Reviews

This World Series Keeps Getting Better

10/28/2013

Hornsby and the ball were waiting for the Babe

This was always going to be a terrific World Series, what with the two ancient franchises, the Cardinals and the Red Sox, and their history of three previous Series.

The Series kept getting more interesting, necessarily in technical brilliance but in the misplays that have determined the last three games – a wild throw, an obstruction, a pickoff.

Before we go any further, let’s put Kolten Wong’s pickoff in perspective. The pinch-runner for the Cardinals was caught off first base to end the fourth game very late Sunday evening.

An entire World Series once ended with a runner caught trying to steal second base. That was George Herman Ruth, who took it upon himself to try to steal with two outs and nobody on in the seventh game, with the Yankees trailing the Cardinals, 3-2.

The batter was merely Bob Meusel, who was hitting only .238 for the Series but was the cleanup hitter. Lou Gehrig was on deck. The Babe was easily thrown out, tagged by the Cards’ player-manager Rogers Hornsby. The pitcher was Grover Cleveland Alexander, working in relief.

Over the years, the legend has persisted that Alexander was hung over after pitching the day before, but he later denied it.
If the Babe can end a Series with a gaffe, Kelton Wong can surely end a game by straying too far off first with the superb Koji Uehara pitching.

I was looking forward to this Series if only because of the epic Series of 1946, the first I remember, with its returning service veterans, plus the matchup between Stan Musial and Ted Williams, and Enos’ Slaughter romp home in the seventh game.

What makes that memory so strong is that the World Series stood by itself in those days, with no post-season tournament beforehand. (The Cardinals had survived a league playoff after tying Brooklyn, but that’s a different category.)

These moments – the Babe’s blunder, Slaughter’s romp, Bob Gibson’s pitching in 1967, Manny Ramirez’ hitting in 2004 – stand out because they happened in the World Series, not in that growing amorphous blob that MLB and the networks call the post season. Kolten Wong’s pickoff and Will Middlebrooks’ inadvertent obstruction in the third game will stand up precisely because they happened in the World Series.

Ruth’s final out:

http://baberuthmuseum.org/press/didyouknow/?article_id=122

Box scores from 1926:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA192610100.shtml

Alexander’s side of it, recently posted by the historian John Thorn:

http://ourgame.mlblogs.com/2012/12/18/grover-cleveland-alexander-remembers-1926-world-series-game-7/

Craig Oren

10/28/2013 03:26:57 am

well, strictly speaking, there wasn't nobody on, because by definition Ruth was on first. In the autobiography with Bob Considine, Ruth says that Ed Barrow called that "the only thing Ruth did on a baseball field that I disagreed with" or words that effect.

George Vecsey

10/28/2013 05:42:45 am

Ruth had great instincts, baseball intelligence, although one of those links notes that Ruth succeeded on only 51 per cent on his attempted steals. He played the outfield and ran the bases very well -- much like Roger Maris in his two great seasons with the Yankees.
Thanks for your comment, GV

Ed Martin

10/28/2013 11:26:47 am

Your report on the Babe caught stealing,reminded me of a tale my Dad used to tell, the sports writer Bugs Baer, wrote after a failed steal by a player who roomed with Babe Forrest awhile, "There was larceny in his heart, but his feet were honest."

Here is a bit about the player, Ping liked to laugh it up and was usually the center of attention. He roomed with Babe Ruth when he was with the Yankees. When asked about what it was like to room with the Bambino, Bodie replied, "It was like rooming with a suitcase." He would often say, "Did you see the way I smacked the old onion around?" Bodie is often credited (along with several other players, including Ed Walsh) with being the model of the ballplayer in Ring Lardner's You Know Me Al stories that appeared in the Saturday Evening Post, but he possessed a self-knowledge alien to Lardner's Jack Keefe. Even Bodie's failures brought a laugh. Bugs Baer, a sportswriter for the Hearst Publications, once described Ping's attempt to steal a base: "There was larceny in his heart but his feet were honest." Never modest, Ping asserted during a stint in Philadelphia under Connie Mack, "I and the Liberty Bell are the only attractions in Philadelphia." Since he was playing on one of the worst teams ever, he was probably right.
His name, anglicized was Francesco Stefano Pezzolo, but fearing ridicule for his Italian name he called himself Ping Bodie.

10/28/2013 11:30:03 am

I am not sure who Babe Forrest is, you would have to ask Steve Jobs and auto spell. "Babe for a while."

George Vecsey

10/28/2013 12:32:45 pm

I can't figure out any of Mr. Jobs' gadgets.
Thanks for the Ping Bodie stories....
GV

Alan Rubin link

10/28/2013 03:58:44 pm

You know that it is a great World Series when my wife called my attention to the story of the “first ever” obstruction call to end a World Series game.

We will be married 52 years this December, but other than sports questions for the NYT crossword puzzle, Sandi had never read an article in a sports page.

Yes, there is something special about two pre-expansion teams from quality organizations. Although growing up a die-hard Yankee fan in Washington Heights when it was a three team city, I always liked the Cards as the result of reading the “Gashouse Gang”.

Boston made a fan friendly decision to remodel rather than replace Fenway Park. The main reason I do not root for Boston since I retired to the Berkshires is the total craziness of what the locals call the “Red Sox Nation”. Little old ladies walk around dressed in Sox caps, shirts, etc, and baseball conversations are dominated by the Sox.

Going back to the time of true World Series in early October, each league had only eight teams. The many intercity rivalries added to fan excitment; NY (3), Boston (2), Chicago (2), Philadelphia (2), St. Louis (2)—the other teams being Cincinnati, Detroit, Washington, Pittsburg, Cleveland. Also, many players stayed with the same team long enough that one hardly needed a score card to know them.

