The Biscuits pulled one out of their assorted back pockets, Johnny Field bending a long fly ball around the fair pole to tie the game and then Kean Wong knocking in a run to walk off winners in the tenth.
PITCHING BISCUITS WELL
Chris Kirsch started and pitched very well, giving way to the pen after seven strong innings. It was a merry Kirsch-mas indeed as the Lackawanna Lefty piled up six strikeouts.
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| Brad Boxberger |
Rehabber Brad Boxberger had no problems in the 8th, pitching a clean inning with one punchout.
Beleaguered relievers Schrieber and Ames each dealt out a run but it was Jeff Ames turn to benefit from the late rally to pick up his third win of the year.
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| Schreiber gets a postgame handshake from Dick Bosman |
#BULLPEN LIFE
BURGER-FEST SUCCESS
The Burgers for Burger-Fest were large and delicious, and a dollar cheaper than my usual choice, so that was great! Brad Boxberger was nice to talk with even though I could tell he was abit tired, he signed a baseball for me and when I brought up his dad's no hitter Brad said "Isn't that going back a ways?"
Yeah, it is a minute, but thats just how I roll! haha
Speaking of history stuff, I have a nice piece that I would like to share for the History Week. I put this out a few seasons ago in segments, about a notable Montgomery player that few people would recognize.
He is a World Series hero, one of the few ever to lead Montgomery in Home Runs in Back-To-Back seasons, the All Time leader in Games Played in the Minor Leagues. Involved in two curses, suicides and death-defying high dives, the story is a little long but I find it one of the most interesting tales of any Montgomery player.
GEORGE "LUCKY" WHITEMAN
Looking
again at the 1909 Climbers roster, one of my fave topics, George
Whiteman is a name that doesn't stand out to the casual observer, but is
one of the most interesting characters on the team, and perhaps in all
of baseball.
George
was known as "Lucky", a name perhaps brought with him after his first
career - daredevil. The Climbers outfielder would go on to star in the
RedSox last World Series before the Babe is traded and is one of, if not
the most prolific minor leaguer in history.
SABR describes him
as a "cross between Roy Hobbs and Crash Davis" and he is forever linked with Hall of Famers Babe Ruth and Tris Speaker.
He is connected with two curses and a string of pennants and championships.
Among
the nicknames he garnered during his career are "Chief", "Whitey" and
"Bandit Pete" but Lucky seems most appropriate for this man and the
events of
his life, which included winning a batting championship, a world series
title and repeatedly taking teams to the top of the standings.
George was born in Peoria Ill in December of 1882 to a German immigrant mother and presumably, a father.
Little
is known about his early life, but it is thought he was brought up in
that small town setting, likely until he was able to make his own way.
That way was as a diving daredevil.
Beginning
in his teens, he and his partner would appear at carnivals and
fairgrounds, diving from a tower into a barrel of water. When George's
partner was killed in a dive, the act fell apart and Whiteman looked for
a new career.
BASEBALL CALLS
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| George Whiteman with Boston |
George "Lucky" Whiteman came to baseball late, at age 22.
The outfielder-third baseman quickly begain putting in over a hundred games annually, starting in
'05 with Waco, then Cleburn and two seasons in Houston.
In
1906 with Cleburn, Lucky won a pennant and a batting title in just his
second season. His .281 average was second on the Railroaders, but the
team leader didnt get enough at bats to qualify for the league title so
Whiteman won it even though he trailed by over a hundred points!
It
was in the following year that he joined the Houston Buffaloes, where
he was not so lucky to find that he had to split time in the outfield
with a teenage Texan named Tris Speaker.
Whiteman
clubbed five homers and hit pitchers for a pedestrian .242 pace with
Houston, yet the RedSox were desperate for warm bodies and scouted Lucky
to join them in Boston. Luckily for Boston, Buffaloes owner Doak
Roberts wanted out of the baseball business and demanded the RedSox take
young Speaker along with Whiteman the top prospect, or no deal.
