History of the World Series – 1911
Outfielders Danny Murphy, Bris Lord and Rube Oldring batted a composite .312, while pitchers Jack Coombs, Eddie Plank, Chief Bender and Cy Morgan combined for 82 victories.
The Athletics’ World Series opponent was the New York Giants, setting up a rematch of the storied, shutout-punctuated 1905 fall classic that paired Mack’s team against John McGraw’s battlers. The Giants were a run-happy bunch in 1911, stealing a modern major-league record of 347 bases. Christy Mathewson, who had thrown three shutouts against the A’s in the Giants’ earlier Series appearance, was still McGraw’s pitching ace, as reflected by his 26-13 record.
Just emerging was 2l-year-old Rube Marquard, a lefthander who brought a 9-18 record into the season and proceeded to win 24 games. And the Giants had some heavy hitters, too, headed by Larry Doyle, Fred Merkle and Chief Meyers.
All was not rosy for the Giants, however. Their ballpark, the
Polo Grounds, burned to the ground in April and wasn’t ready for reopening until late June. McGraw and company persevered, playing their home games at the park of the AL’s New York Highlanders and beginning their run at a 99-victory season.
Game 1 of the fall classic, played before a Series-record throng of 38,281 at the rebuilt Polo Grounds, pitted Bender against Mathewson. And Mathewson, a winner over Bender in the Series finale six years earlier, prevailed again. The A’s seized a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Baker singled, moved to second on a groundout, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a single by veteran Harry Davis (who was filling in for the injured Mclnnis). After tying it in the fourth without benefit of a hit, the Giants collected the game-winning run in the seventh when Meyers and Josh Devore doubled. Mathewson finished with a six-hitter in New York’s 2-1 victory. Bender gave up only five hits and struck out 11.
Marquard and Plank waged a magnificent pitchers’ duel in Game 2. Neither walked a batter and hits were at a premium. The score was 1-1 when the A’s came to bat in the bottom of the sixth inning, and Marquard showed no signs of weakening as he retired Lord and Oldring. However, Collins followed with a double and cleanup hitter Baker was up next. Baker, playing only his third full season in the big leagues and still building his reputation as a power hitter, walloped a home run over the right-field wall. The smash proved the difference, with the A’s holding on for a Series-evening 3-1 victory.
It was more of the same the next day. With Philadelphia trailing Mathewson and the Giants, 1-0, with one out in the ninth, Baker strode to the plate and drilled a homer into the right-field stands.
Rescued from the abyss, the A’s went on to score two runs in the 11th and would up 3-2 winners. Coombs and Mathewson both pitched the distance, Coombs permitting only three hits and Mathewson giving up nine.
Then an unexpected force came into play: Mother Nature. For six days, it rained. And rained. And rained.
Game 4 finally was played on October 24, exactly a week after Game 3 and 10 days after the Series had begun (the late starting date was because the National League’s regular season ran through Columbus Day). And this time Bender got the best of Mathewson in a 4-2 decision that gave Philadelphia a Series lead of three games to one.
New York escaped elimination in Game 5, in which Philadelphia, behind Coombs, held a 3-0 edge after six innings and a 3-1 lead with one out in the Giants’ ninth. Art Fletcher doubled for the National Leaguers, moved to third on a groundout and scored on reliever Doc Crandall’s double. Devore followed with a game-tying single. Then, in the 10th, with Plank on in relief for Philadelphia, Fred Snodgrass doubled and scored on a fly ball by Merkle. The Giants won, 4-3, and clung to life.
However, the never-say-die New Yorkers were left for dead in Game 6 when Philadelphia went on a four-run burst in the fourth inning and a seven-run spree in the seventh. With Bender stopping the Giants on four hits, the A’s waltzed to a 13-2 victory and claimed their second successive World Series championship.
The Giants’ offense had gone pfft in the Series, with six regulars batting .190 or less (cleanup man Red Murray was O-for-21). And after running NL opponents into the ground during the season, the Giants stole only four bases against the Athletics.
The A’s, meanwhile, had Bender, Coombs and Plank, who allowed New York only eight earned runs in six games. Perhaps most of all, they had a young slugger who made a name for himself in this Series because of his timely long-ball hitting. Frank Baker was Home Run Baker.
This article was originally published on TSN
Game Recaps from Retrosheet
1911 World Series Stories
The 1911 Post-Season Games
World Series: Philadelphia Athletics (4) defeated New York Giants (2)
World Series Game 1 Played on Saturday, October 14, 1911 (D) at Polo Grounds V
PHI A 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 6 2 NY N 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 x - 2 5 0
BOX+PBP WP: Mathewson (1-0) LP: Bender (0-1)
World Series Game 2 Played on Monday, October 16, 1911 (D) at Shibe Park
NY N 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 5 3 PHI A 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 x - 3 4 0
BOX+PBP WP: Plank (1-0) LP: Marquard (0-1) HR: Baker (1)
World Series Game 3 Played on Tuesday, October 17, 1911 (D) at Polo Grounds V
PHI A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 - 3 9 2 NY N 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 2 3 5
BOX+PBP WP: Coombs (1-0) LP: Mathewson (1-1) HR: Baker (2)
World Series Game 4 Played on Tuesday, October 24, 1911 (D) at Shibe Park
NY N 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 7 3 PHI A 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 x - 4 11 1
BOX+PBP WP: Bender (1-1) LP: Mathewson (1-2)
World Series Game 5 Played on Wednesday, October 25, 1911 (D) at Polo Grounds V
PHI A 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 3 7 1 NY N 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 - 4 9 2
BOX+PBP WP: Crandall (1-0) LP: Plank (1-1) HR: Oldring (1)
World Series Game 6 Played on Thursday, October 26, 1911 (D) at Shibe Park
NY N 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 2 4 3 PHI A 0 0 1 4 0 1 7 0 x - 13 13 5
BOX+PBP WP: Bender (2-1) LP: Ames (0-1)