Baltimore Orioles (87-53) v Pittsburgh Pirates (81-59)
The horse race analogy is a commonly used one when describing baseball contests, so let me trot one out (see what I did...) here. Were this World Series a horse race it would be something akin to Secretariat running against one of those Clydesdales that takes rich folk and tourists on joyrides around Central Park.
They are a classy bunch of ballplayers, with Charlie Hickman (368 / 19 HR / 151 HR) arguably the best in the NL this year, Zaza Harvey (380 BA) nigh on impossible to stop, and Mike Donlin a force to be reckoned with. Watty Lee and Jack Harper each won 23, their stopper Dale Gear didn’t lose a game. They topped the AL in almost every stat cat as a team.
We have Honus and Jimmy Williams in that sort of stratosphere, but the rest of our guys – no disrespect meant, I love them with every sinew in my body – are a bunch of scrappers.
And scrapping is what we’ll need to do to win this. They have a fair bit more room for error than we do, so we simply must make (warning: another nag trope coming) every post a winner.
I make no changes. (One more to see us off.) You don’t change jockeys halfway through a race.
Game 1 in Baltimore
Watty Lee (23-10) v Jack Chesbro (19-17)
It starts off with the pitchers in the ascendancy and remains scoreless thru 3.
They take the lead on a Donlin run-scoring double in the 4th and our first error of the series (by Steinfeldt) ramps up the pressure, putting men at the points with none out. They are forced into a two-for-one trade when a run scores on a GIDP.
We get a rally going immediately, loading the bases in the top 5th with one out, but Wagner hits into a force at home and Williams pops out meekly to end the threat.
We finally get on the board in the 7th via a two-out RBI trip by Williams.
Chesbro nearly gives it straight back in the home half but does exceptionally well to keep them from scoring, and then Schreckengost comes through in the next with a double to bring in the tying run.
This time Chesbro can’t hold them off, however, as they put together a two-out rally that nets them a pair of runs.
Nothing doing in the 9th and we lose it 4-2.
Baltimore 4, Pittsburgh 2.
BOX SCORE
Game 2 in Baltimore
Jack Harper (23-9) v Deacon Phillippe (19-14)
Baltimore leads series 1-0
We start positively as Murphy leads off the game with a triple and comes home on an infield hit by McIntyre. A single by Wagner and a Seybold groundout add a second. A two-out hit by Steinfeldt, a third.
Phillippe keeps them hitless thru 3 but then they get to work, scoring one on two hits. Harper, meanwhile, seems to have found his groove after his early problems.
It all comes unglued in the next when Phillippe loads the bases and then gives up a slam to his opposing pitcher. Talk about making it hard for yourself.
We respond immediately, as good sides do, as Steinfeldt doubles one in to make it 5-4. With two on and two out, and Deacon’s recent form in the can, I roll the dice and hit for him. Sadly it comes to nought when Dexter strikes out looking.
McJames comes on in relief, Dexter stays at 1B, Davis leaves. Murphy to LF.
We have our chances over the next two but just can’t get that key hit. They show us how to do it in the home 8th to get an insurance run, then close it out to go two-nil up.
We outplayed them tonight for the most part, but still got beat.
That’s class for ya.
Baltimore 6, Pittsburgh 4.
BOX SCORE
Game 3 in Pittsburgh
Mike O’Neill (15-8) v Joe McGinnity (17-16)
Baltimore leads series 2-0
Wagner 1-for-9. Seybold 1-for-8. Williams 2-for-10. That’s what our heart has hit so far. We’ve done well to push them as much as we have, given those incriminating stats. Davis, another one in awful nick, is benched in favour of Dexter.
They get to O’Neill early but a fantastic assist by McIntyre nails a runner at home and we escape the 1st unscathed.
We take the lead in the 2nd on a 2-run triple by Murphy, who then scores on an error by the RF, their second already. We load them up with one out but Wagner again lets us down by striking out. This time, however, Williams comes through with a double that clears the bases and stretches our lead to 6. A Seybold hit makes that 7.
They get a run in the top 5th but we answer with 4 of our own in the home half to take complete control.
A 2-run double in the next continues Murphy’s big game and in the end we coast home 13-2. Murphy finishes with 5 RBI in a true Captain’s knock. O’Neill goes the distance in a fine performance.
Pittsburgh 13, Baltimore 2
BOX SCORE
Game 4 in Pittsburgh
Frank Owen (16-8) v Watty Lee (1-0)
Baltimore leads series 2-0
Slight variation of approach between the two sides as they run a three-man rotation while we’ve got all four of ours going. I’m just not confident enough in any of them to increase their respective workloads. We’ll see if I was correct to opt for this strategy.
