By Ron Griffitts
Contributing columnist
In fall1916, the American League champion Boston Red Sox (91-63-2) managed by Bill Carrigan met the National League champion Brooklyn Robins (94-60-2) managed by Wilbert Robinson in the World Series.
The Red Sox were led on offense by Larry Gardner (.308 BA, 62 RBI), Harry Hooper (.271 BA, 75 RS, 11 3B, 27 SB), Tillie Walker (3 HR, 11 3B, 14 SB), Duffy Lewis (56 RBI, 56 RS) and Babe Ruth (.272 BA, 3 HR).
Ruth tied for the team lead in home runs with three even though he only went to bat 156 times compared to Tillie Walker’s 467 at bats.
Their pitching staff was anchored by the 21-year old Babe Ruth (23-12, 1.75 ERA), Dutch Leonard (18-12, 2.36 ERA), Carl Mays (18-13, 2.39 ERA), Ernie Shore (16-10) and Rube Foster (14-7).
The Robins were led on offense by Jake Daubert (.316 BA, 75 RS, 21 SB), Casey Stengel (.279 BA, 8 HR, 53 RBI, 66 RS), George Cutshaw (63 RBI, 58 RS, 27 SB), Zach Wheat (.312 BA, 9 HR, 73 RBI, 76 RS, 13 3B, 19 SB) and Jimmy Johnston (22 SB).
Brooklyn’s pitching staff was led by Jeff Pfeffer (25-11, 1.92 ERA), Larry Cheney (18-12, 1.82 ERA), Sherry Smith (14-10, 2.34 ERA), Rube Marquard (13-6, 1.58 ERA) and Jack Coombs (13-8, 2.66 ERA).
The series opened at Braves Field in Boston with Ernie Shore starting for Boston and Rube Marquard for the Robins. The Red Sox built up a 6-1 lead but the Robins rallied in the top of the ninth inning for four runs before Boston was able to get the last out for a 6-5 win to take a 1-0 series lead.
Game two was a classic pitching duel between Babe Ruth and Sherry Smith. Ruth gave up a solo home run to Hi Myers in the first inning and then shut out the Robins for the next thirteen innings for a 2-1 Red Sox victory in which both starting pitchers were still pitching in the fourteenth inning.
The Red Sox scored on a walk and a sacrifice bunt to set up Del Gainer’s RBI single for the winning run as the Red Sox took a 2-0 series lead.
For game three, the series moved to Ebbets Field in Brooklyn where the Robins got their first series win 4-3 with a two-run triple by shortstop Ivy Olson being a key hit. Larry Gardner had a solo home run for the Red Sox.
In game four, Larry Gardner’s three-run home run in the second inning propelled Boston to a 6-2 win behind the complete game pitching of Dutch Leonard and the Red Sox took a 3-1 series lead.
Ernie Shore was back to start for Boston in game five as they sought to close out the Robins for the World Series title. Shore was successful as he pitched a complete game for a 4-1 win in the game and for the World Series title.
Boston was back in the World Series in 1918 and Brooklyn in 1920.
Babe Ruth spent the first five years of his twenty-two year long career as a starting pitcher and it was only in 1919 that he was a full time offensive player. When compared to what Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds did in twenty-three and twenty-two year long careers, it makes the Babe’s 714 career home runs even more remarkable.
Statistics for this article were from baseball-reference.com.
