[jksander]

April 20, 1916: We got off to a great start in front of our home fans, reportedly numbering just above eight thousand in the crowd, as we took the lead in the bottom of the first with an RBI double by Amos Strunk which was quickly followed by a hit into a fielder’s choice by Nap Lajoie which allowed Strunk to put us ahead 2-0! But Boston was quickly on the board in the top of the second with an RBI single by Everett Scott, so we knew we wouldn’t be beating them without a fight. Our bats stayed strong, however, and in the bottom of the third we scored off a sac-fly coupled with an E8 fielding error (Jimmy Walsh scoring all the way from second, which he’d reached earlier in the inning with a steal!), and Strunk went on to score himself off a single by Mike Mowrey which expanded our lead to 4-1. Boston loaded the bases in the top of the fifth but we stranded all three runners, and Myers let them load them again in the sixth on one out ... this time he let a run in via a walk, but got the second out on a fielder’s choice at home ... but then he blew the lead when Olaf Henriksen hit an RBI single that scored Harry Hooper and Larry Gardner ... we got the third runner out trying to take third, ending the inning but leaving us tied 4-4 heading into the bottom of the sixth.

Myers got us two outs in the seventh and Nabors got us the final out to send us into the stretch still tied up at four, and our bats rallied in the bottom of the seventh, Wally Schang hitting a two-run triple to put us back up 6-4! Jack Nabors stayed out in the eighth and was again an unmitigated disaster ... during the inning the Red Sox batted all the way around, scoring off a Pinch Thomas single, took the lead off a two-run single by Duffy Lewis, and added on with a Jack Barry single to lead 8-6 heading into the bottom of the inning ... it’s maddening to me that our manager decided to keep him in when he got into trouble, but once again our bats rallied big time ... in the bottom of the eighth, Lee McElwee tripled in a run, and Johnny Bessler, who pinch ran for him, scored off a single by Amos Strunk to tie the score. Strunk and McInnis got us the lead when both scored off a Wally Schang triple, and Shang scored some insurance when Shag Thompson walked in the run to make it 11-8 heading into the top of the ninth.

All we needed were three outs, and Bullet Joe Bush came out of the bullpen to get them, facing the top of Boston’s lineup ... and goddamned if he didn’t go and walk THREE BATTERS IN A ROW ... Harry Hooper scored for them off a sac-fly by Henriksen, then Larry Gardner scored off a ground-out to first by Duffy Lewis, bringing Dick Hoblitzel to the plate with runners on second and third, one out. Bush walked him intentionally, loading the bases and bringing up pinch-hitter Ray Haley ... who WALKED IN THE TYING RUN ... what the absolute hell? Bill Carrigan walked in another, giving them a 12-11 lead, and our manager finally pulled Bush for Pedro Dibut, another starter pitching in relief. Dibut would go on to get the two outs we needed, but not before letting Harry Hooper ... yes, they batted around AGAIN ... hit a two-run single to make it a three run deficit heading into the bottom of the ninth. This time our bats stayed silent, and we lost this one in humiliating fashion, 14-11.

The only luck “Bullet Joe” Bush has these days is bad ... he fell to 0-3 after taking this loss, and for the first time all year he truly deserved it ... he threw 45 pitches and got just one out, and he only allowed one hit ... it was the SIX WALKS that doomed his night, and he got three of them so quickly I can’t really blame our maanger for not getting another pitcher warmed up quickly enough to put out the fire. It’s not optimal that we blew through two starters in a bullpen situation, and I’ve decided to let our manager know that, in the future, I’d prefer us not to use starters in a relief role unless it’s an absolute emergency. In the meantime, our pitching rotation’s gonna be shaken up a bit for a few days. Dibut’s going to start tomorrow, followed by Houck, and then we’ll have the day off to rest and get Bush back out there for a proper start as we close out the series.

Beyond that, we’ll have to just put this terrible game behind us. We were outhit 17-14 in a nine-inning game that took nearly four hours, our offense led by Wally Strunk (four hits, a walk, four runs and two RBIs) and Wally Schang (four hits, a run and five RBIs) whose two triples are a new team record. Too bad the effort was wasted on a tough loss.
 
April 21, 1916: The ballpark was abuzz with fans discussing Connie Mack now being the skipper for the Yankees, something that hadn’t completely made the rounds yesterday, and it’s clear not everybody is on board with our recent changes, as Mack had remained a very popular force among fans despite last year’s downturn in fortunes. But we’re on our new path now, and we have to own it. Today’s focus was on putting yesterday’s insane game behind us before it could fester in our minds.

