1912 World Series: Snodgrass' Muff

The Teams
American League: Boston Red Sox (105-47) - Second World Series (Won in 1903)
National League: New York Giants (103-48) - Third World Series (Won in 1905)

What Happened
The Giants had just taken the lead in the eighth and deciding game of the World Series, and the great Christy Mathewson trudged to the mound for his 10th inning of work, three outs away from giving the Giants their second title. Clyde Engle led off the inning for Boston, pinch-hitting for Smoky Joe Wood. Wood had pitched four times in the series after putting in a season for the ages in 1912 - a 34-5 record, including an American League-record 16 consecutive wins. After his sublime season, Wood had a disappointing World Series - fatigue? 22-year-old nerves? - and now was in line for the loss, coming so close, but yet so far. Mathewson got Engle to hit a lazy fly ball to center field. Fred Snodgrass called for it, waited for it, got his glove on it ... and dropped it.

There was nothing complicated about it, no excuse or explanation. He just dropped the ball. Instead of being down one with one out and nobody on base, the Red Sox had the tying run on second with nobody out. The inning wasn't over yet, but it was already obvious that Boston had just received a series-changing break, that Snodgrass' Muff was destined to be the play that was forever remembered about the 1912 World Series.

The drop was so devastating, so unexpected, that it overshadowed what happened next: Harry Hooper ripped a line drive to deep center field, over Snodgrass' head. He turned, ran, and tracked it down, making one of the greatest catches in World Series history, probably the greatest catch until Willie Mays in 1954. It was a hit that should have scored the series-tying run, and perhaps Hooper would have come around on a series-ending inside-the-park home run. Instead, Engle could only advance to third.

In reality, that play should have cancelled out Snodgrass' error one batter earlier. After all, the end result was the same: the Red Sox had a runner on third with one out. That would have happened if he had caught Engle's easy pop up but failed to track down Hooper's hit. Instead, though, he dropped the easy one, and people remembered him for it.

After Snodgrass' great catch, Mathewson made a potentially fatal mistake - he walked Steve Yerkes ahead of Tris Speaker. Speaker was either the best or second-best hitter in the American League at the time, depending on what you thought about Ty Cobb, so to walk the guy in front of him - and to put the World Series-winning run on base to boot - was simply terrible execution at the absolute wrong time. That was not something befitting the great Mathewson.

What happened next wasn't either. Speaker lifted a pop up in foul territory, between home and first. For whatever reason, first baseman Fred Merkle didn't move, just staring at the ball that should have been his to catch. Mathewson had a reasonable chance to run over to catch it, too, but instead called for slow-footed catcher Chief Meyers to catch it. Meyers gave it his all, but the ball fell just inches from his glove. Speaker was still alive, and he took advantage, ripping the next pitch for a double that tied the game.

After an intentional walk to load the bases, Larry Gardner came up for Boston with the series on the line. All he had to do was put the ball in play and avoid a double play. He did exactly that, lifting a fly ball to right field. Josh Devore caught the ball in good throwing position and made a strong throw, but he never had a chance. It was just hit too deep. Yerkes came across with the series-winning run. Boston celebrated their improbable comeback, while Mathewson trudged off the mound, once again a hard-luck World Series loser.

Immediately after the game, and for the decades that followed, all the talk about the series centered around Snodgrass' error in the top of the 100th. That one play has overshadowed everything else that happened in what was the sixth best World Series ever played. Nobody remembered the great Wood striking out two Giants with two on in the ninth inning to preserve a Game 1 victory, or Speaker hitting a game-tying near-inside-the-park home run (officially called a triple and an error after the catcher dropped the throw) to salvage a tie in Game 2. Nobody remembers Devore running down Hick Cady's blast to deep right center for the final out of Game 3, or the back-to-back masterpieces by Wood and rookie Hugh Bedient to put the Red Sox on the brink of the title.

No, the memories from this series revolve around one play. Even now, 100 years after this series was played and 38 years after his death, Fred Snodgrass is remembered only for dropping a fly ball in the 10th inning of the final game of the 1912 World Series.

MVP
Speaker was the top hitter for the Red Sox in the series, and his double in the final inning was the biggest hit of that October. He probably would have been the choice. But a dark horse candidate would have been Bedient. Seen as Boston's third-best pitcher, he twice faced off in starts against Mathewson, beating him in Game 5 and pitching him to a draw before being lifted for a pinch hitter in Game 8. He might not have been named MVP, as he won only one game in the series, but Hugh Bedient deserves mention for twice staring down the best pitcher in National League history and refusing to blink.

