A PRESIDENTIAL OPENER

Athletics one-hit by Walter Johnson on Opening Day, 3-0

WASHINGTON, April 14, 1910 – As far as Opening Day’s go, this one was stupendous. The American League’s tenth season was kicked off in presidential fashion on a glorious spring day in the nation’s capital this afternoon.

President Taft, Vice President Sherman, a host of dignitaries, and over 14,000 rabid rooters squeezed into cramped American League Park for the lid-lifter of the 1910 championship season. Early this morning, Washington club president Thomas Noyes arrived at the White House with a gift for the president – baseball season pass number one! President Taft, a rabid baseball fan, was delighted.

The president eschewed a private box above the grandstand; instead, opting for a box seat in the front row for himself and his party. Prior to the start of the game, Noyes summoned Athletics manager Connie Mack and Senators manager Jimmy McAleer to formally greet the president. After the managers exchanged pleasantries with the president, umpire Billy Evans arrived at the presidential box (next to the first base dugout) with a gleaming Reach baseball. Evans presented the ball to Mrs. Taft while President Taft was removing his gloves.

The Senators took the field and waited for the ceremonial first pitch. Standing at home plate, Washington catcher Gabby Street awaited the ball from the president. On Evans’s signal, President Taft decided that the pitcher starts the game. He enthusiastically hurled the sphere to pitcher Walter Johnson on the fly. Taft’s toss was a bit low but caught by Johnson before it hit the earth. With that, the 1910 season commenced.

As Johnson completed his warm up tosses the overflow crowd waited nervously – the largest crowd in Washington baseball history. The grandstand was overflowing, fans sat in the aisles, a few thousand loyalists were roped off in the far reaches of the spacious outfield. Ground rules were so that any ball hit into the roped off crowd was a ground rule double. Finally, at quarter of four in the afternoon, umpire Evans bellowed, “Play ball!”

Philadelphia’s aging lead off man, left fielder Topsy Hartsel, grounded sharply to third baseman Kid Elberfeld. Johnson followed by retiring Rube Oldring and Eddie Collins on weak grounders for his first of five 1-2-3 innings. Philadelphia’s ace lefty Eddie Plank was not as lucky.

Clyde Milan lead off by popping out to third baseman Frank Baker. Next up was captain Germany Schaefer who walloped the ball into the center field crowd – the ball ending up on the porch of the clubhouse. Under normal conditions, his smash would have been a home run, however, under yesterday’s ground rules, it was only good for two bases. Jack Lelivelt followed by sailing the second pitch he saw from “Gettysburg Eddie” into the right-center field crowd for another ground rule double – scoring Schaefer and giving the Senators a 1-0 lead. Plank escaped without any further damage.

Johnson and Plank traded goose eggs into the fifth inning. Anytime the throng in the cramped enclosure became quiet, the brass band struck up a tune to liven up the atmosphere; such as, “A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight.” The Washingtonians finally got to Plank again in the fifth inning. This time it was Johnson who took matters into his own hands.

Johnson smashed a Plank offering against the center field fence for a two-base hit. Milan tried to bunt Johnson to third, but with his speed, “Deerfoot” beat out an infield single putting runners at the corners with nobody out. Schaefer came through once again, lining a double to right – scoring Johnson and placing Milan at third. Lelivelt lofted a sacrifice fly to right fielder Danny Murphy – scoring Milan. Schaefer tried to take third but was gunned down by Murphy’s perfect strike to third baseman Frank Baker. Elberfeld singled but was thrown out by catcher Ira Thomas trying to steal second.

Faced with a 3-0 deficit, and Johnson having allowed nary a hit, the Mackmen faced an uphill battle. Johnson was unable to control his curve ball throughout the course of the game; unable to throw it for strikes. The Athletics knew he would have to rely exclusively on his fastball – and rely on it, he did. His blazing speed was too hot to handle. Weak out after weak out. Finally, thanks to the wall of humanity in the outfield, the Athletics were given an opening.

Having retired Oldring and Collins on weak outs to begin the top of the seventh inning, Johnson got Baker to loft a can of corn in the direction of Doc Gessler in right field. As Gessler drifted toward the spot, he tripped over a young fan, sitting just in front of the rope, reading a newspaper. The ball dropped. Gessler and the ball having arrived at the same time, Baker was credited with a ground rule double – the Athletics’ first hit of the game. Harry Davis popped meekly to second baseman Schaefer to squelch any hopes of a rally.

The Senators nursed the 3-0 lead to the top of the ninth inning. Having pitched no more than three innings per game during spring training, Johnson was tiring – and now he was in trouble. Hartsel led off with a four-pitch walk. As Johnson fell behind Oldring three balls and no strikes, the local rooters began to squirm. Manager McAleer was in a quandry. If Oldring gets on, stars Collins, Baker, and Davis would follow.

Johnson buckled down and came back to fan Oldring for his ninth strikeout. The big ace fell behind Collins before coaxing him to slap a bounding ball to shortstop George McBride who fired to Schaefer – forcing Hartsel at second. The belligerents were hardly done. Baker followed with a walk, and with runners at first and second, Johnson uncorked a wild pitch putting two into scoring position for the heavy-hitting Davis.

Again, Johnson had trouble finding the plate. He fell behind Davis three balls. Finally, with the count three balls and two strikes, and the fans with lumps in their throats, Davis slashed the pill at first baseman Bob Unglaub. Unglaub smothered the ball, gathered himself, and raced to the bag to beat Davis – securing the victory for Washington. The hometown fans could finally exhale – victory was theirs!

The first fan, President Taft, stayed for the entire game. Transfixed as the rest of the massive throng – hanging on every pitch. As he poured out of the grounds with his party and Secret Service detail, the president exclaimed, “Johnson is a bully pitcher!” Bully indeed. No runs, nine strikeouts, one “scratch” hit, and not a single Athletic reached second base until the eighth inning.

After the game, Connie Mack expressed disappointment at the missed opportunity to at least tie the score in the final frame. Gessler expressed his dismay at not being able to corral Baker’s fly in the seventh inning. He felt that he had cost Johnson an Opening Day no-hitter. Johnson and Gessler chatted about the play at the Dewey Hotel last night.

Gessler was still smarting, “Walter, I’m awfully sorry I could not get that fly, for I wanted you to let them down without a hit, but I couldn’t make it because I fell.”

“That’s alright, Doc,” Johnson responded, “We won, didn’t we? Well, that is good enough.” Good enough, indeed.

NOTES:

• Vice President Sherman occupied a box behind the third base dugout. When Athletics third baseman Frank Baker hit a screaming foul in the fourth inning, the ball missed the vice president’s head by inches. The ball struck Charles Bennett, secretary of the United States Senate in the head. Bennett was not seriously injured.
• Athletics pitcher Eddie Plank stole second base in the third inning without a throw from Senators catcher Gabby Street. Street thought that umpire Billy Evans had called Topsy Hartsel out on strikes for the third out. Hartsel struck out on the very next pitch.
• Star Athletics second baseman Eddie Collins made the defensive play of the game when he robbed Kid Elberfeld of a hit in the third inning. He smothered Elberfeld’s hard chopper in the hole and threw him out while sprawled on the infield.
• This was the final Opening Day in American League Park history. The Senators will have a brand new, concrete and steel ballpark ready for the 1911 season.