June 29, 1915
Phillies vs. Brooklyn Dodgers
Athletics @ Washington Senators
The German and Russian armies were engaged in a months long
battle that will result in the Great Retreat of 1915. The Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive was launched in
early May as a way for the German’s to relieve the Austrian army from the
mounting pressure of the Russians. For
the past two months Germany shattered the Russian armies time and time again,
gaining large chunks of territory in the area between Poland and Ukraine known
as Galicia. Today the news got worse for
the Russians as they lost yet another battle, capitulating Halych and allowing
the Germans to stream across the Dniester River. Reports were that Russian General Grand Duke
Nicholas was pulling his troops to the River Bug where he would attempt a
resistance to save Warsaw from the Central Powers (spoiler, it wouldn’t work). The Russians have spent the past year of the
war getting embarrassingly manhandled by the Germans, and while the retreat was
tactically the right thing to do, it none-the-less was a major blow to morale.[1]
In Philadelphia, the news was going from bad to worse for
Athletics fans. The club was destined to
fail once Connie Mack started selling off his best assets the previous winter,
but because the Tall Tactician had pulled miracles from his hat before,
expectations remained high coming into the year. At this point in the season, though, it was
clear Mack was wrong in his assessments of the club. Yesterday, faced with an almost certain last
place finish, Mack sold Bob Shawkey to the Yankees, but that was not the final
blow of the week. Jack Barry, the famed
shortstop that anchored the defense of the $100,000 Infield and fan favorite,
was the latest to hit the rumor mill.
Mack would not confirm nor deny that Barry was on the trade block,
mostly because news of Shawkey’s availability made it impossible to trade him,
resulting in his outright sale to New York, but the beat reporters for the A’s
had it on good authority that Barry was on his way out of Philadelphia. If the rumors were true, it meant only Stuffy
McInnis remained from the great A’s dynasty the ended last year. The decline of the Athletics was amazing in
its swiftness. Sitting here in late
June, even with the club sitting 19.5 games out of first place, it must have
come as a shock to the fans that the club actually entered a rebuilding
phase. Before too long the once proud
Athletics would need the names sewn onto their jersey just so the loyal rooters
would know whom they were rooting for.
The last gut-punch of the day came when the A’s were blanked in
Washington by a score of 8-0.
The reporters following the Phillies were ready to once
again admit that a “slump is evident.”
This club that was supposed to start hitting once they returned to the
Baker Bowl had not, and the lack of run support made for a frustrating series
against the last place Dodgers. Today’s
game was Philadelphia’s chance to split the series, certainly not their
intention at the start four days ago, but faced with the facts, a split would
be a nice result for the Phillies. Even
if the reporters were forced to concede the presence of the slump, they
remained always optimistic: “They are merely in one of those unexplainable
slumps, and the fans may be thankful that Moran has a game team of natural long
distance hitters and sooner or later they will cut loose.”[2]
It didn’t look like today would be the day the Phillies cut
loose, at least not in the beginning of the contest. Brooklyn jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first
off of Phillies starter George Chalmers.
Wheezer Dell stunted the Phillies, allowing only one base runner in the
form of Bert Niehoff’s double through the first three innings. When Dell singled back through the box with
the bases loaded in the top of the fourth to give the Dodgers a 4-0 lead, it
would not have been unexpected for the Phillies to continue to falter at the
plate and take the loss in stride. But
for whatever reason, today was not a normal day for the Phillies. They showed the heart of a champion that they
possessed at times this season, but had been mostly dormant for weeks. Even though they didn’t play their best, they
managed to fight back to wrest control of the game away from Brooklyn.
Possum Whitted and Gavvy Cravath lead off the bottom of the
fourth with back-to-back singles. Beals
Becker launched a deep fly ball to left that “Wheat misjudged…and it bounded
into the left-field bleachers for a home run.”
Prior to the 1930 season for the American League and 1931 for the
National League, all balls that cleared the outfield fence, either on a fly or
after a bounce in fair territory, were considered home runs. So while it seems Becker’s drive should have
resulted in an out had Zack Wheat played it properly, it was a three-run home run
by way of a ground rule double ball.
Interesting! And the rally
continued when Bert Niehoff scored the tying run on a ground out second. Finally, the bats had bailed out the pitching
staff for once this season. It was a new
ballgame at the end of four.
The Phillies threatened again in the fifth when Dell walked
the bases loaded with two out. Ed
Appleton was called on to put the fire out, which he did successfully by
getting Niehoff to fly out to center. Chalmers
calmed down after the early fireworks, getting a whole mess of groundballs to
put the Dodgers out. He finished the
game allowing only two more Dodgers to reach base, both of which we left
stranded. The game was hard fought,
vacillating between great shows of offense and timely pitching. Finally, though, the Phillies broke through
in the seventh inning. After launching a
double to start the inning, Dave Bancroft was moved along by way of small ball
before scoring on another groundball out.
The final was a win by the Phillies by the score of 5-4.[3]
It was not an easy game for the Phillies, that’s for sure,
but they showed a lot of guts to battle from behind to overtake the
Dodgers. Yes, a series split wasn’t the
best outcome for the Phillies when Brooklyn rode into town, but today’s win was
a step in the right direction. Winning
streaks have to start somewhere, and if the previous games were
disappointments, at least some comfort could be taken in this being a potential
jumping-off point for the pennant. Tomorrow
the Boston Braves rolled into town, yet another club that Philadelphia should
handle with ease. But if the past were
an indication of the future, there was the possibility that the Phillies would
play down to the sinking Braves. Last
year’s miracle run meant the Braves would be watched with a suspicious eye all
season long, as though they were always on the precipice of flipping the switch
that made them league champions. This
was the case as their train pulled into the station in Philadelphia, but few at
the time would have predicted that it was the Phillies that were about to run
to the pennant.
[1]
“Kaiser’s Army Gains On Both Galicia Fronts,” Evening Ledger, June 29, 1915, accessed June 29, 2015, http://1.usa.gov/1SXUmJi.
[2]
“Barry Next Of Athletics’ Great Machine Slated To Go,” Evening Ledger, June 29, 1915, accessed June 29, 2015, http://1.usa.gov/1SXUmJi.
[3]
“Phillies Win Uphill Battle 5-4; Becker’s Homer The Feature,” Evening Ledger, June 29, 1915, accessed
June 29, 2015, http://1.usa.gov/1CEzZHA.
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