Charley Bender dominates Cleveland as he twirls the second no-hitter in franchise history
PHILADELPHIA, May 12, 1910 – Charley Bender strolled to the pitcher’s rubber this afternoon like he had 225 other times. Only this time was different. This time he nearly achieved perfection – with ease. Such ease that he barely broke a sweat.
The Chief went to the box for the fifth time this season. The previous four, he was on the winning side of the ledger. Mr. Mack tabbed him to toe the slab this afternoon and get the Athletics back on the winning track after yesterday’s bitter ninth inning debacle. To the thousands of unsuspecting fans, it was just another Thursday afternoon at Shibe Park. In an hour and a half, they would all be witnesses to one of the finest pitching performances seen in this city.
Bender kept the Naps off balance all afternoon. He and catcher Ira Thomas stuck to the Chief’s usual game plan: Keep the hitters honest – bust them in with high fastballs, then dot the outside corner with masterful control. He had the Clevelanders eating out of his hand.
But, it was almost over just as quickly as the game started. Leading off the game, Naps center fielder Jack Graney smoked a sinking liner to right-center field. Center fielder Rube Oldring took off for the ball liked a spooked hare. On the dead run, he reached down and snared the pill off his shoe tops for the game’s initial out. Art Kruger and Terry Turner were quickly dispatched to end the top of the first.
Having retired the first eleven batters of the game, Bender had two strikes on Turner with two outs in the top of the fourth inning. Cotton Top battled to draw a base on balls. It was truly the only stressful at-bat Bender faced all afternoon. It was the only time Bender would have to pitch from the stretch. Realizing that runs would be at a premium and Nap Lajoie at the dish, Turner tried to pilfer second base. On a high fastball to Lajoie, Thomas sprang from his semi-crouch and fired a bullet to second baseman Eddie Collins who dropped the tag on the incoming Turner. The Naps would not see the bases again.
The White Elephants would score single runs in the second, fourth, sixth, and seventh innings off Naps starter Fred Link. Frank Baker led off the bottom of the second inning with a single and was sacrificed to second by Harry Davis. Danny Murphy followed with a clean single to left – scoring Baker for what proved to be the only run the Athletics would need.
In the top of the sixth, Bris Lord led off by slicing a fly ball down the right field line. The ball was drifting towards foul territory with right fielder Murphy in hot pursuit. Murphy caught up to the ball and caught it at full speed. With the low, concrete wall facing the right field bleachers quickly approaching, Murphy had no time to stop short. The ball having been firmly secured, he hurdled the twenty-four inch barrier and ran a few rows up the aisle before coming to a stop. The crowd erupted.
The Athletics tacked on more runs. Murphy doubled and scored on a single by Jack Barry. Bender singled and raced over the pan on a three-base hit by Topsy Hartsel. After Bender retired Link to end the sixth inning, it dawned on many in attendance that something special was transpiring. Once Bender retired Graney leading off the top of the seventh inning, the throng grew louder with each out.
As the ninth inning commenced, there was a sense of nervousness among the paying customers. None of Connie Mack’s pitchers had ever pitched a no-hit, no-run game in Philadelphia. Weldon Henley, the only other Athletic to hurl a no-hitter, did so in St. Louis nearly five years earlier. No Philadelphia pitcher has achieved the feat within the city limits since the previous century. Phillies pitcher Frank Donahue turned the trick five blocks east of here nearly twelve years ago. Would today be the day?
Bender dispatched Lord and Bill Bradley in quick succession. One out away. The weekday gathering was now in full throat. With Link due up, Naps manager Deacon McGuire surprised everyone. He called on former Philadelphia hero Elmer Flick to pinch hit. Flick, who starred with the heavy-hitting Phillies of the late-90’s and briefly played for the Athletics in 1902, was called upon to try and break up Bender’s masterpiece. Flick, who has been suffering from a severe case of gastritis the past two seasons, was making his season debut.
Bender bore down and got Flick to swat a mile-high pop up. Thomas carefully discarded his birdcage, avoided home plate umpire Bill Dinneen, and drifted behind home plate. To everyone who witnessed the at-bat, it must have seemed that the ball would never come down. But, gravity finally brought it down, where it nestled in Thomas’s leather pillow to secure Bender’s absolute gem of a start!
The Chief was congratulated by his teammates and a few dozen fans who jumped the fence. The rooters gave him a standing ovation. Bender had achieved immortality.
The box is as follows:
NOTES:
- Chief Bender’s no-hit, no-run game was the second in Philadelphia Athletics franchise history. Weldon Henley delivered his gem on July 22, 1905 during the first game of a doubleheader in St. Louis.
- It was the first no-hitter by a Philadelphia pitcher at home since Frank Donahue of the Phillies white-washed Boston on July 8, 1898.
- Naps outfielder Elmer Flick made his season debut when he pinch hit in the ninth inning. Flick had not appeared in a game since September 14.
- Naps starting pitcher Fred Link recorded six assists.
- Not counting yesterday’s tie, the Athletics (13-4) now have a two game lead on second place Cleveland.
- The series wraps up this afternoon at 3:30.
American League
Yesterday’s scores (May 12, 1910):
- Philadelphia 4, Cleveland 0
- New York 5, Detroit 3
- St. Louis 2, Boston 1
- Chicago at Washington (rain)
National League
Yesterday’s scores (May 12, 1910):
- Cincinnati 8, Philadelphia 1
- New York 9, Chicago 1
- St. Louis 5, Boston 3
- Brooklyn 11, Pittsburgh 9 (12 innings)
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