1909 World Series: The First Babe

The Teams
National League: Pittsburgh Pirates (110-42) - Second World Series
American League: Detroit Tigers (98-54) - Third World Series

What Happened
After two straight years of getting humiliated by the Cubs in the World Series, the Tigers were probably thrilled to see somebody different playing them in the 1909 World Series. But in the opposing dugout were the 110-win Pirates, the best offensive team in baseball. Led by Honus Wagner, the best player in the National League's early history, the Pirates were the rare team to have a better player than Detroit's explosive Ty Cobb.

The biggest surprise of the series came when Pittsburgh manager Fred Clarke picked rookie reliever Babe Adams to start Game 1. Adams had been nearly unhittable for the Pirates over the second half of the season, but he was by far the least experienced of the Pirates' pitchers. And, of course, he was primarily a reliever. But Clarke was playing a hunch, and it paid off. After Cobb put Detroit ahead with a first-inning run, Adams shut down the Tigers the rest of the way. Clarke's home run in the fourth tied the game, and three Detroit errors gave Pittsburgh two more runs in the fifth. Behind Adams' complete game, the Pirates were up 1-0.

The teams alternated wins the next four games, with Detroit getting a pair of five-run wins in Games 2 and 4 and Pittsburgh scoring 8 runs in both Games 3 and 5. The biggest blow of those four games was struck by Pittsburgh's player-manager; Clarke's three-run home run in the seventh inning of Game 5 broke a tie and made a winner of Adams again.

With a chance to clinch the series, the Pirates scored three runs in the top of the first of Game 6. But Detroit fought back, eventually taking a 5-3 lead into the ninth inning. Pittsburgh got one run back in the ninth, but couldn't bring the tying run home, allowing the Tigers to survive to play a Game 7. The first winner-take-all Game 7 in World Series history was anticlimactic, as Adams threw a complete-game shutout. Meanwhile, Detroit pitchers walked 10 Pirates, and the Tigers committed three errors to virtually give Pittsburgh the series.

It was a common theme throughout the seven games. Detroit and Pittsburgh pitchers had an identical earned-run average in the series, and the Tigers actually outhit the Pirates. But the Tigers committed 17 errors in the series, their catchers let the Pirates steal 18 bases, and their pitchers let Pittsburgh score 11 first-inning runs. Detroit could have easily won, but they fell short, which ended up being too bad. After making the World Series three times by the age of 22, the great Cobb never again played a postseason game.

Defining Game
It was a seven game series, but there was only one game that was truly close. The Pirates opened Game 6 with four straight hits, capped by Wagner's 2-run double. Leading 3-0, Pittsburgh was in great position for its first championship, but the Tigers chipped away, tying the game in the fourth and taking the lead in the fifth. Down 2 entering the ninth, the Pirates got one run back on an error on a sacrifice bunt. With runners on the corners and still nobody out, the Pirates had a Bill Abstein cut down at the plate for the first out. Then, Detroit escaped with a strike out/throw out double play, forcing Game 7.

MVP
Adams. Three complete games, three wins, four earned runs. Another easy choice.

Scores
(Home team shaded; winners in Bold)

Pittsburgh	4	2	8	0	8	4	8
Detroit	1	7	6	5	4	5	0

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

61. 1909 - Pittsburgh (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-3
62. 2005 - Chicago (A) def. Houston (N) 4-0
63. 1950 - New York (A) def. Philadelphia (N) 4-0
64. 1906 - Chicago (A) def. Chicago (N) 4-2
65. 1981 - Los Angeles (N) def. New York (A) 4-2
66. 1943 - New York (A) def. St. Louis (N) 4-1
67. 1954 - New York (N) def. Cleveland (A) 4-0
68. 1978 - New York (A) def. Los Angeles (N) 4-2
69. 2006 - St. Louis (N) def. Detroit (A) 4-1
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:

16. 1940: Cincinnati 2, Detroit 1
21. 1968: Detroit 4, St. Louis 1
22. 1931: St. Louis 4, Philadelphia 2
29. 1965: Los Angeles 2, Minnesota 0 
31. 1967: St. Louis 7, Boston 2
32. 1945: Detroit 9, Chicago 3
33. 1909: Pittsburgh 8, Detroit 0 

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.

May 15, 1912: Rage

NEW YORK - What anecdote best describes Ty Cobb?

You could stick to the pure numbers: He won 11 American League batting titles, including 3 seasons where he batted above .400, and is still the all-time leader in batting average. He batted over .300 in 23 consecutive seasons. He lead the league in every significant offensive category at some point in his career, and he is one of two players who have won both a home run title and a stolen base title. When he retired, he was the all-time leader in at bats, hits, runs, and batting average.

If numbers aren't your bag, go with what contemporaries thought of him: When the first Hall of Fame class was elected, Ty Cobb received the most votes, more than even Babe Ruth.

Or you could mention his savvy as a business man, how early investments in Coca Cola and GE led Cobb to be a multi-millionaire when he retired. Or that he donated large portions of his fortune to start an education foundation and a healthcare system in his native Georgia, two systems that are thriving to this day.

Or, you could talk about May 15, 1912, when Cobb went into the stands at New York's Highland Park and beat a heckling fan senseless, despite the fact that the fan was missing one hand and three fingers on another. When other fans pointed this out to Cobb, he said "I don't care if he got no feet." See, the fan had been heckling Cobb all game long, then the fan - apparently - called Cobb a half-breed. And to Cobb, accusing him of being part-black, even in jest, was enough to get him to attack you. Cobb was suspended indefinitely for the attach, but after his teammates threatened to strike - only because they had no chance of winning without him, not because they actually liked him - Cobb was back on the field within a week.

Unfortunately, incidents like the one in New York were all too common with Cobb. There was the time he beat up a black groundskeeper during spring training, then beat up the man's wife when she went to defend him. There was the time he slapped a black elevator operator for being "uppity," then stabbed the night watchman who intervened. Or the time he pistol-whipped a man to death. Plus there were innumerous fights with teammates and umpires throughout his career.

At the very least, Cobb had severe anger issues. More likely, though, was that he had a severe personality disorder, bordering on insanity, with an extreme paranoia that everybody was determined to hurt him. And Cobb almost reveled in it, taking pride in his past accomplishments and intimidation tactics, implying that anybody who didn't do those things was a coward

It's possible that Cobb was as brilliant as player as he was in part because of his rage and paranoia - he had to keep striving to be better than everybody else, so nothing he did was good enough. Whether that's true or not, it affected him greatly in his later life. Despite his charitable donations - including him quietly sending checks to former ballplayers who had fallen on hard times - Cobb died alone, with no friends and few family members with him in his final days. And when the greatest ballplayer before Babe Ruth died in 1961, only three former players came to his funeral.