[jksander]

April 12, 1916: In our first game of the season on the road in Boston, the Red Sox took an early lead with an RBI single by Tillie Walker with two outs in the bottom of the first inning, but Bullet Joe Bush kept them from running it up from there -- we were still down just 1-0 heading into the top of the seventh inning. Unfortunately, he loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh and a wild pitch allowed Everett Scott to score, buying the Red Sox some insurance. He pitched the rest of the way, getting us into the top of the ninth with the deficit still at two runs. With one out, Nap Lajoie hit himself a double, getting into scoring position, and they walked Mike Mowrey. Rube Oldring hit into a fielder’s choice and they took the out at second, sending Lajoie to third ... and that’s when our shortstop, Alex McCarthy, got us on the board with a well placed single into center! Lajoie scored and Oldring made it over to third, McCarthy taking second as the trailing runner. That forced us to pull Bullet Joe from the lineup, bringing out Charlie Pick to pinch hit, since it wouldn’t matter who was pitching in the bottom of the inning if we couldn’t get a run across first. With Nabors warming in the pen, Pick gave it his best ... but wound up hitting to second and they made the out easily at first. Boston took the win, beating us 2-1. But we fought hard, and we had our chances. Bullet Joe Bush took the loss, but pitched an eight inning complete game, allowing seven hits, four walks and two runs, striking out three. Meanwhile we were outhit 7-5, led by Amos Strunk with two hits, while Lajoie (a hit and a run) scored off the single by McCarthy (a hit and an RBI).

April 13, 1916: Harry Hooper reached first on an E3 error in the bottom of the third inning, handing the Red Sox a 1-0 lead, but Pedro Dibut was able to get out of a bases-loaded jam without any futher scoring that inning. In the top of the fourth our bats woke up, as Mike Mowrey hit a two-run flyball double for the lead, and Rube Oldring hit an RBI single to make it a 3-1 lead midway through the inning! Oldring hit an RBI single in the top of the sixth to add on a run, and a Wally Schang triple gut our lead to 5-1 heading into the stretch! Dibut didn’t quite get his complete game ... though he got through the eighth without any runs scoring, he threw a lot of pitches in that inning and wore out his arm. So Jack Nabors took the ball in the ninth with a four run lead. With two outs and runners on the corners, Boston got a run back with a Harry Hooper RBI single, but with the bases loaded Pinch Thomas proved to not be so good “in a pinch,” as he grounded out on a 5-3 play to close out our 5-2 win! Dibut got the win in his major league debut, lasting eight innings with four hits, three walks, a strikeout and one unearned run, throwing 121 pitches. We outhit them 13-7, led by Oldring with three hits and two RBIs, while Mike Mowrey hit twice with a run and two more batted in.

April 14, 1916: Boston wasted no time in this one, taking the lead when their third batter of the game, Pinch Thomas, hit an RBI single to put them up 1-0 without an out. Byron Houck struggled mightily, and by the time he got us out of the first inning we were deep in a 5-0 hole we had no expectation of digging out of. He gave up two more runs in the bottom of the fourth, and we brought Jing Johnson out in the bottom of the fifth to take over. He only gave up one run of his own pitching the rest of the way, but we were outhit 8-2 and never made any real sign of fighting back. They won with ease, 8-0, and we fell to 1-2 on the season with one game left in the series. Rube Oldring and Alex McCarthy were our only two players to get a hit, and Jimmy Walsh took one walk in the game. Houck, meanwhile, took the loss and fell to 0-1 with a 15.75 ERA, allowing seven runs off seven hits and three walks in his four innings. Ouch! Johnson was solid out of the pen, pitching four innings with a hit, a run, three walks and a strikeout.

April 15, 1916: Boston again took the lead in the bottom of the first, Tillie Walker scoring off a sac-fly and Dick Hoblitzel hitting an RBI single to put them quickly ahead 2-0. By the time we got on the board in the top of the third off a sac-fly by Wally Schang, they already had a 3-1 lead, and they added on in the bottom of the inning when Duffy Lewis hit a two-run double to extend their lead to four runs. We answered in the top of the fourth with an RBI single by Elmer Myers, who stayed out to pitch through the sixth inning, and Wally Schang hit an RBI single in the top of the seventh to send us into the stretch trailing by just two runs, down 5-3. But Jack Nabors came out of the pen and got hammered ... Dick Hoblitzel hit another RBI single, Olaf Henriksen hit an RBI single to bat Hoblitzel home, Harry Hooper singled in a third run, and Larry Gardner reached on an E5 error that allowed Henriksen to put them ahead 9-3. Nabors gave up another four runs in the eighth, staying out to mop up his own mess, and we got destroyed 13-3, Bill Morrisette coming out to get our final out. Boston takes the series three games to one, and we see very quickly how outmatched we’re likely to be this year. Elmer Myers pitched six innings with eight hits, four walks, three strikeouts and five earned runs, digging the hole, while Nabors (with seven hits, two walks and eight runs, only two of them earned) drowned in it during his 1.2 innings. We were outhit 15-7 but committed four team errors, which is absolutely brutal. Jimmy Walsh led our offense with two hits and a run scored, while Schang added a hit and two RBIs.

