1909 World Series
Game 1
This game was much closer than the final score shows. Oakland led 2-1 after six innings, but in the top of the 7th, Reds starter
Jesse Tannehill gave up a single to
Stuffy McInnis to lead off the inning. After getting an out, he walked opposing pitcher
Eddie Plank and then uncorked a wild pitch, allowing the runners to advance. He then intentionally walked
Eddie Collins to load the bases and the Reds went to their bullpen.
Hoping for a strikeout, they went to hard-throwing
Charley Hall who coughed up a grand slam to
Matty McIntyre on his second pitch. In the following inning, Hall stayed in the game and with two outs, he allowed a 2-run homer to Collins followed by a solo homer to McIntyre before finally being removed from the game. Oakland added another run in the 9th off long reliever
Harry Gaspar to finish off a 10-1 win.
Game 2
Reds starter
Noodles Hahn was doing well on the mound early on and in the bottom of the 3rd he helped himself with a 1-out double. He then scored on a triple by the speedy
Bob Bescher. However, the Reds were unable to drive Bescher in. Then in the next frame, Hahn allowed two singles and then with one out,
Danny Hoffman hit a 3-run dinger. In the next inning, Eddie Collins reached base on an error and
Joe Jackson hit a 2-run homer. The Reds couldn't recover as
Jimmy Dygert tossed 8 innings of 4-hit, 1-run ball, allowing 3 walks with 6 K's.
Game 3
The Reds started off the first game in Oakland well with a run in the first, but they left the bases loaded. In the bottom of the inning, Oakland came roaring back as Matty McIntyre hit a solo homer and then both
Frank Baker and Danny Hoffman hit RBI doubles to take a 3-1 lead after just one inning. The game then went back and forth as both teams scored a run in the 4th and 5th innings, but just as we have seen in the previous two games, the Reds could not maintain a close score late in the game.
This time, Reds starter
Orval Overall gave up a walk and a single to start the bottom of the 7th. Then
Ed Lennox singled in a run. After Hoffman bunted the runners to second and third, Stuffy McInnis was intentionally walked to load the bases. Then #8 hitter
Jack Lapp hit a ball to second baseman
Miller Huggins, who bobbled it and allowed another run to score. Pinch hitter
Charlie Carr drove in another run with a ground out before the Reds got out of the inning en route to another disappointing loss.
Game 4
This was another tight game with the Reds leading 2-1 after five innings. In the top of the 6th, Reds first baseman
Socks Seybold hit a 3-run home run off A's starter
Tom Walker. They added another run in the 8th to take a 6-1 lead. But Oakland proved you can never count out their potent offense.
In the bottom of the 8th, Reds rookie starter
Jean Dubuc allowed two singles and then a 1-out RBI double to Joe Jackson. Setup man
Bob Ewing entered the game and got an out. Then he walked Ed Lennox before Danny Hoffman hit a double scoring two runs. Lennox was thrown out trying to score from first which ended the threat. That was probably not a wise decision by Oakland, but they did narrow the Reds lead to 6-4.
In the 9th, the A's brought in their setup man
Highball Wilson, but he was not himself. Perhaps it was the long layoff, but Wilson allowed two singles. Pinch runner
Dick Egan advanced to third on the second single and then scored on a sac fly. Wilson then walked leadoff man Bob Bescher and then gave up a single to Miller Huggins. That hit allowed a run to score and Bescher advanced to third. The A's finally pulled Wilson, but Cincinnati scored another run on a sac fly before ending the inning.
Now with a 9-4 lead in the bottom of the 9th, Cincy avoided their closer
Martin Glendon, perhaps the best closer in the game, to save him in case he was needed tomorrow. Instead, they brought in
Rube Vickers who gave up two walks and a single to the bottom of the A's lineup. After the Reds pitching coach paid a visit to the mound, Vickers got a ground out from lead off man Eddie Collins, which scored a run. He got another ground out from Matty McIntyre, which also scored a run. Now with two outs and a runner on third, Cincy maintained a 9-6 lead. Vickers got Joe Jackson to ground out to end the game, avoiding elimination for the Reds.
Game 5
This game was an absolute thriller. The Reds scored a run in the first and the A's, as usual, game back with two in the same inning. The Reds tied it in the 3rd and then Oakland took a 3-2 lead in the 5th. So in the top of the 8th, the Reds still trailed by a single run. Miller Huggins led off with a single off starting pitcher Eddie Plank.
Sam Crawford struck out and then Socks Seybold doubled Huggins home to tie the game. Reliever
Weldon Henley, who had been Oakland's closer for his entire career until this season, intentionally walked
Dode Paskert before getting the next two batters out to end the frame with the game tied 3-3.
In the bottom of the 8th, Reds starter Jesse Tannehill sat the heart of Oakland's lineup - Jackson, Baker and Lennox - down 1-2-3. Then in the 9th, Cincy's #8 hitter, shortstop
Al Bridwell, singled off Henley. He was replaced with speedy pinch runner
Cozy Dolan. Henley then hit pinch hitter
Jimmy Barrett with a 3-1 pitch. Leadoff man Bob Bescher laid down a beautiful bunt up the first base line to advance the runners to 2nd and 3rd. Henley then got Miller Huggins to ground out to the mound, freezing the runners. Now with two outs an the go-ahead run at 3rd, up stepped Cincinnati's #3 hitter, right fielder Crawford.
