ELEPHANTS ARE BACK ON THE WINNING TRACK

Coombs and a quartet of swatters carry the Athletics to a narrow victory over the Browns, 3-1

PHILADELPHIA, May 25, 1910 – With two consecutive defeats under their collective belts, the sleep-walking White Elephants finally awakened and placed the bottom-feeding Browns back in their place at Shibe Park this afternoon. It wasn’t easy. The scrappy bunch from the Mound City put up a fight before going down in defeat.

Today’s game moved along at a brisk pace as neither pitcher had to take time to load the baseball between pitches. Yesterday’s affair was prolonged when Messrs. Morgan and Lake took forever in applying the wet stuff. It was a quite a different story this afternoon. Athletics’ starter Jack Coombs and St. Louis hurler Jack Powell wasted little time between pitches. With both pitchers exhibiting superb command, the first six innings were completed in a swift 54 minutes.

The game did not get off to a promising start for the 5,000 or so rooters that made their way to Twenty-First and Lehigh. Poor base running by the Browns possibly saved Colby Jack from further damage. George Stone led off by slicing a grass-cutter toward third base. Third sacker Frank Baker made a fine stop and threw out Stone by a step. Roy Hartzell followed with a sharp single to left, bringing up aging star Bobby Wallace.

How old is Bobby Wallace, you ask? Well, when Ol’ Rhody made his debut for the Cleveland Spiders on September 15, 1894, his teammate was the venerable Cy Young! At the time, Young was in just his fifth major league season with a mere 129 victories under his belt. Nevertheless, diminishing skills aside, Wallace tore into a Coombs fastball and sent it screaming toward the scoreboard on the left field wall.

As left fielder Topsy Hartsel was in the process of retrieving the sphere, Hartzell was tearing around third base for an easy tally. Wallace, however, got a little too greedy. Not content with a two-bagger, he decided to test Topsy’s hose. The diminutive Hartsel cut the ball off before it reached the fence, spun and fired a perfect strike to a waiting Baker. Wallace was as done as a Christmas goose. Art Griggs followed up with a soft tapper back to Coombs who fielded the ball and, never releasing chain of custody, ran it over to first base himself.

Unlike yesterday, the Mackmen wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard. After Hartsel flied out to center field, commencing offensive festivities for the home nine, Rube Oldring floated the ball into left-center field. It was no-man’s land. Center fielder Danny Hoffman, left fielder Stone, and shortstop Hartzell converged on the ball but it landed safely on the freshly manicured lawn. On a hit-and-run, Eddie Collins grounded sharply to Griggs at second. With Rube in motion, the Macks escaped being doubled up.

It was now left up to captain Harry Davis to drive home the run – and, boy did he ever! Davis got a hold of one of Red Powell’s fastballs with a ferocious cut and lammed the pill all the way to the center field wall. Oldring scored and Davis rolled into third with his second three-bagger of the season.

Baker, and everyone who was inside of the grand enclosure, thought he had put the Mackmen in front. Frank walloped an offering from Powell that was ticketed for right field. Second baseman Griggs ranged to his left and reached out with his gloved hand. The ball ended up in the pocket of the glove. Then, with Griggs still on the move, the ball momentarily popped out before he finally secured it – saving a run and perhaps a world of trouble for his pitcher.

A light moment transpired with one out in the bottom of the third inning. Browns pitcher Red Powell, never to be confused with some of his more svelte teammates, has become heftier with each passing year. The situation is such, that fielding his position had become quite precarious. Case in point: Hartsel slapped a skimmer up the middle. Powell reached down for the ball but his excess girth prevented him from bending all the way over. While bent at the waist, Powell toppled over as the ball scooted out to center field for a single. As he was picking himself back up, the silence was broken by a leather-lunged crank from the upper reaches of the double-decked grandstand, “Get a derrick!” Even Red cracked a smile.

