By Ron Griffitts
Contributing columnist
In fall 1915, the Philadelphia Phillies (90-62-1) managed by Pat Moran met the Boston Red Sox (101-50-4) managed by Bill Carrigan in the World Series.
The Phillies were led in batting by Fred Luderus (.315 BA, 7 HR, 62 RBI, 55 RS), Gavvy Cravath (.285 BA, 24 HR, 115 RBI, 89 RS), Beals Becker (11 HR), and Dave Bancroft (85 RS).
Grover Alexander (31-10, 1.22 ERA) led their pitching staff together with Erskine Mayer (21-15. 2.36 ERA) and Al Demaree (14-11).
Boston was led on offense by Fred Hoblitzell ( .283 BA, 61 RBI, 12 3B), Tris Speaker ( .322 BA, 69 RBI, 108 RS, 29 SB, 12 3B), Babe Ruth ( .315 BA, 4 HR), Harry Hooper ( 90 RS, 22 SB, 13 3B, 89 BB) and Duffy Lewis ( .291 BA, 76 RBI, 69 RS, 15 SB).
Their pitching staff was led by Rube Foster (19-8, 2.11 ERA), Ernie Shore (19-8, 1.64 ERA), Babe Ruth (18-8, 2.44 ERA), Dutch Leonard (15-7, 2.36 ERA) and Smokey Joe Wood (15-5, 1.49 ERA).
Game one was in Baker Bowl in Philadelphia with Grover Alexander facing off against Ernie Shore. The game was tied 1-1 going into the bottom of the eighth inning when, with the bases loaded, Gavvy Cravath grounded out to score Milt Stock in what proved to be the winning run as the Phillies won 3-1 and go up 1-0 in the series.
Game one was also the introduction of Babe Ruth to World Series’ play as he pinch hit for Ernie Shore for his only appearance in the 1915 World Series.
Game two was a tightly pitched game with Rube Foster pitching against Erskine Mayer for Philadelphia. The game was tied 1-1 going into the ninth inning at which time Foster helped his own cause with an RBI single that scored Larry Gardner with the winning run as the Red Sox tied the series with a 2-1 win.
For game three, the venue changed to Braves Field in Boston with Alexander back for Philadelphia and Dutch Leonard pitching for Boston. Again, the game was tied going into the ninth inning however Duffy Lewis singled in Harry Hooper with the winning run in the bottom of the inning for a 2-1 Red Sox victory as the Red Sox took a 2-1 series’ lead.
Game four was yet another tightly pitched game as Duffy Lewis doubled in Larry Gardner in the bottom of the sixth for the winning run in the third straight 2-1 Red Sox win. The Red Sox led 3-1 in the series.
In a series that had up until then featured no home runs, game five had four. Duffy Lewis had one for Boston and Fred Luderus one for Philadelphia. But it was Harry Hooper who made the difference as he hit two home wins with the second one in the top of the ninth inning breaking a 4-4 tie and helping the Red Sox to a 5-4 win in the game and the World Series.
Boston was back in the Fall Classic the next year while the Phillies did not return to the World Series until 1950.
Statistics for this article were from baseball-reference.com.