First let me preface this by saying that Crawford was having an awful World Series at the plate. Before this at-bat he was a mere 2-for-18. If you remember, he struck out the inning before in a key situation. This time, with the Oakland fans jeering him mercilessly, Crawford swung at the first pitch he saw and laced it into centerfield, scoring both runners and giving Cincinnati a 5-3 lead. Now, the Reds were able to finally bring Martin Glendon into a game, and the 5-time Fireman Award winner did his thing, sitting down the A's 1-2-3 on just seven pitches. Now the Reds have a chance to go home, still needing to win two games for the title.
Game 6
Back at home, the underdog Reds jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Jimmy Dygert. Then in the 4th, Oakland scored two off Noodles Hahn to make the score 3-2. In the top of the 6th, the A's had a runner at second with two out. Cincinnati decided to walk Jack Lapp to get to the pitcher. Dygert came through with a huge RBI single. Eddie Collins then singled to load the bases and Matty McIntyre singled home two more runs. Joe Jackson struck out to end the threat, but now Oakland had a 5-3 lead.
Surprisingly, Cincinnati came right back in the bottom of the 6th thanks to a clutch 2-out single by #8 hitter Al Bridwell. Pinch hitter
Mike Mitchell doubled Bridwell to third. Bob Bescher then singled them both home to tie the game. The score remained tied through the 9th and the game went into extra innings.
In the top of the 10th, Reds reliever Rube Vickers allowed two one-out singles. Then Danny Hoffman was caught trying to steal third. Vickers then walked Jack Lapp and with runners at 1st and 2nd, Oakland sent up powerful pinch hitter
Harry Armbruster, who had three World Series home runs on his resume from the 1906 and 1907 series when he was a regular. This move forced the Reds to bring in closer Martin Glendon as part of a double-switch. Glendon uncorked an uncharacteristic wild pitch that allowed the runners to move up. Now with the go-ahead runner at third, Glendon had to bear down. With the count 2-1, Armbruster fouled off six consecutive pitches before finally sending a ball to right field. Unfortunately for him,
Jimmy Barrett, who had just entered the game as part of the double-switch, made the catch.
In the bottom of the 10th, Oakland put in regular-season starting pitcher Harry Krause. The first batter he faced was Socks Seybold, who doubled. The Reds sent in fleet-footed pinch runner
Harry Wolter and the A's intentionally walked Dode Paskert. Krause then struck out the next two batters. With two outs, Al Bridwell stepped to the plate. He got behind 1-2 but he took three straight pitches for balls to draw a walk and load the bases. Now Barrett stepped to the plate for his first at-bat. He fouled off a 3-2 pitch and then Krause's next pitch was just out of the strike zone and Barrett took the walk, forcing in the winning run. Now, after being down 3 games to none against the mighty A's, the Reds had won three straight to force a Game 7.
Game 7
What better way for this series to end than with another thrilling game? Oakland scored a run off Orval Overall in the first, but the Reds came storming back and scored two runs off
Chief Bender in the second and two more in the third. In the top of the 4th, Oakland scored two to make it 4-3 Cincinnati. Then in the 5th, Frank Baker hit an RBI double that was followed by an Ed Lennox 2-run homer, giving Oakland a 6-4 lead.
In the 6th, the Reds scratched across a run against Bender to make it a one-run game. It went into the 9th inning with that same score. Cincy brought in closer Martin Glendon to keep things close, but he showed his mortal side and allowed two 1-out singles followed by a walk and then a 2-run single to Frank Baker. That meant that the A's had an 8-5 lead going into the bottom of the 9th.
The A's brought in closer
Jack Coombs, who had not pitched the entire series. He showed some rust and allowed a leadoff double to Al Bridwell. Pinch hitter Cozy Dolan then singled Bridwell home and advanced to second himself on the throw to the plate. Henley then struck out Bob Bescher and got Miller Huggins to fly out to right field. Dolan, who has a lot of speed, decided to tag up on the play but Joe Jackson gunned him down at third to end the World Series!
Recap
I never expected the series to be this close after Oakland took a 3-0 lead. The Reds deserve a ton of credit for winning 3 straight elimination games against a very tough opponent. In the end, Oakland had a little more fire-power and a better bullpen. The Reds also committed 9 errors to Oakland's 2. I have no doubt that Oakland will be contending for yet another pennant next season, but it will be interesting to see what happens with the Reds and the rest of the NL. Oakland meanwhile has won 5 pennants the past 6 seasons and now has two World Series titles. They hope to one day rival the Philadelphia Phillies dynasty who won 10 pennants over 15 years. It's funny to think that in real life, both these teams played in Philadelphia. Imagine how many titles that city could have had.
Series MVP
Matty McIntyre, LF, OAK: .438 AVG, .844 SLG, 3 HR, 13 RBI
This performance comes only one year after McIntyre hit just .045 (1-for-22) in an upset World Series loss to the Cardinals. Sweet redemption, Matty!