The game moved along briskly. The one to one deadlock held up until the bottom of the fifth inning. With Ira Thomas and Coombs having been retired, Hartsel sliced a double down the left field line. Oldring then hooked one down the same line, scoring Topsy to put the Athletics in the lead. Rube, not satisfied with two bases, decided to test Stone’s notoriously weak throwing arm. Stone uncorked a perfect strike to Wallace, and Oldring was pinched at third to settle things for the time being.

The Browns gave the home fans quite the scare in the top of the eighth frame. Bill Abstein led off by pasting a Coombs offering to right-center field. Right fielder Danny Murphy raced over to the spot and made a sensational catch to rob Big Bill of extra bases. Catcher Jim Stephens got jammed by an inside fastball and floated a single into left field. Little Nemo, as he is known by his teammates, pilfered second base and the Browns had the tying run in scoring position.

Powell was then pinch hit for by giant lefty Dode Criss. Coombs struck him out easily for out number two. After the punch out, St. Louis manager Jack O’Connor sent in reserve outfielder Red Fisher to run for Stephens at second base. Stone then reached on an infield single and Hartzell walked to load the bases for Wallace. Things looked grim for the Colby Carbine – an extra-base hit spelled certain doom. Wallace proceeded to loft a high fly ball to deep left. Oldring hauled it in for the final out. The loyalists could exhale – the Browns were turned aside.

The Browns had a new battery in the bottom half of the eighth inning. O’Connor sent in veteran Barney Pelty to pitch and young Michigander Bill Killefer to catch him. The Mackmen warmly greeted The Yiddish Curver. Pelty commenced his game action by denting Coombs in the leg. Colby Jack showed his opponents that he was no worse for the wear by promptly swiping second base.

While Pelty had Hartsel tied up in knots, Coombs was taking a liberal secondary lead off the second base bag. As Topsy swung at the third strike, Killefer sprang up and heaved an errant toss to second, Coombs reaching third on the error. Jack was just as frisky on third. Oldring hit a sharp one-hopper that was speared by Pelty. Unfortunately, Jack did not wait to see if the ball would clear the pitcher. He broke for the plate and Barney made the short toss to Killefer. Coombs deployed his emergency brake and made a hasty retreat with Reindeer Bill in hot pursuit.

Colby Jack, realizing his mistake, stayed in the rundown long enough to allow Oldring to reach second base. Collins, who has been struggling mightily as of late, was up next with a chance to put the game on ice. Pelty laid one in and Eddie blasted the pill to the far reaches of right field – Oldring waltzing home with the Elephants’ third run. By the time right fielder Al Schweitzer had returned the ball to the infield, the lightning-quick Collins was standing on third with a triple. Pelty retired Davis for the final out but the damage had been done.

Now staked to a 3-1 lead, the strapping Coombs needed to secure three outs for the victory. With two men down, Schweitzer punched a single – giving the visitors a faint glimmer of hope. Jack, however, would have none of it. He coaxed Abstein to loft a can of corn that nestled in Hartsel’s gloved hand and that was that. Back on the winning track!

The box is as follows:

NOTES:

• With the victory, the Athletics (21-7) maintained their slim lead over the Yankees (19-8), who also won.
• As mentioned earlier, the game moved along at a brisk pace. A mere 54 minutes is all that it took to complete a full six innings. The game slowed down dramatically when the Browns put up a fight in the eighth inning. Jack Coombs became very deliberate between pitches as he tried to navigate out of the mess.
• Browns backup catcher Bill Killefer now has five errors in ten games played behind the dish this season.
• The third game of the series will be played at 4 o’clock this afternoon.

American League

Yesterday’s scores (May 25, 1910):

• Philadelphia 3, St. Louis 1
• New York 5, Chicago 0
• Washington 2, Detroit 0 (7 innings, rain)
• Cleveland at Boston (rain)

National League

Yesterday’s scores (May 25, 1910):

• Chicago 6, Philadelphia 1
• New York 4, Pittsburgh 3
• Brooklyn 7, St. Louis 5
• Boston 4, Cincinnati 3