their approach and jumped on the first strike they saw. Four singles in a row led to two runs,
cutting the score to 3-2. However, two
men were stranded in the inning and the club’s best chance to stick it to the
Pirates may have just slipped from their grasp.
Gavvy Cravath stepped to the plate to lead off the eighth,
facing relief pitcher Babe Adams. His 0
for 2 performance at the plate today continued his slump and dropped his
batting average to a god-awful .240.
But, as they say, Gavvy was due.
The first pitch he saw to open the inning he crushed over the wall in
the deepest part of center field for one of the longest home runs in Baker Bowl
history, tying the game at three. It was
the first time all year he hit a home run on consecutive days, and this one
couldn’t have come at a better time for the club. The rally was on. Possum Whitted hit the first pitch he saw for
a single to center. Bert Niehoff, also
swinging first pitch, belted a double to left.
Dode Paskert was no fool; he saw what was happening here. He, too, swung at the first pitch and dropped
a double over centerfielder Doug Baird’s head, driving in two runs and giving
the Phillies the lead. On four pitches
in the eighth inning the Phillies scored three runs on a home run, two doubles,
and a single. Erskine Mayer came in to
relieve Eppa Rixey (who replaced Chalmers in the seventh after he was pinch hit
for by Bud Weiser) and nailed down the first save of the season for the
Phillies. Saves were not a stat at the
time, but Mayer was credited with one retroactively. Rixey was credited with the win, but Chalmers
deserved at better result after only giving up six hits through seven innings
of work. Thank God the bats finally came
to life today; fans hoped this explosion would break the ice and lead to more
crooked-numbered innings. It was good to
see that everyone got at least one hit in the game except for Bill Killefer,
who was playing for the first time in four days. Cravath’s home run was his fifth on the year
and put him over Beals Becker for the team lead. Only twenty players in all of baseball would
hit more home runs over the whole season than Cravath hit in the first month! Three of them were Phillies: Beals Becker,
Dave Bancroft, and Fred Luderus.[2]
Today marks the end of the first month of the season. The Phillies were in first place with a
record of 15-8, a game up on the second place Chicago Cubs. Through all the ups and downs that have
occurred so far, you’d have to say the first month was a complete success for
the club. Holding onto first place for
an entire month is a great accomplishment in and of itself. Yes, they didn’t capitalize on their
incredible start by establishing a wide gap between them and second place, but they
maintained and sailed their way through the rough seas of their hitting
slump. After today’s game, it looked
like the slump was behind them. Now they
had to look forward to the weather getting warmer (hitting weather, as Charlie
Manuel would say) and their pitching staff was rounding into shape now that
Mayer, Rixey, and Chalmers were complimenting Grover Cleveland Alexander. The future looked bright from where the
Phillies sat 100 years ago. The best
part was that they weren’t the butt of jokes in Philadelphia anymore; the punchlines were now reserved for Connie Mack and the Athletics, who finished out their
first month losing two of three to the St. Louis Browns. The A’s weren’t in last place, but they were
trying like hell to take it away from the Browns. The standings seem pertinent considering
where both Philadelphia clubs were heading this season, but to those living at
this time, it also must have seemed like the world was upside down. The Phillies in first and A’s in the second
division? Really? With all the upheaval to the normal order of
things that was occurring in Europe and Asia in 1915, this relatively
insignificant piece of baseball news must have just been the cherry on top to
Philadelphia fans.
[2]
“Just A Little Hitting Changes Complexion Of Phils’ Play,” Evening Ledger, May 15, 1915, accessed May 12, 2015, http://1.usa.gov/1cOJ7Do.
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