RED SOX DEBUT-
SEPT 1st, 1907 - BOSTON DOVES DRAFT GEORGE WHITEMAN (houston) IN RULE 5 DRAFT
1907
was the first of Lucky's trips to the big leagues. Whiteman got into
four September games at the Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds.
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| spacious outfields were often ringed by fans, in play! |
Beginning September 13th, George Whiteman appeared twice as a pinch hitter and twice in the RedSox outfield
where he handled his two chances cleanly and also picked up his first
two career hits and first career RBI.
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| Future HOF Tris Speaker, the throw in |
Tris Speaker also made his first foray
into the lineup the day before Lucky, on September 12th, at just
nineteen years of age. He would stay in the game for twenty-one more
seasons, not a bad throw in to the trade.
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| Cy Young 1908 |
On the other end of the spectrum was the veteran of
the Boston pitching staff. 40 year old Cy Young would win 21 games for
the lowly Sox to lead the team in victories. Young wasn't anywhere near
done yet though, winning another 51 games over the next four seasons on
his way to that staggering 511 career wins.
Young had
spent a week managing the Boston team, and three other managers would
fill out the lineup card for the Red Sox - just before the season began
Chick Stahl, manager of the team, committed suicide under very
mysterious circumstances.
Chick Stahls death may have resulted from Stahl being told to cut
Collins from the team. The subject of Stahl's last words "I couldn't
help it...it drove me to it..." remain a mystery.
The season went downhill quickly after that.
Other
than Young, the Boston Americans pitchers lost more games than they
won. The team batting average was a paltry .231, six of the regulars hit
less than .245. Only the 100+ loss Washington Senators were worse than
Boston in the standings that September.
The
Sox had dealt an aging Jimmy Collins to Philly, Collins would be
elected to the HOF in the 1940s, creating an opening on the roster for a
fourth outfielder. Collins, the first Boston manager, had been
suspended multiple times and given the manager chair over to Stahl after
1906.
Scout George Huff signed
both Texas league prospects to fill the Boston outfield needs. Boston
was the perfect situation for a Texas League player to break into the
big leagues.
BACK TO THE MINORS
1908
saw Lucky back with Houston when Boston didn't bring him back after his
cup of coffee with the Red Sox. In Houston, Whiteman had a nice season -
hitting .271 with six homers in over five hundred at bats. That summer
Whiteman made a pitching appearance in relief, earning his only career
victory on the hill.
1909-10 MONTGOMERY CLIMBERS
Lucky Whiteman makes it to Montgomery in 1909, a fresh start from his four straight tours in the Tx League.
However
he would see improved levels of pitching he was facing, and offered up a
considerably lower average than his previous numbers - batting just
.237 with a pair of home runs the first season. His eight triples
suggests that he had opposite field power, which in Montgomerys park leads
to a spacious portion of the outfield with plenty of room to run.
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| Your 1910 Montgomery Climbers, Whiteman front row second from left |
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| Champ Osteen |
While with the Climbers the long time outfielder
starts making appearances at third base, taking over in 1910 when
regular third baseman Champ Osteen was injured sliding into second base.
Osteens
injury was a break for Lucky, who got into more games by playing a
second position. He saw his appearances rise from 128 games to 141,
second only to Osteen. Though at the plate his average dipped he smacked
15 doubles and 10 triples.
November 23, 1910, the
Atlanta Constitution reported that George
was sold to the Mobile Gulls for “the measly sum of $400.” Apparently,
he wasn’t getting along with some of his teammates.
AFTER MONTGOMERY
Once
the former daredevil left the Climbers and the Southern League behind,
he signed with Missoula but appeared in just under two dozen games
before coming home to the Texas League. Lucky takes up with Houston
again, and after a bad season in 1911 he regains his batting stroke.
In 1912 Whiteman puts up his first career .300+ average, slugs .425 and bangs out 25 doubles on his way to a career year.
Back
again in 1913 with Houston, Lucky play in over 150 games and enjoys the
success of every day play when it attracts the eyes of big league
scouts. This time its the Yankees who are interested in Lucky.
