The New York Giants, having scuttled the 1904 World Series with an unmistakable air of disdain, were willing participants in the 1905 fall classic. And with righthanded sensation Christy Mathewson in tow, why not? The 25-year-old Mathewson had just reached the 30-victory plateau for the third consecutive season.
It’s not that the 1904 Giants, National League champions by 13 games, had quaked in their cleats over thoughts of a Series date with the Boston Red Sox, repeat titleists ‘in the American League. Instead, Giants owner John T. Brush and Manager John McGraw had pent-up feelings against the American League — Brush being irate over the entry of an AL team (the Highlanders) in New York and McGraw still fuming over what he perceived as injustices meted out by AL President Ban Johnson when McGraw was plying his trade for the AL’s Baltimore Orioles.
“Why should we play this upstart club (Boston), or any other American League team, for any postseason championship?” McCraw had asked during the 1904 season. “When we clinch the National League pennant, we’ll be champions of the only real major league.”
So the Giants turned down Boston’s challenge for a World Series meeting in 1904, forcing the lone interruption in the history of the fall classic.
But 1905 was a different story. With the public expressing its indignation over the Giants’ “thanks, but no thanks” Series attitude of the previous season, Brush, McGraw and company were ready to take on the American League champion Philadelphia Athletics after an NL race in which the Giants won 105 games. The Series would be contested under guidelines drawn up by the Giants’ owner, seeking to stabilize an event he earlier had torpedoed. Besides outlining a revenue formula, the John T. Brush Rules called for — among other things — a best-of-seven format.
The Athletics, reeling from the late-season loss of standout lefthander Rube Waddell, sidelined because of an injury, were faced with the prospect of going up against a Giants pitching rotation that featured Mathewson (31 victories), Joe McGinnity (21) and Red Ames (22) and also included Dummy Taylor (15) and Hooks Wiltse (14). New York wound up using only two of its “big five” as starters in the Series, but that twosome proved more than enough.
Lefthander Eddie Plank, a 25-game winner for the Athletics, was matched against Mathewson in the opening game. The contest was scoreless until the fifth inning when the Giants broke through for two runs — an outburst ignited by a Mathewson single. And with Mathewson contributing a key sacrifice in the ninth, New York added another run. Mathewson pitched masterfully throughout, finishing with a four-hit, 3-0 triumph. He did not walk a batter.
Athletics Manager Connie Mack called on Chief Bender in Game 2 and the righthander responded beautifully. Bender, supported by Bris Lord’s run-scoring singles in the third and eighth innings, outdueled McGinnity, 3-0. Not only was the Series tied, but a trend had developed. Two games, two shutouts.
Working with two days of rest, Mathewson trudged back to the mound for Game 3 and again befuddled Philadelphia on four hits. This time, he issued only one walks. First baseman Dan McGann was the Giants’ big gun in a 9-0 romp, collecting two singles and a double and driving in four runs.
As good as the pitching had been through the first three games of the 1905 Series, it reached an even higher level in Game 4 when McGinnity and Plank hooked up in a contest that produced only one run and nine hits. The Giants notched the run, thanks to fourth-inning errors by Monte and Lave Cross, who manned the left side of the Athletics’ infield. The 1-0 triumph increased New York’s Series lead to three games to one.
Bender, only 21 but a three-season veteran of the major leagues, was Mack’s choice to halt the Giants in Game 5. McGraw countered with the redoubtable Mathewson, who would be pitching with just one day of rest. Mathewson again was up to the challenge, allowing only six hits and walking no one. Bender was nearly as good, yielding just five hits, but he went down to a 2-0 defeat that made McGraw and company World Series champions.
Mathewson, the fabled Big Six, was merely phenomenal in his three outings against the Athletics. In the space of six days, he pitched three shutouts and permitted only 14 hits. The Giants’ wheelhorse struck out 18 and walked one in 27 innings. Besides Matty and McGinnity, the only other Giants pitcher to see action was Ames, who worked all of one inning (as a reliever in Game 2).
The 1905 fall classic proved memorable not just because of Mathewson’s heroics or the five shutouts in five games. The Series also was noteworthy because the Giants concentrated on scuttling the opposition instead of the event itself.
This article was originally published on TSN
Game Recaps from Retrosheet
1905 World Series Stories
The 1905 Post-Season Games
World Series: New York Giants (4) defeated Philadelphia Athletics (1)
World Series Game 1 Played on Monday, October 9, 1905 (D) at Columbia Park
NY N 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 - 3 10 1 PHI A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 4 0
BOX+PBP WP: Mathewson (1-0) LP: Plank (0-1)
World Series Game 2 Played on Tuesday, October 10, 1905 (D) at Polo Grounds IV
PHI A 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 - 3 6 2 NY N 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 4 2
BOX+PBP WP: Bender (1-0) LP: McGinnity (0-1)
World Series Game 3 Played on Thursday, October 12, 1905 (D) at Columbia Park
NY N 2 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 2 - 9 9 1 PHI A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 4 4
BOX+PBP WP: Mathewson (2-0) LP: Coakley (0-1)
World Series Game 4 Played on Friday, October 13, 1905 (D) at Polo Grounds IV
PHI A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 5 1 NY N 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 x - 1 5 0
BOX+PBP WP: McGinnity (1-1) LP: Plank (0-2)
World Series Game 5 Played on Saturday, October 14, 1905 (D) at Polo Grounds IV
PHI A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 5 0 NY N 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 x - 2 5 2
BOX+PBP WP: Mathewson (3-0) LP: Bender (1-1)
