June 5, 1915
Phillies @ St. Louis Cardinals
Athletics vs. St. Louis Browns
Today is the 100-year anniversary of Denmark’s
constitutional amendment allowing for women’s suffrage. Denmark was the eighth territory or nation to
permanently allow women the right to vote following the Pitcairn Islands
(1838), Isle of Man (1881), New Zealand (1893), Cook Islands (1893), Australia
(1902), Finland (1906), and Norway (1913).
Most European nations granted suffrage after World War I and the United
States did so in 1920.
In other world news, it appeared that President Woodrow
Wilson’s most recent letter to Germany may have convinced the warring nation
that diplomacy could end the conflict sooner rather than later. Germany’s ambassador to the United States,
Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff, sent an envoy to Berlin to advise the
government on how to handle their official reply to Wilson, which meant the
reply probably wouldn’t be prepared until at least June 20. Think about that. It took more than two weeks to travel from
the US to Germany. In 1815 it would have
taken months! Now it takes hours! Maybe in 100 years it will only take minutes. Anyway, back in 1915, leaked information to
the media had it that Germany was going to declare that their relations to the
US could not be severed without significant harm and that the US should be the
mediator to end the war. Sadly, we know
that this will not happen and the war will continue in its horrendous state for
four more years.[1]
Yesterday the Phillies spent the day taking the long train
ride out to St. Louis to play their first series west of the Appalachian
Mountains. Hell, it was actually their
first series that didn’t take place in Philadelphia, New York, or Boston. The Cardinals were a mediocre team. They came into the series by going 3-2-1 in a
six-game series against Cincinnati, which brought their record to 21-21 on the
year, good enough for fifth place in the National League. Today’s pitching matchup was supposed to be
outstanding, Grover Cleveland Alexander versus Bill Doak, but at the last
moment Cardinals manager Miller Huggins decided it was futile to try to beat
Alexander and his club would be better served having its ace go tomorrow
against less qualified competition. As
it turned out Miller was correct.
In Doak’s stead on the bump was Lee Meadows, a 20-year
right-hander from North Carolina that was given the oh-so-clever nickname of
Specs (he wore glasses). He would go on
to play 15 years in the big leagues with the Cardinals, Phillies, and Pirates
but was always something of an average player.
Today was Meadows’ sixth start of his rookie season, and while his
record of 4-1 indicates he had been pitching very well, his 3.68 ERA tells a
story more in line with how he performed for the rest of his career. Dave Bancroft set the tone in the first for
this team that was tired of losing, tired of slumping, and fully intent on
jumping back over the Cubs for the top spot in the National League. His double to right was the spark of a first
inning rally. Seven Phillies came to the
plate and scored three runs on three hits, two walks, and two Cardinal errors. The offense helped out early, but this game
belonged to Grover Cleveland Alexander.
Pitching with the lead allowed Old Pete to his best version,
and if he ever pitched a better game than he did today it was only by centimeters. The first inning was a total shutdown inning;
two weak grounders and a strikeout showed St. Louis that Alex meant
business. In the second he retired them
in order as well. And then he did the
same in the third, fourth, and fifth. In
the sixth, Alexander had his first blemish, a walk to catcher Frank Snyder, but
after a fielder’s choice and a strikeout he was back on his no-hitter
pace. The Cardinals couldn’t put a man
on in the seventh or eighth innings.
Through eight Alex had faced 25 batters, struck out six, and gave up
zero hits.
Bottom of the ninth and Alex was three outs away from the
first Phillies no-hitter since Johnny Lush accomplished the feat against
Brooklyn in 1906. Frank Snyder started
off the inning with an out; only two more until history. Next up is pinch hitter Jack Roche. Roche, with is .182 on-base percentage, was
no match for the glorious Alexander and he struck out, Alex’s seventh of the
game. Two down, one to go. Art Butler was next, and if his three
previous at bats meant anything he would be an easy out. He started the game with a weak grounder to
second, hit lazy pop out in the fourth, and struck out in the sixth. He hadn’t squared up one ball day and wouldn’t
you know it Butler swung at a pitch, probably with his eyes closed, and
squeezed out a base hit! Ughhh! So close!
All he needed was one more good pitch to complete the no-hitter! Undeterred and probably in a fit of rage, Alexander
struck out Bob Bescher to finish off his third shutout of the season. It is almost disappointing.
But what wasn’t disappointing was the Phillies second win in
a row, something they hadn’t done since May 25 and 27! I know Alexander had had a few games recently
when he didn’t pitch his best and it meant the Phillies stayed mired in their
losing ways, but when he was on his game there is nobody better than him in
baseball. A pitching effort like that
can be a thing the team rallies behind; the hitters are excited to hit for a
guy throwing like that and the pitcher want to match his excellence. To pitch that game after riding on a train
for a day, and after his team had been taking loss after loss, really shows
what a special talent Old Pete was. But
Alexander’s wasn’t the only amazing feat of the day; the three teams
surrounding the Phillies at the top of the standings somehow all lost
today. Now the Phillies were only a game
back of the Cubs, two and half ahead of the Dodgers, and three ahead of Boston. A near no-hitter and gaining a lot of ground in the standings made it a truly great
day for Phillies fans.
[1]
“Way To Peace Is Hinted At In German Reply,” Evening Ledger, June 5, 1915, accessed June 5, 2015, http://1.usa.gov/1ARXD7W.
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