1906 EOBHR REPLAY#38: DAY 9 A.L.: So at this juncture, often known as Day 9, the regular season begins its second half of the standard 16-game (per team) game schedule, or 135 total games for 16-team 1906 counting the nine post-season Tourney games.
Game 68:
St. Louis Browns (4-5/5th) 4-6-1 Detroit Tigers (2-7/8th) 3-6-0
With seven games left in the 16-game regular season, the Tigers are edged in this game and drop an ultra-treacherous if not lethal five games below .500... As their prospects for making the Tourney (which includes the 'better' half of the teams in each divisional unit) seem more and more remote. With this tight 4-3 loss to the Brownies, Detroit has now been almost doubled-up (48opponents-26DT) in game scoring...
The Bengals' 1906 replay scoring so far a mere 26 runs in 9 games despite the likes of HOF sluggers Ty Cobb and Sam Crawford in their outfield, hard to understand... Plus the Motor (Buckboard?) City's 14-5 deficit in the often decisive final 3 innings of their games alarming if not an actual sign of a pathological 'Fear of Winning'..
In this game, trailing 4-2 B8th, Detroit's Ty Cobb does as expected, poking a 2-out RBI single RF as teammate Pinky Lindsay slides around the tag at home to cut the Brownie lead to a mere 4-3.
But there the Tiger offense loses its stripes, and 'Twilight' Ed Killian, the Tiger starter, fades into the dusk of another L...
With the most heartening Tiger shot of the day being a 2-out 2-run double by cleanup-batting Tigger 3B 'Coughing' Bill Coughlin (my nickname), who gags up a deep liner LF that speedy St. Louis LF George Stone has to chase down like a rolling stone (2-run double, cutting Brownie lead to 3-2).
But it is none other than Brownie hurler Barney Pelty who pelts a one-out single LF T7th for the game's deciding blow against St. Louis reliever Ed Siever, Killian having been lifted in the twilight of the B6th for PH C Fred 'Freda' Payne*.
* But (s)he'll get their Band of Gold next year when the Tigers win the 1907 realworld pennant... C Fred Payne actual '06 Tiger backup player
The Twilight of Defeat
Detroit Tigers (2-7/8th:Last) 3-6-0
Game 67: IMPORTANT RHOADS CLOSED DUE TO DANGEROUS SHOULDERS
Philadelphia A's (3-6/T6th) 0-4-1 Cleveland Indians (8-1/1st) 4-8-1
In this easy win, the Indians, now an extraordinary 8-1, continue their drive to bury the rest of the A.L., as they roll to victory despite losing great starting P Bob 'Dusty' Rhoads to a shoulder injury 2-out T3rd... while at the same time having to 'walk the plank'...i.e., face A's HOF P Eddie Plank, who led the actual '06 A.L. pitchers by winning 76% of his starts (19-6).
But all that Dusty's shoulder woes meant to this outcome was things became even more horrifying for the A's... As they now had to face the amazing '78 HOFer Addie Joss as the reliever...... Addie the man with five of his eight post-rookie real-world seasons with ERAs ranging from 24-11/1.16* in 1908 to 27*-11/1.83 in '07... Joss finishing lifetime 160-97/1.89. So, thanks to this unexpectorated werk, Addie improved to 3*-0*/0.47 in this '06 replay..... With 6 1/3 innings of no-run, 7K:0BB hurling... Addie even Addieing in a sac fly B1st to make it 2-0 Indians, and also Addieing an RBI single B6th to complete the 4-0 final score.
Yet, despite Addie's great work, the game is still tight enough that the A's Bris Lord pops out against Joss with Athletic-looking team members on 2nd & 3rd and the A's tying run in the on-base circle and 2 out T9th to end this Deadball Era gem and complete game Joss' 4-hit shutouto.
YANKS 'WALK' (RELY) ON PLANK, Foolishly josh about Joss
Following a double by Indian 3B 'Brigit' Barbeau, the Indians' in-game-sub 'Firebrand' George Stovall connects on a Plank pitch B3rd, driving it down the RF line for what proves to be the game's 1st and game-winning tally-ho!
Game 66
Washington Nats (5-4/T4th) 2-7-1
NY Highlanders (6-3/2nd) 0-2-0
Well, the Highlanders may be playing jess likes the Yankees whoot they will someday be culled... But in this aera whin scorring wuz rashunned by MLB 'n the whirld government, as it prepped up for World War 1, knowing that some of the raw and finished materials used in bats, hats, balls, gloves, bases, supporters, grass manure, foul-lines and -fare-poles, fan seating, popcorn, etc. might conceivably be of grave use in the war clause, tho scores might really be low if army surplus rather than official MLB game equipment was used for real MLB gamuts.