We get a run before making an out as Dexter singles and McIntyre doubles him all the way home. But the 3-4-5 guys go 1-2-3 and that’s all we get.
Then Owen just implodes and again their pitcher does damage with the bat. Before we know it we are trailing 3-1.
Murphy keeps his hot hand going with a two-out RBI double in the 4th to cut the deficit in half, but only briefly, as they are teeing off on Owen and cancel that run out with one of their own.
Owen barely hangs in there for 7 before I go to the pen with it still 4-2.
We get back within a run thanks to a bases-loaded hit by Williams in the home 7th and then Seybold picks the perfect moment to rediscover his swing, clearing the decks with a double to give is the 6-4 lead.
Dexter comes through in the clutch with a two-out RBI double in the next to give us one more run to work with, then McIntyre singles him in to make it 8-4.
We put them down in order to close out a great SCRAPPY win and tie the series at 2. McIntyre superb with 4-for-5 / 2 RBI and Dexter with 3 hits.
Pittsburgh 8, Baltimore 4
BOX SCORE
Game 5 in Pittsburgh
Jack Chesbro (0-1) v Jack Harper (1-0)
Series tied 2-2
After a torpid start to the series, Seybold has come alive and it’s no coincidence our recent performances have been far better. He scores the game’s opening run on a sac fly by Murphy in the 2nd. A two-out hit by Chesbro keeps the inning alive and moves a runner to third who subsequently scores on a wild pitch.
We stretch our lead in the 4th when the irrepressible Murphy doubles and scores on a single by Maloney.
Chesbro has his moments, including needing a Seybold special to mow down a runner at home in the 6th, but manages to keep a clean sheet to that point. That said, you can see they are zoning in on him with every inning.
We need more runs. Only thing is our hitting has ground to a dead halt.
Chesbro gets into two-out trouble in the 8th and I make a pitching change, bringing Piatt in to face their LHB. It’s a call I may be forced to relive for years to come as he gives up a 2-run triple.
Wagner and Williams single and then we are gifted a run by a horror gaffe by Donlin in RF. A Murphy RBI single restores our 3-run advantage and Malarkey gets them in order for the save, win, and 3-2 series lead.
Pittsburgh 5, Baltimore 2
BOX SCORE
Game 6 in Baltimore
Joe McGinnity (0-1) v Deacon Phillippe (0-1)
Pittsburgh leads series 3-2
Home ground advantage obviously playing a huge part here, with every game so far going to the hosts. We need to snap that string to win it all. We know what Deacon is capable of. He’s been down a long while, winless since 09/23. He needs to dig deep and turn it around here, and Wagner simply has to start contributing.
A not-unexpectedly tentative start to the game with a scattering of baserunners but no real threats thru 2.
We go ahead in the 3rd when McIntyre – who has been his usual superbly understated self in this series – is HBP and a Williams triple brings him in, before Williams scores in turn on two-out double by Steinfeldt. Another two-bagger by Murphy extends our lead to three and then he scores on a Maloney single.
In between innings I urge the lads to tighten, rather than loosen, the grip.
In the end, the O’s do a lot of our work for us, making two errors in the 5th to let us pull further ahead with another run.
The pressure then takes a bite out of us, as a Williams error repays their earlier largesse and only a superb defensive play by Wagner limits the damage to the one run.
Honus then backs that up with his first hard-hit ball of the series, a triple that scores McIntyre after he’d been HBP and ends McGinnity’s game. Another misplay brings Wagner in, making it 7-1, and then Steinfeldt plates another with a single.
It starts getting messy out there, as Murphy misplays a routine flyball and then Maloney throws one into the outfield trying to prevent a steal. Phillippe, however, keeps his head while all around him are losing theirs, and retires the side without conceding.
Honus, with a taste for it now, gets us another run in the 7th with a two-out RBI double.
9-1. Nine outs needed.
They inch closer when Howell hustles for an inside-the-park homer, the second of the series by their hurlers.
9-2. Six outs needed.
A clean 8th gets us to within three outs of the mountaintop.
Deacon is due up to lead off the 9th. He deserves his chance to close this out, so I let him hit. He grounds out and we don’t add to our lead.
Stahl grounds out 4-3.
Harvey grounds out 3-1.
Moran grounds out 5-3.
We are World Champions. Hey, even Secretariat lost a race or five.
Pittsburgh 9, Baltimore 2
BOX SCORE