Scores 
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

New York	3	6	2	1	1	5	11	2
Boston	4	6 (11)	1	3	2	2	4	3 (10)

The List
I'm ranking all the World Series, from worst to best. Here are the ones I've done so far:

6. 1912 - Boston (A) def. New York (N) 4-3 (1 tie)
7. 1992 - Toronto (A) def. Atlanta (N) 4-2
8. 1947 - New York (A) def. Brooklyn (N) 4-3
9. 1972 - Oakland (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-3
Numbers 10-19
Numbers 20-29
Numbers 30-39
Numbers 40-49
Numbers 50-59
Numbers 60-69
Numbers 70-79
Numbers 80-89
Numbers 90-99
Numbers 100-107

Game 7s
Simultaneously, I'll rank all the Game 7s. The ones that have appeared in my countdown so far:

3. 1960: Pittsburgh 10, New York (A) 9
5. 1997: Florida 3, Cleveland 2
6. 1912: Boston (A) 3, New York (N) 2 (game 8)
7. 1946: St. Louis (N) 4, Boston (A) 3
9. 1925: Pittsburgh 9, Washington 7
10. 1926: St. Louis (N) 3, New York (A) 2
11. 1962: New York (A) 1, San Francisco 0
12. 1979: Pittsburgh 4, Baltimore 1
13. 1955: Brooklyn 2, New York (A) 0
14. 1952: New York (A) 4, Brooklyn 2
15. 1971: Pittsburgh 2, Baltimore 1
16. 1940: Cincinnati 2, Detroit 1
17. 1972: Oakland 3, Cincinnati 2
18. 1987: Minnesota 4, St. Louis 2
19. 1958: New York 6, Milwaukee 2
20. 1986: New York (N) 8, Boston 5 
21. 1968: Detroit 4, St. Louis 1
22. 1931: St. Louis (N) 4, Philadelphia (A) 2
23. 1973: Oakland 5, New York (N) 2
24. 2002: Anaheim 4, San Francisco 1
25. 1982: St. Louis 6, Milwaukee 3
26. 1947: New York (A) 5, Brooklyn 2
28. 1965: Los Angeles (A) 2, Minnesota 0
29. 1964: St. Louis 7, New York (A) 5
30. 1957: Milwaukee 5, New York (A) 0
31. 1967: St. Louis 7, Boston 2
32. 1945: Detroit 9, Chicago (N) 3
33. 1909: Pittsburgh 8, Detroit 0
34. 1934: St. Louis (N) 11, Detroit 0 
35. 1985: Kansas City 11, St. Louis 0
36. 1956: New York (A) 9, Brooklyn 0

1911 World Series - Home Run: Baker

The Teams
American League: Philadelphia Athletics (101-50) - Third World Series (Won in 1910)
National League: New York Giants (99-54) - Second World Series (Won in 1905)

What Happened
Twice during the 1911 World Series, the box score after a game featured the entry "Home Run: Baker." If anybody was going to hit a home run in that World Series, it was going to be Frank Baker, the Philadelphia third baseman who led the American League with 11. While 11 home runs doesn't sound too impressive, it was indicative of the times. Baker was much more than just a home run hitter, too, finishing in the top 10 in virtually every offensive stat.

Baker was already seen as a star after his dominating performance in the previous year's World Series, but he proved in 1911 that he was only getting started. After Christy Mathewson won Game 1 for the Giants - the fourth straight time he had beaten the Athletics in a World Series game - Baker took over.

Game 2 was tied 1-1 in the bottom of the seventh when Baker struck for the first time, hitting a two-out, two-run home run to provide the winning margin and let the A's tie the series. He struck again in Game 3, this time victimizing the great Mathewson himself. With the A's trailing 1-0 in the ninth - and after having two runners thrown out at home in the eighth inning - Baker hit his biggest home run yet, tying the game with a one-out home run down the right field line. Having gotten to Mathewson, the A's piled on in the 11th, scoring twice - with a single by Baker right in the center of the rally - then held on to win the game.

