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OLD RIVALS MEET AGAIN AS WORLD SERIES OPENS
By George F. Winthrop and Arthur H. Leland, Sporting Times
October 9th, 1915
The World Series is once more upon the baseball public, and it brings with it a familiar and compelling contest, as the two pennant winners meet for the second time in three years. Representing the American League are the Washington Senators, while the National League standard will again be carried by the formidable Brooklyn Robins.
Washington arrives at the championship series as a hardened and thoroughly tested club. Their road to the pennant was a grinding one, not settled until the final day of the season, and it demanded resilience in the face of adversity. The Senators were not carried by overwhelming offence, their run scoring placing them just seventh in the American League, and there were stretches where timely hits were hard to come by. Instead, Washington leaned heavily upon its pitching staff, which proved equal to the burden. The Senators finished the year with the third-best starter earned run average in the league and the second-fewest runs allowed overall, a testament to steady work from the mound. At the head of the rotation stand Smokey Joe Williams and Eddie Cicotte, upon whom much of the club’s hopes will rest. Offensively, the Senators will look for the same collective effort that sustained them through the summer, as they seek to manufacture runs rather than overwhelm opponents. There is also the matter of unfinished business, for Washington enters the series determined to avenge its 4–2 defeat to Brooklyn in the 1913 World Series.
Across the diamond, the Brooklyn Robins arrive with the confidence of champions and the weight of history close at hand, as they seek to become the first club to claim the World Series title three years in succession. Their strength, like that of their opponents, begins with pitching. The Robins boast a fearsome rotation led by Walter Johnson, Grover Cleveland Alexander, and John Donaldson, a trio that anchored the league’s best runs-against record and produced the second-best starter earned run average in the National League. Brooklyn’s attack has been equally formidable. With Joe Jackson, Eddie Collins, and Dave Robertson setting the pace, the Robins finished second in the league in runs scored and third in batting average, giving them balance and depth that few clubs can match.
“This club has learned how to endure,” said Senators manager Chase Stone. “We’ve had to fight for every inch, and I believe that sort of trial prepares a team for this stage.”
Robins manager Ned Hanlon struck a note of calm confidence. “Our men have carried themselves as champions all season,” he remarked. “We respect Washington greatly, but we know what is required to win at this level.”
With pitching strength on both sides, contrasting styles at the plate, and recent history binding the two clubs together, the 1915 World Series promises to be a contest worthy of its setting, as Washington and Brooklyn prepare once more to decide baseball’s ultimate prize.
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