May 17, 1915
Phillies vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Athletics @ Chicago White Sox
Well, it certainly looked like Italy was going to be joining
the Great War on the side of the Allies.
The parties in government that wished the nation to remain neutral
despite the almost continuous uproar for war made by the citizens had abandoned
their stance. Thousands in Rome cheered
the news that mobilization was on the precipice of commencement. For the Austro-German army, a new front
against the Italians was horrible news.
The German government watched the Italian situation so closely that it
caused a delay in their reply about the Lusitania demands President Woodrow
Wilson sent days ago. In the meantime,
the focus on Italy was expected to slow down the use of submarines until a
definitive stance can be taken.[1]
Possum Whitted was still out of the lineup with broken bones
in his ankle, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t making news. Whitted, who had come over to the Phillies by
way of the trade that sent long time fan favorite Sherry Magee to Boston, believed
the Phillies were already a better club than the Miracle Braves of last year,
saying, “If I were made a free agent tomorrow, and had my pick of any club in
the entire country and were figuring on playing in a world’s series, I would
not hesitate to pick the Phillies. I
think, right now, it is the best team in the country, and will get better right
along.” This was a big assessment by the
newest member of the club. The Braves of
1914 made one the greatest comebacks in history of sports when they rattled off
68 wins in the second half of the season, going from worst to first in a matter
of months. Possum was saying all the
right things to boost his club. The fans
must have been excited to have their favorite club mentioned in the same
sentence as the Miracle Braves and his teammates no doubt were looking to him
as a leader as he praised them publicly.
Possum went on to talk up the pitching staff, even the youngsters that
were not getting the attention they deserved because they were overshadowed by
the likes of Grover Cleveland Alexander and Erskine Mayer. Even from his position on the bench Whitted
was able to inspire his club to great things.
Today, in their second game against he Cardinals, the
Phillies played inspired ball. Sadly,
morning rains kept the crowds away from watching a rare feat for Dead Ball Era
baseball. It all started in the bottom
of the third. With the score tied 0-0
and Dave Bancroft and Bobby Byrne on base, Gavvy Cravath swatted a long, high
home run that cleared the extended right field fence and land in Broad
Street. Cactus Cravath was on fire this
week, hitting .429/.500/1.214 with three home runs, a triple, and five
RBIs. Two batters later Bert Niehoff
deposited his first long ball of the year into the left field bleachers. In the fifth, Beals Becker tried to match
Cravath’s home run, but came up just a few feet short; still, the ball landed
in Broad Street for the Phillies third home run of the game. They scored five runs on the day, all from
home runs, something almost unheard of before Babe Ruth made the home run a
common part of the game. The Evening Ledger subduedly said, “Three
home-run drives are indeed out of the ordinary, and when one considers that the
Phillies only scored five runs, it is all the more remarkable.” They also had a sub-headline that is would be
so obvious today that it stands out as funny: “Crowds Love Those Home-run Swats.”[2]
Erskine Mayer certainly loved those home run swats as they
let him pitch with a lead most of the day.
He didn’t give the Cardinals much except for during the fourth and fifth
innings when maybe he lost a bit of focus after watching all the home runs sail
out of the park. After allowing a few
doubles and home run that netted three runs, Mayer settled back into form finished
his fifth complete game win of the season.
Even though the club didn’t have its full set of starting players, they
were providing more than enough runs for the stellar pitching staff to lock
down wins. Whitted had said in the
interview mentioned earlier that he believed the Phillies pitching to be the
best in the country; it would be hard to argue otherwise since the team had a
1.78 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, and 105 strikeouts.
The past three games turned the Phillies fortunes around
quite a bit. The losing streak that
bogged them down for weeks was transformed into a winning streak that brought
their record in May to one game over .500.
The bats put up 21 runs during this stretch and were back operating at
pre-slump levels, maybe even a bit better.
The defense that was committing multiple errors per game had only two
versus the Cardinals. Okay, so the
defense wasn’t quite up to snuff with the pitching and offense, but they were getting
better. Since this was the only National
League game that was played today, the Phillies gained a half game on every
other club. The Phillies were sitting
pretty at this point in the season, and with games against the meek Cardinals
and Reds left this month, the time was now to really put some distance between
them and second place.
[1]
“All Italy In Arms As Die Is Cast For War; ‘Neutral’ Party Abandons Peace
Hope,” Evening Ledger, May 18, 1915,
accessed May 14, 2015, http://1.usa.gov/1G9uOVd.
[2]
“Phils’ Pennant? Can It Be True? George Whitted Swears By It,” Evening Ledger, May 18, 1915, accessed
May 14, 2015, http://1.usa.gov/1RJIbzX.
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