They had beaten Mathewson for the first time in a World Series game, their leader was having a great World Series, and they were cruising. And then it started to rain, and as the A's and Giants waited out the storm front that wouldn't end, all of Philadelphia's momentum seemed to wash away. When the World Series started up again a week later, Mathewson was waiting for them again; making things worse, the Giants scored twice in the top of the first, giving Mathewson a lead before he even took the mound.

But the A's came back, scoring three times in the fourth to take the lead, then getting an insurance run when Baker ripped an RBI double in the fifth. Chief Bender made the lead hold up, and Philadelphia had beaten Mathewson for a second straight game. The A's took a 3-1 lead into the ninth inning of Game 5 before Del Crandall and Josh Devore got back-to-back two out hits to help the Giants avoid elimination. After the Giants won the game in 10 innings, the series went back to Philadelphia, but it was over quickly after that. A four-run fourth put the Athletics in full control, and a seven-run seventh turned the clinching game into a farce. The Athletics won 13-2 - almost doubling their run total for the series - and celebrated their second straight world championship.

MVP

While Philadelphia was praising their title winners, their fans took notice of who played the biggest role in their last two championships. In honor of the line that showed up in two different box scores that series - and in honor of the blasts that seemed to come at exactly the right time - Frank Baker got a new nickname. Forever after, he was known as Home Run Baker.

Scores (Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Philadelphia	1	3	3 (11)	4	3	13
New York	2	1	2	2	4 (10)	2

The List
I'm ranking all the World Series, from worst to best. Here are the ones I've done so far:

23. 1911 - Philadelphia (A) def. New York (N) 4-2
24. 1915 - Boston (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-1
25. 1971 - Pittsburgh (N) def. Baltimore (A) 4-3
26. 1918 - Boston (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-2
27. 1988 - Los Angeles (N) def. Oakland (A) 4-1
28. 1946 - St. Louis (N) def. Boston (A) 4-3
29. 1925 - Pittsburgh (N) def. Washington (A) 4-3
Numbers 30-39
Numbers 40-49
Numbers 50-59
Numbers 60-69
Numbers 70-79
Numbers 80-89
Numbers 90-99
Numbers 100-107

1913 World Series: Unlucky Christy

The Teams
American League: Philadelphia Athletics (96-57) - Fourth World Series (won in 1910, 1911)
National League: New York Giants (101-51) - Fourth World Series (won in 1905)

What Happened
It wasn't Christy Mathewson's fault the Giants kept losing the World Series. After all, he was brilliant every time he took the mound in the World Series. It's just that his teammates rarely seemed interested in matching his talent. Maybe they were spoiled after 1905, when Mathewson basically won the World Series by himself with three straight shutouts.

Since then, though, it had been years of disappointment for the Giants, first in their inability to get past the Cubs, then in their failures in the World Series. In 1911, they lost to Philadelphia in a rematch of 1905. Then they lost to Smoky Joe Wood and the Red Sox in 1912. 1913 was their third straight National League pennant, and they would get a matchup against Philadelphia again, a rubber match between the two rivals.

While the Giants had Mathewson's expected brilliance against the A's, they didn't have much else. Philadelphia, meanwhile, were deep and strong, in the heart of a stretch where they would win four pennants in five years. They had Eddie Plank, who was nearly as good a pitcher as Mathewson, and the $100,000 infield, led by Eddie Collins and Frank "Home Run" Baker.

Collins and Baker were brilliant early in the series; they combined for six hits in Game 1 and were responsible for 7 of Philadelphia's 8 runs in Game 3. In between, Mathewson outdueled Plank in a 3-0, 10-inning win in Game 2, a game in which Mathewson himself got the game-winning RBI. Collins and Baker slowed down the rest of the series, but the A's didn't, taking a 6-0 lead in Game 4 before holding on for a win. Plank then held the Giants to 2 hits in Game 5 - one of them by Mathewson - to close out the series.

Defining Game
The offenses had little hope in Game 2 with Mathewson and Plank on the mound, with neither offense mounting any kind of challenge in the first eight innings. Finally in the ninth, the pitchers started to tire. First, the Giants got two runners on in the top of the 9th before Plank got out of it. Then, the Athletics got runners on second and third with nobody out in the bottom of the inning, only to see Mathewson get out of it, including two outs at the plate. Finally in the top of the 10th, Mathewson started the game-winning rally himself, driving in the first run of the game. The Giants added two more, then held on for their only win of the series.


