June 26, 1915
Phillies vs. Brooklyn Dodgers
Athletics @ Washington Senators
Well it looks like the bad news coming from Mexico, or not
coming out if you want to be literal, was reaching a new boiling point. Just a month or so after President Woodrow
Wilson threatened intervention if the sides in the Mexican Revolution did not
make means to adequately feed the starving citizens, General Gonzales, leader
of Venustiano Carranza’s Constitutionalist Army, cut wires from Mexico City to
Vera Cruz, effectively isolating the capital from the rest of the world since
June 18th. Emiliano Zapata, who
along with Pancho Villa had been allies with Carranza as of only a year or so
ago, was now engaged in an artillery battle with Gonzales’ forces outside the
city. All the while the famine
continued. The United States wasn’t prepared
to make a statement or take action until after President Wilson returned from
his trip to Cornish.[1]
Also occuring today, the German newspaper Tageblatt, known to be an instrument of
the German government, released an article explaining Germany’s views towards
in the US in light of the sinking of the Lusitania. The paper blamed the press in both countries
for pushing a jingo mentality that made it look like the German’s were
indifferent to the American deaths at the hands of submarines when, in reality,
Germany was sympathetic to President Wilson’s concerns. Any reports that Germany wished to draw
America into the war as an enemy were misinformed. “The German people and the German Government
cannot too emphatically assert their earnest desire to maintain relations of
the utmost friendliness with the United States through all honorable
means.” But this didn’t mean that there
were no problems that needed to be resolved.
As much as the US wished Germany to restrict submarines to war missions
only, the Germans were concerned with the amount of ammunition it was selling
to the Allies, stating that “While America is adhering to the letter of the
law, she is helping prolong this unfortunate and bloody conflict.” The statement also reaffirmed the German
government and people’s desire to continue using submarines, as they are
“practically our only weapon against British contraband commerce.” The article certainly relieved tensions and
opened a door to negotiations, but it still did not give Wilson the answer he
was looking for. At the same time, it
was hardly fair for the US to ask the Germans to stop using one of their most
effective weapons while at the same time supplying their enemy with weapons to
kill them.[2]
If international relations are too heavy for you, there is
baseball to report! In 1915, June 26th
was Saturday, which always meant big crowds for the home team. The Phillies game against the Dodgers drew
14,000 fans, the third largest crowd the Baker Bowl had seen all year, most
likely because it was Grover Cleveland Alexander’s turn on the hill. The Phillies drew over 10,000 fans five times
so far this season and four of those were Alexander starts. This was only Alex’s second start against he
Dodger’s this season and the first didn’t quite go his way. He pitched fine, but fine to Alexander was a
complete failure. On June 1 he allowed
three runs in seven innings of work before being pinch-hit for as the Phillies
were in desperate need of runs. It was
the only game so far this year that Alexander didn’t complete.
Brooklyn had their Phillie-killer Jack Coombs on the
mound. The former-Athletic won all three
games he pitched against Philadelphia and had a minuscule 1.67 ERA. But sometimes wins and ERA can be
deceiving. His WHIP in these games was
1.30, meaning that the Phillies did hit him around and work counts while
failing to push across runs. Coombs may
have had confidence that he could beat the Phillies every time he pitched, but
the Phillies hitters also knew in the back of their minds that eventually his
luck would run out.
This game was yet another pitching duel. Alexander seemed to have no trouble mowing
down the Dodgers in order time after time.
Coombs allowed Phillies base runners in the first and fourth, but
nothing materialized. It wasn’t until
the seventh that Philadelphia broke the stalemate in a way that would make Ryne
Sandberg proud: small ball. Bert
Niehoff, the offensive player of the game, got his second hit and was moved to
third on a hit-and-run and fielder’s choice.
With two out, Possum Whitted was hit by a Coomb’s fastball and, breaking
a huge baseball commandment, stole second with the league leader in batting
average up and a runner on third.
Luckily, Whitted was safe and his gamble paid off when Fred Luderus
laced a ball pass first baseman Jake Daubert for the RBI single.
The eighth inning started with Alexander once again edging
toward a perfect game. There were no
walks or hits and, other than a line drive hit right at Beals Becker, not even
a hard-hit ball from the Brooklyn batsmen.
But, as was the trend when Alex took a no-hitter late into a game this
season, a dinky little bleeder into right from Zack Wheat ended his
chance. The poor guy sure could dominate
all game only to have the cheapest of hits end his chance for history. Wheat, however, stood on first for the
remainder of the inning watching Alexander resume his tyranny of his teammates. A scary moment happened when Casey Stengal
hit a sharp grounder back to the box that Alexander regretfully tried to field
with his pitching hand, jamming some fingers.
But Alex is a beast and not only did he continue the play to get Stengal
at first, he stayed in to finish off the Dodgers. The Phillies added two more runs in the
eighth, with a little help from Alexander himself, and won the game 4-0.
The most amazing stats of Alexander’s second one-hitter of
the season were that the game was over in an hour and nine minutes and he only
needed 76 pitches to get a complete game shutout. An hour
and nine minutes! Seventy-six pitches! As the writer looking back on Alexander’s
season I find it incredible that just when you think he pitched his best game
of the year, he goes out and finishes off an opponent in an hour and nine
minutes using only 76 pitches. And to
think that he wasn’t even on the ballot
for Philadelphia when MLB ran their “Top Four Players in Franchise History”
earlier this season. He is the third
best pitcher in franchise history (according to rWAR) and he only played about
half the years of the others on the ballot.
Here are the top Phillies pitchers by WAR per season with the club:
1. Grover
Cleveland Alexander 7.54 WAR/8 years
2. Jim
Bunning 5.23 WAR/6 years
3. Robin
Roberts 4.98 WAR/14 years
4. Steve
Carlton 4.31 WAR/15 years
It’s not even close!
Obviously Alexander was a special player that deserves to be recognized
for his achievements in Philadelphia, even if the club and MLB want to ignore
him. Man, that was a bit of a
tangent. Back to 1915.[3] [4]
The Cubs lost so that means their lead over Philadelphia was
back to 3.5 games. Tomorrow 100 years
ago was a Sunday and as we’ve discussed there was no baseball allowed on Sunday
in Pennsylvania. So the Phils will have
the day off. But Chicago has a
doubleheader in Cincinnati, so when Philadelphia plays next the standings could
have shifted significantly against them or in their favor. Okay, spoiler alert, the Cubs and Reds split
and the standings remain exactly the same.
No use building drama that wasn’t there.
The National League was shaping up as a four-team race with Chicago,
Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh all within 4.5 games of first. Boston was always a threat, but they had
fallen off as of late, while New York, Cincinnati, and Brooklyn couldn’t get
out of their own way. The Phillies could
start to do some serious damage as their upcoming schedule includes Brooklyn,
Boston, and New York before the top clubs come for a visit later in July. But, as we have seen, sometimes this club
didn’t take advantage of the opportunities there were given.
[1]
“Situation In Mexico City Grows Worse,” The
Intelligencer, June 26, 1915, accessed June 26, 2015, http://1.usa.gov/1BHaGJN.
[3]
“Alex Allows But One Hit; Phillies Beat Jack Coombs,” Evening Ledger, June 26, 1915, accessed June 26, 2015, http://1.usa.gov/1GOcoZ2.
[4]
“Alexander Blanks Dodgers With A Hit,” The
Sun, June 27, 1915, accessed June 26, 2015, http://1.usa.gov/1BSw53f.
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