This Boston-St. Louis series brings back many memories.

George Vecsey

10/29/2013 04:29:58 am

Alan, you're right. We encountered that in our swath through the Berkshires a few summers ago.
My agent just told me she washed out her Ortiz 34 jersey for Wednesday night.
Then again, what about that sea of red in St. Louis? Even more overwhelming.
GV

Peter Kennedy link

10/29/2013 03:05:54 am

Great history lessons, George et al. It is indeed a rich rivalry we're treated to this year. Personally, I'm always happy to see the Cards (if it can't be the Mets!) playing in October as my one and only World Series ticket was Game 4 of the '64 series, when Ken Boyer hit that memorable grand salami to beat the Yanks 4-3. I believe Tim McCarver hit .478 that Series, and this will be his last in the broadcast booth, we're told. To Alan Rubin's comment about living in the Berkshires, I live in the part of Connecticut that is about 60% Red Sox Nation, and it's all good. Baseball needs all the passion it can muster, as long as it's positive. But there is, I agree, something very special about pre-expansion rivalries. As well as masterful pitching, as we witnessed last night. I am grateful for all of this. It is a long winter.

George Vecsey

10/29/2013 04:32:31 am

Pete, great to hear from you. I agree. I have been thinking, during the earlier four-hour games, that I might as well enjoy it because it's a long time til the next set of games...in March. Now I can pay more attention to soccer games, but I admit, I am not looking forward to nights without baseball. GV

Alan Rubin link

10/29/2013 05:50:19 am

Peter,

You are right about the fun of the rivalries.

I worked for Pratt & Whitney Aircraft right out of grad school for two years, 1958-60. It was a mix of locals, various New Englanders and transplanted Bostonians and New Yorkers. I had heated Yankee-Giant-Dodger “discussions” as a youngster, but it hardly prepared me for the avid Sox and UCONN fans. It was easier to agree on religion.

My mother was the cause of my saddest World Series story. Lou Boudreau’s aunt was my cousin’s neighbor. I often sat in the box next to the Cleveland dugout at Yankee games and met Lou, Satchel Paige, Larry Doby and others.

I was 13 in 1948 when Cleveland won the pennant and was invited to go to the series in Cleveland. I could not convince my mother of the magnitude of the occasion, sitting in a box next to the dugout at a World Series game. My good grades and a promise to study while in Cleveland fell on deaf ears. My mother’s compromise was that I could go the following year.

Many years later, with my mother long deceased, my son called me when Cleveland won their next pennant to say that “Grandma will let you go now!” Kids have a way of being thoughtful.

As for soccer, which is played almost all year long around the world, I’m an active supporter of both Boston professional teams, NE Revolutions (MLS) and the Boston Breakers (NWSL). The Revs finished their regular season with a 1-0 must win over Columbus. They jumped from sixth (no playoff) to third. This is the second year (last place last year) of their rebuilding program under former Rev player Jeff Heaps. He has a young team playing exciting soccer. They go all out and never give up.

The authors stated in a recent book about soccer analytics that new managers and coaches are not given enough time to develop.

They had a loss and a tie during the final playoff drive that should have been wins except for some atrocious refereeing. They finished the season with 4 wins and 2 ties, often coming from behind. It seems that the NE revs and the USMNT are following this advice.

It is over a five hour round trip for me, often getting home after midnight, but I’ve attended four games and plan to see more next year.

Peter Kennedy link

10/29/2013 07:34:13 am

Wow, what memories, Alan -- Lou, Satchel and Larry. What a time. An extraordinary turning-point in US society and sports. You have seen a lot, including now the slow but inevitable growth of futbol here in the US, which has obviously captured your own imagination. Not to mention your passion. Those five hour drives at night are brutal! As for Pratt & Whitney, I live in Glastonbury, just outside of Hartford and have neighbors and friends who are current or retired P&W employees. Great chatting!

Alan Rubin link

10/29/2013 07:51:56 am

Peter

Those were two great years in the Hartford area. I lived for a while in Manchester and Bolton Notch. That is where I learned the meaning of RFD.

One of my co-workers lived on the historic street in Glastonbury. Although it never happened, I always wanted an old Colonial like theirs.

It was an exciting time at P & W as jet engines just went into commercial airlines and the space program was also beginning. I was a metallurgical engineer primarily working on high temperature coatings and turbine blades and vanes.

Ask your friends if they were familiar with the material development lab MDL.

I left the area as it was a difficult social environment. We could never figure out where all the female insurance company workers that were out for lunch in Hartford disappeared at night.

Altenir Silva

10/31/2013 02:26:50 pm

Dear George,
I liked very much to know another story of Babe Ruth - I love basebal because of him. Thanks for the link of Babe Museum.

Good wishes,
Altenir Silva (from Rio de Janeiro)

George Vecsey

11/1/2013 01:34:20 am

Dear Altenir: The museum is right in the old neighborhood near the ball park at Camden Yards - for when the three of you visit the USA.

Best,
George

Alan Rubin link

11/4/2013 03:03:19 am

Altenir

A great museum. If you visit and plan to see a Yankee-Baltimore game, walk to the ball park from the outfield side. Much of Camden Yards is below street level, so you can see into the stadium.

I was there many years ago, but at that time time they had the best kosher hots dogs, even compared with the NYC deli's.

Altenir Silva

11/4/2013 03:51:26 am

Dear Alan,

Thank you very much.
Best - Altenir

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