This game is suspicious in pretzilticular since it a) invalved the team of materiel-straved Washington D.C. Comics... As well as the anti-war Highlander squad, peaceful monten fulks which suggested rather than buttle for the U.S. grounds if it comet to thit, toinsted jus 'fake the higher ground' both literally and ethically/.
Well, so there's one possible explanation for the game's lowlying total of 2 runs and 2 extra base hits.
But the fact that historical accounts have the Yankees' Harry 'Shoo Fly Pie' Schlafly's B1st hitting an Orth pitch '(Orth to Moon' d'ye read me??') off the LCF ferns seam to raise dought, except iffen also considering the pitcher, 'the Curveless Wonder', Al Orth, whose repeated straight-down-the-pipe heaves added a somewhat batting-practice-like or almost arcade-like aspect to his gamuses, as Al would hurl his next pitch as soon as he had a baseball in his hand, whither ketcher 'r bitter riddy 'r nut. No moundscaping, stone-collectering, crutch adjusting antiques for Orfth! Just bidness: 'Lick...I mick mir bughck$ onna pir ower basin awnd the quick'r I deal 'em up I deal 'em down dead.! Pless, the bitters hiv no time fer that werthlas strittedgy stiff either! Mosty, they needs replenitch thar alkyhol asap'
Only ficts y' kneads to kno'
T4th: Nat bckstp John Warner to Orth: 'Ye may hab the bist ERA 0.56 now, Irth, bit nit fir lung!!
Warner drills tripler over CF Wheelie Kiiler, thenext iz Jake Stall double....no...he stalls out goin' t' furst..juzmikitasingel.
Than..Rabbit 'This Wirld Duz Nit Exust' Nihll hard insurance single over 2nd.
Yanks Ignore the Warner and the Nill Hypothesis
Game 65 Boston Red Sox (3-6/7th) 0-5-3 Chicago White Sox (5-4/T3rd) 3-9-0
Ed Hahn leads off the B1st for the Chicagoans with a long-bouncing single driven into LCF....and this bad start by the Red Sox must have made Red Sox 3B Ray Morgan and SS Fred Parent want to throw up.... Because Bosox SS Fred Parent's throw after fielding a George Davis' bouncer to 3rd is out of reach (E6) of even a tall (for 1906) and grim 1B Moose Grimshaw...then, after fielding Frank isbell's high bouncer, Bosox 3B Ray Morgan's throw is way high to a leaping, but grimmer, scowling, muttering 1B Moose Grimshaw, who mumbles 'What the heck is wrong with these guys?? Must they always be high....On their throws....But maybe they also be high on their throws into the hopper between innings.... I'll keeps me eye on them and see what I can see ;er smill!!'
Well, but 1B Moose has to realize that this is just the T1st and there's 8 1/2 more innings and outings to go!
A refreshing thought with the score just 1-0 White Sox.. I mean, with Cy Young on the mound for youse, then what's to werry so urrly in the gamet about a bitty run?
But well, mebbe even Cy can have an off day,,, Or was upsettled by those two glaring/costly B1st E's... Because in the B4th, the great Cy (511 real life wins!) yields a leadoff triple to White Hoser great-fielding CF Fielder Jones, Fielder driving the ball right by Red Sox LF Kip Selbach.
Kip, yelling back into tripler Jones, now at 3rd. 'Hey, I'll sell yer triple ball back to ye for a $1 <big money in '06> aftry the gamet!'
Jones at 3rd base shakes his head, thinking about scoring for his team and not about buying souvenirs. Next, red-hot-hitting Chisox C Billy Sullivan immediately rewards hard-working Fielder Jones and hisselfet, with a ringing single over 2nd, Sully's 13th ribbie of this low scoring 1906 replay, and he adds his easily replay-leading 14th ribeye (Indian Flick 2nd at 10, no one in doubs yet in NL) by drilling a bases loaded sac fly B5th off an aggravated Cy Young (0-3), now hogtied with similarly great Rube Waddell (0-3) in this 1906 EOBHR replay.
Cy, 13-21/3.19 in actuarial 1906... 'Sigh...maybe I ain't so young any more...mebbe I hafta start thinkin' 'bout a nice retirement cottage in the woods!' (But...Cy's realworld ERAs in surrounding years, 1904-05/1907-08: 1.97, 1.82, 1.99, 1.26)