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1901 Association Playoffs
ABC Playoffs - New York Gothams (88-67) vs St. Louis Perfectos (89-65)
Perhaps the biggest surprise of all was the Gothams' dominance over the Perfectos. The team that could do no right closing the season could do no wrong in the playoffs. Perhaps the series was won in Game 3; the Perfectos, having dropped their two games at home to open the ABC Championship, found themselves up 4-2 going into the bottom of the night. Lou Bennett, who was a hero many times over down the stretch, opened the ninth with a double off Perfecto starter Wayne Martin. After Ben Quinn reached on an error, Cal Campbell grounded out to first, scoring Bennett and getting Quinn to second with the tying run.
Stan Hunter, the Gothams' catcher, took a strike. The next one he hit over the center field wall, sending the rooters into a craze. The 5-4 victory demoralized the Perfectos; they would try to muster a battle against de facto ace Jim Ladd the next day, scoring a run in the beginning frame. However, with the Gothams scored two in the bottom of the inning, that seemed to end the Perfectos' hopes. Sure enough, they fell 6-1, ssending the Gothams to the BA Championship. Ladd went 2-0 in the series, giving up 14 hits and a pair of earned runs in his two starts.
Game 1: Gothams 6, Perfectos 2
Game 2: Gothams 4, Perfectos 2
Game 3: Gothams 5, Perfectos 4
Game 4: Gothams 6, Perfectos 1
New York Wins 4-0
NBC Playoffs - Milwaukee Brewers (83-71) vs Salt Lake City Bees (89-65)
Just as the Gothams, the Bees were dominant against the Brewers; again, one event can be pinpointed as the springboard to victory. This moment came in the eighth inning of tied Game 1, where the Bees methodically put their first six men on base. The final blow, a Calvin Collins triple with the bases loaded (he would later score on a groundout) gave the Bees a six-run inning. The 9-3 score came innocently enough, and demonstrated to the Brewers that they were simply not in the league of the mighty Bees.
They would play as such the rest of the series. The final blow came in the eighth inning again, this time in Game 4. The Brewers, who never led in the series, managed to tie the score at 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh on Jeff Hartman's single. The Bees immediately loaded the bases to open the eighth; Collins brought Walt Bowling home on a groundout to third. Ron Warner fought off a few pitches, working the count full, before singling home Conan Koonts and Eddie Maxwell. The final runs in the Bees' 5-2 victory brought forth an unlikely pairing in the first Association final...the greatest city in the world against the tiny town from Utah.
Game 1: Bees 9, Brewers 3
Game 2: Bees 6, Brewers 0
Game 3: Bees 5, Brewers 1
Game 4: Bees 5, Brewers 2
Salt Lake City Wins 4-0
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