Random Fact:
When Doc Crandall pinch-hit for Mathewson to lead off the bottom of the ninth of Game 5, the greatest postseason pitching career came to an end. Game 5 was Mathewson's 11 career World Series start, 10 of which ended up as complete games and 6 of which came with three days of rest or fewer. Over those 101 innings, batters hit only .197 off him, and his ERA was 0.97, or less than a run per game. Yet Mathewson's postseason record was only 5-5, and the Giants only won one of the series he pitched in. Aside from one three-game stretch of immortality, he had nothing to show for his brilliance.


Scores:
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Philadelphia	6	0	8	6	3
New York	4	3 (10)	2	5	1

The List
I'm ranking all the World Series, from worst to best. Here are the ones I've done so far:

81. 1913 - Philadelphia (A) def. New York (N) 4-1
82. 1930 - Philadelphia (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-2
83. 1914 - Boston (N) def. Philadelphia (A) 4-0
84. 1951 - New York (A) def. New York (N) 4-2
85. 1939 - New York (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-0
86. 1910 - Philadelphia (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-1
87. 1905 - New York (N) def. Philadelphia (A) 4-1
88. 1965 - Los Angeles (N) def. Minnesota (A) 4-3
89. 1961 - New York (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-1
Numbers 90-99
Numbers 100-107

1905 World Series: A String of Zeros

The Teams
National League: New York Giants (105-48) - First World Series
American League: Philadelphia Athletics (92-56) - First World Series

What Happened
The Giants almost killed the World Series before it could establish itself. After a successful inaugural  series in 1903 left many baseball fans wanting it to become a new annual tradition, the Giants, runaway winners of the 1904 National League pennant, announced that they would not participate in the World Series in 1904. The stated reason was that manager John McGraw didn't want to legitimize the American League, which he still considered a minor league.

Another main reason, though, was that it looked like the New York Highlanders (who would eventually be renamed the Yankees) would win the American League pennant. The last thing McGraw wanted was an opportunity for the Highlanders to claim the title of best team in New York, so he refused to play them. When Boston lapped the Highlanders in the final week of the season to claim their second straight AL crown, the Giants took a lot of heat for not playing in the World Series, but McGraw didn't back down. Eventually, though, the fans got their way. Though the move came too late to save the 1904 series, the National League announced that it would make the World Series an annual event starting in 1905.

It was fitting, then, that the Giants won the pennant again in 1905. Whatever their thoughts about playing in the World Series, they had to be happy that their opponents in 1905 were not the two-time champion Boston Americans (Red Sox) nor the cross-town Highlanders but the Philadelphia Athletics. The A's were a fine team, blessed with great pitching and a legendary manager of their own in Connie Mack. But in truth, they didn't have a chance, because the Giants had Christy Mathewson.

In truth, all the pitchers in the 1905 series stood out. All five games ended in shutouts, a World Series record that will almost certainly never be broken. Another virtually unbreakable record was set by Mathewson: he pitched in three games and threw three complete-game shutouts. That's 27 scoreless innings in one World Series.

There are all sorts of numbers that show just how dominant the pitching was in this series. The Athletics only batted .155 as a team, for example, with only five extra base hits. In the entire series, there was only one relief pitcher used, and he only pitched one inning of one game. And in the only game Philadelphia won, Game 2, all three of their runs were unearned, meaning that the Giants had an ERA of 0.00 in 44 innings pitched in the series.

The leader of it all, though, was Mathewson, whose brilliance made the series seem very anticlimactic. Maybe McGraw was right about the American League being an inferior league.

Defining Game
Game 5. One win from the title, McGraw gave the ball to Mathewson for the third time in the series for Game 5. Mathewson, of course, threw a shutout, giving up only five hits and four walks. Befitting the series, though, was how the Giants scored their two runs. They got one in the fifth on two walks, a sacrifice bunt, and a sacrifice fly that turned into a double play, then got another one in the seventh on a walk (to Mathewson), a ground-rule double, and a ground out. So yah, pitching ruled.

MVP
You really have to ask?

Scores
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

New York	3	0	9	1	2
Philadelphia	0	3	0	0	0

---

The List
I'm ranking all the World Series, from worst to best. Here are the ones I've done so far:

87. 1905 - New York (N) def. Philadelphia (A) 4-1
88. 1965 - Los Angeles (N) def. Minnesota (A) 4-3
89. 1961 - New York (A) def. Cincinnati (N) 4-1
Numbers 90-99
Numbers 100-107

1908 National League: Merkle's Boner

Pregame
The most infamous mistake in Major League history happened because of a case of lumbago. Lumbago is an old-fashioned word meaning lower-back pain, and that's what New York Giants first baseman Fred Tenney was suffering on the morning of September 23, 1908. It wasn't a great time for the Giants first baseman to have to miss a game, as the Cubs were in town.