Pedro Dibut was openly frustrated in the top of the first when Harry Hooper reached on an E5 error, later scoring off a single by Tillie Walker which was aided by another error (this time an E9). It certainly wasn’t an optimal way to begin a game, and the fans let us hear it, but we got out of the inning without any further damage, and we tied the score in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single for Nap Lajoie that scored Jimmy Walsh following a leadoff triple. But Boston got the lead back with a two-run homer in the top of the fourth (another big hit for Tillie Walker, his second homer already of the season) and our offense again had work to do. A balk call against him with the bases loaded had Dibut close to getting thrown out by the umpire, as Larry Gardner walked in the Red Sox’s fourth run of the game in the top of the sixth ... and it got worse, when Everett Scott hit an RBI double that drove in another pair. An RBI triple for Bill Carrigan turned the game into a full-on runaway train by driving in yet another run, and Dibut’s day was over ... Jing Johnson came out trailing 7-1 with just one out, needing desperately to shut this inning down. Johnson did his job, getting two quick outs (though Carrigan scored their eighth run thanks to a groundout by Mike McNally), and he stayed out the rest of the game but this was another lost cause. Boston would add two more runs, one each in the seventh and ninth, and they stumped us completely 10-1. Incredibly they only outhit us 10-6, but they also walked five times which didn’t help. Dibut took the loss, falling to 1-2 with a 3.27 ERA after allowing eight hits, four walks and eight runs (seven earned) with just one strikeout in his 5.1 innings, and Stuffy McInnis led the offense with two hits, batting in our only run.

We’ve made a trade with the Chicago Cubs, sending them right-handed starter Elmer Myers, backup shortstop Whitey Witt and a pair of players off our reserve roster -- reliever Weldon Wyckoff and top-100 3B prospect Thomas Healy -- in exchange for a pair of lefty starters to shake up our rotation, Gene Packard, a 28-year-old the Cubs have been stashing on their reserve roster, and Dickey Kerr, a 22-year-old ranked in the top 50 among prospects. Both have impressed our scouts, particularly Packard -- who despite average stuff throws four pitches and has excellent control of them. He hasn’t pitched at the major league level since 1913, but last year in the Federal League he was 15-10 with two saves and a 2.72 ERA, throwing 215 innings. And Kerr has a potentially devastating changeup and went 21-10 at the single-A level last year for Fort Worth’s Panthers in the Texas League, pitching in 280 innings with 138 strikeouts and a 1.04 WHIP.

My plan is to have our manager Chris Nolan run a five-man rotation from here (Dibut, Houck, Packard, Bush and Kerr) while keeping our three man bullpen of Morrisette, Nabors and Johnson in place. It’s going to be a long season, and the added depth among our starters will hopefully help take some pressure off (and if the bullpen should become overly taxed, Packard could potentially move into the bullpen to make more frequent appearances with his less-dominant stamina).

April 22, 1916: Boston took the lead in the top of the second off a two-out single by Everett Scott that was aided by an E8 throwing error, Tillie Walker’s second error on a throw to third this season. But we answered with an RBI single by Johnny Bassler in the bottom of the inning, and we took the lead in the bottom of the third thanks to a single by Nap Lajoie and a ground-out by Mike Mowrey, giving us a solid 3-1 lead early. Pitcher Byron Houck himself doubled in a run in the fourth, and a sac-fly by Stuffy McInnis made it a 5-1 lead for us heading into the fifth, at which point we really started to pour it on. Bassler and Houck each hit RBI singles to pile on in the fifth, and though Houck would give up a run each in the sixth and seventh, we went into the stretch with a four run lead. Morrisette took over in the top of the eighth and handled a non-save situation perfectly, allowing a pair of hits and a walk but not letting anybody score the rest of the way as we held tough to win 7-3! Houck improved to 2-1 with a 3.72 ERA, lasting seven innings with eight hits, three walks, two strikeouts and three runs, only one of which was earned. Meanwhile we matched them on hits with 10 each, led by Johnny Bassler with three hits, two runs and two RBIs, while Houck added two hits, a run and two RBIs, giving him a .250 average through his third start.

April 24, 1916: We had a day off to rest before today’s final game of the series against the Red Sox, and I have Gene Packard up in the rotation ready to make his first start of the season as a member of our Athletics. Boston took the lead in the top of the third with two outs, Duffy Lewis hitting an RBI single to get them on the board. They quickly added on with an RBI double by Tillie Walker, giving them a 2-0 lead midway through the inning. Packard pitched well and kept us in this game -- with two outs in the bottom of the seventh he got us on the board, hitting an RBI single to make it a 2-1 ballgame heading into the top of the eighth. He got three quick outs in the eighth, and came back out in the ninth when our bats were unable to get anywhere ... he got two outs, and then the manager sent out Morrisette to relieve him with Pinch Thomas on first and Everett Scott coming to the plate. Scott popped out to second, getting us into the bottom of the inning with a chance. Rube Oldring led off with a single into center, but Sam Crane grounded into a devastating 4-6-3 double play. Mike Mowrey kept our hopes alive with a single into center, and he made it to second when they failed to pick him off leading off of first ... runner in scoring position, two outs! Pinch hitter Lew Malone then stunned the crowd into pandemonium when he hit a two-run homer out of left field to walk this one off 3-2 ... unbelievable!

Morrisette only threw eight pitches to get one out, but he stole the win away from Packard, who went 8.2 innings with seven hits, a walk, a strikeout and two earned runs. I think everyone involved would have preferred to see Packard go for the complete game, but he starts his career with a 2.08 ERA and definitely had great control over his arsenal. We outhit them 10-7, led by Mowrey who had two hits, a walk and a run scored, while Malone’s two run homer was his first successful pinch hit in four tries.

We’ll take our 4-7 record on the road to face the 5-7 Washington Senators for the first of a four-game set tomorrow. We’ll then return to Philadelphia and Shibe Park, where we’ll play our next 23 games in a row. Hopefully we can start to build some momentum and climb from the bottom of the league.