After apologizing to his teammates yesterday, Babe Ruth makes his first appearance in a week, collecting one hit in a 5 – 1 loss to the Red Sox.
The Giants bring a half-game lead into Ebbets Field. With the park already packed, some 7,000 fans batter down the LF exit gate with a telephone pole and break into the field. The Giants win the thriller, 8 – 7, despite three Robin runs in the 9th.
Behind Carl Mays and Dolf Luque, the Reds sweep a pair from the visiting Pirates, 4 – 1 and 4 – 3. The two teams combine for a major-league record as only one walk is issued in the twinbill.
1923 – The A’s are hit with a no-hitter for the second time in four days as Boston’s Howard Ehmke strikes out one while pitching a 4 – 0 no-hitter against them. “Ehmke’s zippy crossfire came out of the shortstop’s chest like bad news from a gatling gun” (Philadelphia Public Ledger). Preserving the no-hitter is rival pitcher Slim Harriss, who hits the ball to the wall in the 7th and winds up on second base, but he is called out for failing to touch first base. An 8th-inning liner by Frank Welch is fumbled in LF and he reaches first. The liner is initially ruled a single but changed before the inning is over. Ehmke has now won six straight over the A’s this season. For Ehmke’s batterymate, Val Picinich, it is his third no-hitter, each with a different team.
1918 – On one day’s rest, Hippo Vaughn gives up only seven hits, but Carl Mays wins a 2 – 1 duel. Wally Schang has two hits for Boston. Game three of the World Series ends with the Cubs’ Charlie Pick caught in a rundown between third base and home while trying to score on a passed ball.
The Giants defeat the Dodgers 4-1 to start their major league record 26-game winning streak. The ‘Jints’ start the span two games under .500 and make up nine games in the standings, but remain in fourth place during the entire streak.
1915 – The St. Louis Terriers’ Dave Davenport, strikeout leader of the Federal League, pitches a 3 – 0 no-hitter over the Whales, one of his 10 shutouts and 22 wins. St. Louis will play two more games than Chicago and split them, thus trailing the Whales at season’s end by one percentage point. Chicago will be 86-66; St. Louis, 87-67, and the Pittsburgh Rebels, 86-67. A percentage difference of .004, it is the closest bunching of the top three teams in any major league race.
The Braves and Giants play an A.M.-P.M. twin bill in Boston on Labor Day. To accommodate the crowds, the Braves have moved their home games to Fenway Park, courtesy of owner Joe Lannin: Fenway has triple the seating capacity of the South End Grounds. The two contests draw 74,163 on the day. The Braves, down 4 – 3 to Christy Mathewson in the 9th, storm back for two runs to win the opener. Josh Devore scratches a single, Herb Moran doubles into the crowd ringing the outfield, and Johnny Evers slaps a single that eludes George Burns to drive home the tying and winning runs. Jeff Tesreau wins the nitecap, 10 – 1, and the Giants pile on Lefty Tyler. In the Giants’ 4-run 6th, Fred Snodgrasstakes a pitch on the sleeve to reach first base, thumbing his nose at Tyler along the way. Lefty retaliates by acting out Fred’s 1912 World Series muff. When Snodgrass returns to CF, the crowd is merciless to the point that Boston Mayor James Michael Curley rushes on the field and demands the umpires eject the Giant player. McGraw, worried that Snodgrass might incur an injury, replaces him.
Floods severely damage the Kansas City Packers’ (Federal League) ballpark, washing away fences and demolishing the clubhouse.
In an effort to beat the impending inclement weather, Galveston, playing host to San Antonio, finishes the regular season with a 49 minute game, a 4-0 victory by the hometown Pirates, who manage to compile 13 hits during the brief Texas League contest. The players are encouraged to play the game at a rapid pace by the teams owners, who want to avoid having to give the fans rain checks for games next year.
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