A three-team race in the National League was coming down to the wire, and the Cubs and Giants were in a dead heat on September 23, with the Pirates nipping at their heels. Giants manager John McGraw would have preferred to have Tenney available for the big game, but instead he had to go with 18-year-old Fred Merkle, the youngest player in the National League, and a player who was making his first career start.

Christy Mathewson, the greatest pitcher of the era, was on the mound for the Giants, going up against Jack Pfiester, who had earned the nickname Jack the Giant Killer for his performances in past big games against the Giants.

In this one, both pitchers lived up to their reputations, and it was tied 1-1 entering the bottom of the ninth. With two outs and a runner on first, the rookie Merkle came to the plate and promptly singled down the right-field line to put Moose McCormick, representing the winning run, on third. One pitch later, Al Bridwell deposited a single to center field. McCormick came home and Merkle, thinking his team had won, headed straight for the clubhouse in straightaway center field without touching second base.

It's hard to completely blame Merkle for the play; back then, it was fairly common for players to fail to touch every base on a game-winning hit. He was just following tradition. But it was the middle of a pennant race, and Chicago's Johnny Evers wasn't gonna let a rule violation slide. He loudly called to his teammates for a ball. He got one - in the chaos of the moment, it's not entirely clear whether he got the game ball or one that came from somewhere else - then stepped on second base and demanded Merkle be called out. The umpire knew the rule of course but, seeing he was surrounded by Giants fans, waited until he was in the safety of the clubhouse before calling Merkle out and declaring the game a tie.

The Giants protested to the National League, but the league's hands were tied. By the letter of the law, Merkle was out, and the game was a tie. If it was necessary to make up the game at the end of the season, they would. And of course, the Cubs and Giants ended up in a dead heat, tied at 98-55, requiring the Merkle game to be made up.

The Game
With the pennant on the line, both pitchers went back to the starters from the September 23 game for the October 8 makeup game. But Giants starter Mathewson admitted that he was "dog tired," and asked McGraw if someone else could start. That wasn't going to happen, and so he took to the mound in the top of the first and set the Cubs down in order.

Meanwhile, Jack the Giant Killer wasn't on his best game. The first four Giants reached based against him - he saved himself with a pickoff for the first out - and a run was already in when the Cubs turned to Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown to finish the job. Brown gave up one more run before getting out of the inning, and the Giants took a 2-0 lead after one.

But remember Mathewson's fatigue. The Cubs might not have known about it entering the game, but they took advantage of it in the third. Five straight Cubs batters reached base in the top of the third, with Frank "Wildfire" Schulte and Frank Chance hitting back-to-back doubles to finish off the rally. The Cubs were now up 4-2 and had their best pitcher in Brown on the mound.

That was it for the scoring. Brown shut the Giants down the rest of the way, and while Mathewson finished the job, too, the four runs he gave up in the third were more than enough to doom the Giants. The Cubs won the game and the pennant, their third straight.

Postgame
After beating the Giants, the Cubs advanced to their third straight World Series, and their second straight against the Tigers. Though the Tigers had also survived a tough league pennant race, they were, in reality, no match for the Cubs, who dispatched the Tigers in five games, the last two coming by way of shutout. The 1908 championship is relevant for the Cubs as it represents their most recent World Series title. Their 103-year drought is the longest in North American professional sports.

The Giants would bounce back from the loss and win three National League pennants with Merkle playing first base. Though he anchored their lineup for nearly a decade - and later starred for Brooklyn and the Cubs - he never lived down his failure to touch second base in his rookie year. Almost immediately, and ever since, it became the play he was known for. It forever became Merkle's Boner.

