The American League champion Philadelphia Athletics put up some pretty good numbers in 1910, too — collectively and individually. The young A’s won 102 games and took the AL pennant by 14 1/2 games. They boasted .300 hitters in second baseman Eddie Collins and outfielders Rube Oldring and Danny Murphy and a 31-game winner in Jack Coombs, a 27-year-old righthander who was 12-12 the previous season.
Neither of the powerhouses was at full strength for the World Series, though. The Cubs lost second baseman Johnny Evers because of a broken ankle, and the Athletics played without Oldring (broken leg) and pitcher Eddie Plank (arm ailment).
While Philadelphia Manager Connie Mack appeared at a disadvantage because of the loss of Plank, he still had Coombs and Chief Bender. And that’s all he needed.
Bender, coming off his first 20-victory season in the major leagues (he was 23-5), opposed the Cubs’ Orval Overall in Game 1 of the Series. The matchup proved a mismatch, with Bender taking a one-hitter into the ninth inning and Overall departing after allowing three runs and six hits in the first three innings. The A’s, getting three hits and two RBIs from Frank Baker, scored a 4-1 victory as Bender wound up with a three-hitter and eight strikeouts. A bright spot for the Cubs was Harry McIntire’s one-hit pitching in five innings of relief.
Coombs gave the Athletics a 2-0 lead in the Series, although he was far from dazzling. Pitching a complete game, Coombs gave up eight hits and nine walks while staggering to a 9-3 triumph. The A’s broke up a tight game with a six-run seventh, an inning that featured Murphy’s two-run double off Cubs starter and loser Mordecai Brown.
Having teed off on two of Chicago’s aces, Philadelphia went to work on another stalwart. This time, the victim was Ed Reulbach, who left for a pinch-hitter in the second inning of Game 3 after yielding three runs. McIntire, so effective in the Series opener, took over in the third inning with the score tied, 3-3, and was shelled for four runs — three scoring on Murphy’s home run — in one-third inning. Before the inning ended, the A’s had tacked or a fifth run en route to a 12-5 romp. Coombs, pitching with only one day of rest, gave up six hits and helped himself at the plate with three hits and three RBIs. Shortstop Jack Barry also knocked in three Philadelphia runs.
The Cubs, on the brink of elimination, turned away from “old breed” of their pitching staff and entrusted the club’s immediate fate to the right arm of rookie Leonard (King) Cole, who had together a 20-4 season. Cole formed admirably in Game 4, but Chicago trailed the A’s, 3-2, when the 24-year-old pitcher left for a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning. The Cubs, down to what seemed like their last gasp, gained new life in the ninth when Manager Chance tripled home Frank Schulte. Then, in the 10th, Chicago’s Jimmy Sheckard came through with a two-out, game-winning single against Bender, who had gone the distance for Mack’s team.
Buoyed by their 4-3 victory, the Cubs sent 25-game winner Brown (the winner in relief in Game 4) against Coombs in Game 5. Through seven innings, pitching was the name of the game as Philadelphia held a 2-1 lead. But the A’s struck for five runs in the eighth and came out on top, 7-2.
Using only two pitchers, Bender and three-time winner Coombs, in the entire Series, the A’s had emerged as champions. And, considering the youth on this A’s team, Philadelphia loomed as a team to be reckoned with for years to come.
Collins and Barry were only 23, Baker was 24, Bender and Coombs were 27 and promising reserve Stuffy McInnis had just turned 20. Even the seemingly forever-old Mack was a mere stripling — 47 — when he led the A’s to this World Series crown.
This article was originally published on TSN
Game Recaps from Retrosheet
1910 World Series Stories
The 1910 Post-Season Games
World Series: Philadelphia Athletics (4) defeated Chicago Cubs (1)
World Series Game 1 Played on Monday, October 17, 1910 (D) at Shibe Park
CHI N 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 1 3 1 PHI A 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 x - 4 7 2
BOX+PBP WP: Bender (1-0) LP: Overall (0-1)
World Series Game 2 Played on Tuesday, October 18, 1910 (D) at Shibe Park
CHI N 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 - 3 8 3 PHI A 0 0 2 0 1 0 6 0 x - 9 14 4
BOX+PBP WP: Coombs (1-0) LP: Brown (0-1)
World Series Game 3 Played on Thursday, October 20, 1910 (D) at West Side Grounds
PHI A 1 2 5 0 0 0 4 0 0 - 12 16 0 CHI N 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 - 5 7 2
BOX+PBP WP: Coombs (2-0) LP: McIntire (0-1) HR: Murphy (1)
World Series Game 4 Played on Saturday, October 22, 1910 (D) at West Side Grounds
PHI A 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 3 11 2 CHI N 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 - 4 10 1
BOX+PBP WP: Brown (1-1) LP: Bender (1-1)
World Series Game 5 Played on Sunday, October 23, 1910 (D) at West Side Grounds
PHI A 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 0 - 7 9 1 CHI N 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 - 2 9 2
BOX+PBP WP: Coombs (3-0) LP: Brown (1-2)