We’re off tomorrow and then will play three games against the Yankees in New York, before returning to Philly to play our first homestand, against these Boston Red Sox.

April 17, 1916: New York took the lead in the bottom of the fourth with a two-out RBI single by Les Nunamaker, and Bullet Joe Bush loaded the bases in the fifth with one out ... after getting an out at home plate off a fielder’s choice, Hugh High walked in the Yankees’ second run, but we got out of the inning still trailing by just the pair. Our manager brought out Jack Nabors in the bottom of the sixth, and with one out Lee Magee hit an RBI single to pile on, and they unleashed the floodgates from there. By the time Nabors got us out of the inning he’d given up four runs and committed an error, and we were in a 6-0 hole, fading fast. He got us through the seventh without further damage, but Bill Morrisette came out in the eighth to mop up the rest of it. We got shut out 6-0, and our offense (or obvious lack thereof) is going to be our real struggle. They outhit us 10-2, and we gave them seven free passes as well, while only walking once ourselves. Strunk and Lajoie were our only players to notch a hit, while pinch-hitter Whitey Witt got our only walk. Meanwhile, Bullet Joe Bush took his second loss, allowing five hits, seven walks and two earned runs with three strikeouts in his five innings. With a little run support he might have made a game of it ... but then Nabors came out and pitched two innings with four hits and four runs (three earned), giving him an 11.57 ERA now through 4.2 innings in three appearances.
 
April 18, 1916: Pedro Dibut gave up a hit to Frank Baker in the bottom of the third, a bloop single that scored New York’s first run of the game, but he’d done well to that point ... it’s hard to win when your team can barely buy a hit. Dibut would go on to pitch the rest of the game, his second eight-inning effort and the first to be a complete game ... but we were outhit 8-3 and the Yankees held on to shut us out 1-0, our second shutout in a row. With eight hits, one walk, one strikeout and his one earned run, Dibut now has a 0.56 ERA through his first 16 innings as a big leaguer, but he’s now 1-1. Wally Schang had two hits and Alex McCarthy hit one, and Jimmy Walsh had a walk, giving us just FOUR baserunners all game, and Schang got into scoring position both times but failed to find a way to score. We’ve now had twenty consecutive scoreless innings as a team, and our team’s run differential is already at -23 through our first six games.

April 19, 1916: We took our scoreless streak to 22 innings, and then, in the top of the third Stuffy McInnis hit an RBI single to put us up 1-0 on the Yankees, giving us something finally to cheer about in our dugout. And Byron Houck went on to pitch a real gem, getting us into the bottom of the ninth still leading by that single run! Frank Baker singled but was taken out at second when Wally Pipp hit into a fielder’s choice. With one out, Houck hit Paddy Baumann with a pitch, advancing Pipp into scoring position. Our manager, living dangerously, brought out Jack Nabors from the bullpen at that point, and Hugh High took his base on balls, loading the bags. But Les Nunamaker popped out to left and a sure throw by Oldring kept the runners in place! We still had a chance ... New York’s right fielder, Frank Gilhooley, came to the plate with two outs, and he popped out hard to center field as we stunned the Yankees by stealing this one 1-0! Houck went 8.1 innings with just seven hits, striking out three and allowing nobody across ... and though we were outhit 7-5, Wally Schang had a hit, a walk and scored our winning run, batted in by McInnis’s only hit of the game! Houck now has a 5.11 ERA and a 1-1 record in his second start, and Nabors picked up a save with a walk and two outs on 14 pitches.

We’re heading home to face the Boston Red Sox (5-3) for four games at home, playing tomorrow, Friday and Saturday with an off day on Sunday before completing the series with the fourth game on Monday. We’ll then hit the road to play four against Washington’s Senators (3-5), and will finish the month with the first of a four-game home set hosting the Yankees, who lead the American League at 5-2. We sit three games back, tied for last place with the 2-6 Cleveland Indians.

In other news, the Yankees have demoted player-manager Bill “Wild Bill” Donvan back to just “player,” so they could officially hire none other than Connie Mack to take the helm as their new skipper. Mack, who has a 1,414-1,081 record as a manager for us and Pittsburgh, will now make more than $6,200 per year to lead the Yankees, who look to be serious about fighting for their first-ever American League pennant.