The Rundown

10. Chicago 4, New York 2 (1908 National League makeup game)
11. Boston 12, Cleveland 8 (1999 ALDS)
12. Boston 5, Minnesota 3 (1967 American League)
13. Minnesota 5, Oakland 4 (2002 ALDS)
14. Boston 4, Oakland 3 (2003 ALDS)
15. Cleveland 4, N.Y. Yankees 3 (1997 ALDS)
16. L.A. Angels 5, N.Y. Yankees 3 (2005 ALDS)
17. Texas 5, Tampa Bay 1 (2010 ALDS)
18. San Francisco 3, Atlanta 1 (2002 NLDS)
19. N.Y. Yankees 5, Oakland 3 (2001 ALDS)
20. Seattle 3, Cleveland 1 (2001 ALDS)
21. Chicago 5, San Francisco 3 (1998 NL Wild Card tiebreaker)
22. N.Y. Yankees 7, Oakland 5 (2000 ALDS)
23. Los Angeles 4, Houston 0 (1981 NL West Division Series)
24. Montreal 3, Philadelphia 0 (1981 NL East Division Series)
25. N.Y. Yankees 7, Milwaukee 3 (1981 AL East Division Series)
26. Seattle 9, California 1 (1995 AL West tiebreaker)
27. Chicago 5, Atlanta 1 (2003 NLDS)
28. Houston 12, Atlanta 3 (2004 NLDS)
29. N.Y. Mets 5, Cincinnati 0 (1999 NL Wild Card tiebreaker)
30. Cleveland 8, Boston 3 (1948 AL tiebreaker)
31. Houston 7, Los Angeles 1 (1980 NL West tiebreaker)

February 2, 1936: The first five

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - Cobb, Ruth, Wagner, Mathewson, Johnson. The five faces that would be on baseball's Mount Rushmore, the true giants of the game. Any argument of the greatest players of all time include these five players, who are forever linked in baseball history as the first Hall of Famers.

After a hastily gathered history of baseball was published incorrectly saying that the sport was invented in Cooperstown, N.Y., in 1839 by future Civil War general Abner Doubleday, the leaders of baseball decided to celebrate the fictional centennial of the non-event by opening a museum in Cooperstown dedicated to the best players in the history of the game. It would be called the Baseball Hall of Fame, and the organizers decided to elect five players per year, starting in 1936, plus five players from the 1800s, so that there would be 20 players to enter the Hall when it officially opened in 1939.

So the Hall of Fame ballots were sent out in December of 1935 to 226 baseball writers, and the first Hall of Fame class was announced on February 2, 1936: Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson. Nobody was surprised at the five players who got in first - all were deserving, and all considered, at one point in their careers, to be the best player of all time. The only truly surprising snub was Cy Young, which happened because voters weren't sure whether to put him in with the players from the 1800s or the 1900s (that oversight was fixed the next year, and Young earned his rightful place in the Hall).

Perhaps the biggest surprise, though, was the final count of votes. When the ballots were tallied, it was Cobb, not Ruth, who received the most votes. Eleven voters had left Ruth off the ballot, which seemed impossible, even when you consider Ruth's less-than-glorious final season in 1935. Even Cobb was left off of four ballots.

Final numbers aside, the five chosen were seen as perfect candidates to inagurate the Hall of Fame. By the time the museum opened in 1939, they had been joined by Young, Nap Lajoie, and Tris Speaker (1937); Pete Alexander (1938); George Sisler, Eddie Collins, and Willie Keeler (1939), plus managers Connie Mack and John McGraw.

Though the reasons for starting it are now seen as flawed, the Baseball Hall of Fame has become the Mecca for baseball fans around America. Every major and minor sport in America now has a Hall of Fame - there's even a Dog Hall of Fame - and they can all trace their existence to baseball's museum.

The first Hall of Famers: Top row (l to r): Wagner, Alexander, Speaker, Lajoie, Sisler, Johnson. Bottom row: Collins, Ruth, Mack, Young. Not picture: John McGraw had died before being inducted, and Ty Cobb was running late and missed the picture.

October 16, 1912: Snodgrass' Muff

BOSTON - On the afternoon of October 16, 1912, just over 17,000 fans filed into Fenway Park in Boston for the final game of the World Series. The series had been the closest and most competitive one in the short history of the championship, yet Fenway Park was only about half full for the finale.

One reason given for that was the short notice that the game would happen at all, as this was an unscheduled game 8 - game 2 had been a tie - and the location of the game had been determined by a coin flip the day before. Another reason given, though, was the suspicion by fans that the Red Sox had thrown the previous two games. Leading the series 3 games to 1, with the 1 tie as well, the Red Sox had gotten pounded in the next two games, giving up five runs in the first inning of game 6 and six runs in the first inning of game 7.

That led to a tied series and a decisive game 8. The Giants sent their legend, hall-of-famer Christy Mathewson, to the mound; the Red Sox, who had used ace Smoky Joe Wood in the game 7 debacle, answered with Hugh Bedient, who had beaten Mathewson in game 5. BELOW: Mathewson warming up before game 8

The game started sloppily, as both teams committed an error in the first inning and the Red Sox added two in the second. However, nobody scored until the Giants pushed one across in the top of the third. After getting that precious run, Mathewson retired the next 10 Boston hitters, and it looked for all the world that the one run would be enough.

Boston finally threatened in the bottom of the sixth, getting runners on first and third before Mathewson ended the inning with a pickoff. The Red Sox threatened again in the seventh, finally pushing across the tying run with a pinch-hit double by Olaf Henriksen.

With Bedient out of the game, Boston turned to Wood, the most dominant pitcher in baseball in 1912. Wood went 34-5 during the season, setting the American League record for consecutive wins, including a legendary 1-0 victory over Washington's Walter Johnson in September. Though Wood had gotten pounded the previous day, he was much better in relief on this day, getting through the eighth and ninth without difficulty. Mathewson, meanwhile, was just as tough, and the game went to the 10th, the first time the World Series would be decided in extra innings in the final game.

In the top of the 10th, Wood blinked. A one out double was followed by a single by Fred Merkle (of "Merkle's Boner" infamy), and the Giants took the lead. They were three outs from the title with the winningest pitcher in National League history on the mound.

Clyde Engle led off the 10th for Boston pinch-hitting for Wood. He lifted a lazy flyball to center that Fred Snodgrass camped underneath. The ball hit his glove, then inexplicably fell to the ground for a two-base error. Snodgrass seemingly made up for his error when the next batter, Harry Hooper, followed with a deep drive to center that Snodgrass caught on the run, an absolutely brilliant play. Engle advanced to third on Hooper's flyball and stayed there as Steve Yerkes walked, bringing up Tris Speaker.

Speaker was Boston's best hitter, a future hall of famer himself. He was a truly dangerous hitter to have up with the World Series on the line. The Giants must have breathed a sigh of relief when Speaker popped foul along the first base line. The ball was closer to first base than to home plate, but Mathewson reportedly called out for his catcher, Chief Meyers, to catch it. Meyers ran with all he could but couldn't get there, letting the ball drop foul. Given a reprieve, Speaker then laced a single to right to score the tying run.

After an intentional walk, Larry Gardner came up with the bases loaded and one out. Gardner heroically flied out to right, deep enough to score Yerkes with the World Series winning run.

...............

After the series, Snodgrass' error in the 10th became known as the $30,000 Muff, as that was the difference between the winners' share and the losers' share for the World Series. While it's true that the runner who reached because of his error scored the tying run, his brilliant catch on the next batter easily made up for that. Had the plays been reversed - i.e., had Snodgrass caught the easy flyball but been unable to run down Hooper's hit - the Red Sox still likely would have had a runner on third with one out. Unfortunately, somebody had to get the blame for the Giants' loss. The blame could have been placed on Mathewson, whose decision to call for Meyers to catch Speaker's pop-up probably did more damage to his team than Snodgrass' error. But Giant fans saw Mathewson as a saint, a near-Messianic figure who could do no wrong. Snodgrass was just a 24-year-old centerfielder. He was easy to blame. So like Fred Merkle before him, Snodgrass became the fall guy. He never lived down his mistake, being remembered even on the day he died as the man who dropped the flyball in the World Series.

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HONORABLE MENTION
October 16, 1962: SAN FRANCISCO - While the Giants had great success in New York, they haven't been able to match that since moving across the country to San Francisco. The Giants haven't won the World Series since their move west in 1958. But they've come close. In 1962, they pushed the Yankees to a game 7 in the World Series, and the Giants entered the ninth inning trailing 1-0. With a runner on first and two outs, Willie Mays ripped a double to right field, putting runners on second and third with Willie McCovey coming up. Even though first base was open, the Yankees elected to pitch to McCovey, a decision that seemed like a terrible mistake when he crushed a line drive towards right center. But Yankee second baseman Bobby Richardson was in the way, catching McCovey's liner to end the series. Two feet higher, and the Giants would have been celebrating. Instead, San Francisco still waits.