YANKEES DAYS
Former
Cub great Frank Chance skippers the Yankees at the Polo Grounds, not
yet the Bronx Bombers - this '13 edition is made up of names like Birdie
Cree and Ezra Midkiff. Well on the way to losing 94 games, the Yanks
are playing out the string when Lucky shows up.
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| 1913 New York Yankees - can you find Lucky? |
Whiteman has his best major league totals while with
New York, getting 11 hits in 11 games at a .344 pace. Lucky also swipes
two bases, takes seven walks and is credited with a pair of sacrifices.
He scores runs, hits the ball and runs the bases well.
Whiteman also miffs two of the 32 chances hit his way in the outfield, earning his first career errors.
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| George Whiteman with NY |
INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE
Its
back to the minors, but this time its a step up - Double-A baseball in
Montreal. He would spend two seasons in the International League with
the Royals, feasting on pitching as he posted batting averages of .313
and .312. Eight home runs and twenty doubles in 1914 turned into 14
homers in 1915 as Lucky led the league in round trippers and runs
scored. With numbers like that, the big leagues might soon be calling
again.
ALMOST BIG LEAGUE
In
1915 as the season wore down, Lucky got a chance to play in New York
again, though this time it was the outlaw Federal League that wanted
him. The Brooklyn Tip-Tops were interested, and George even jumped his
contract to join them, but never appeared in a game.
John
McGraw is said to have expressed interest in the former daredevil
diver, but it was back to the minors for Lucky, where he signed on with
Louisville for 1916.
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| 1916 Louisville would win another Pennant for Lucky |
After the championship campaign
in Louisville where he hit .273 he was brought back and resigned, but
it took all of three games for Lucky to decide to head back north. He
spent the rest of 1917 in Toronto, helping the Maple Leafs to the
International League title by batting .342. Another pennant for Lucky.
1918
RETURN TO BOSTON
Things
are about to change for George "Lucky" Whiteman, and for the rest of
America. World War I has sapped many teams of players, but 35 year old
Lucky Whiteman is too old for drafting into the service.
At
the start of the spring Toronto sells his contract to the RedSox for
$750. There is speculation that Sox owner Harry Frazee and Whiteman are
friends, being both from Peoria and both about the same age.
For the first time, Lucky will spend the entire season on the big league roster. He plays 71 games,
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| 1918 Boston Red Sox - Whiteman center row, third from left |
This time however, its not on a team playing out the
string in seventh place. The 1918 Red Sox win twenty more games than
they lose and take the American League pennant easily. It was a great
team powered by hard hitting pitcher Babe Ruth.
Ruth
pitched and played outfield, sharing left field patrols with Lucky
Whiteman. Lucky swiped nine bases, hit .266 and drove in 28 runs.
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| Mogridge served it up |
Late in the summer, during the last game of the
season - the second game of a labor day doubleheader during the final
road trip to New York, Lucky hit his first and only big league home run.
It came off of Yankees lefty George Mogridge at the Polo Grounds. It
was a solo homer in the top of the second inning, and ties the game at
one run each. Lucky was batting cleanup that afternoon, and rewarded
skipper Ed Barrow for penciling him into the lineup.
WORLD SERIES 1918
RED SOX VS CUBS
THE UNEXPECTED FELLOW
“I’m lucky against these left-handed pitchers. No one is figuring that I’ll do much in the Series and you know
it’s the unexpected fellow who usually does the heavy work.”
George Whiteman - Sept 1918
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| 1918 Cubs Sluggers |
When the Cubs met the Red Sox in the 1918 Fall
Classic, all eyes were on the big pitchers on both teams. Ruth was the
#3 pitcher for a Sox team that featured Carl Mays, Sad Sam Jones and
Bullet Joe Bush - opposing them was Hippo Vaughn's Cubs, a team running
away with the National League, winning almost two games for every loss.
 |
| Game One Ticket |
GAME ONE
Ruth started the first game of
the series on the mound for the RedSox, giving Lucky the start in the
outfield. The Bambino only won 11 games and spent more time in the
field, but Boston manager Barrow wanted to start the lefty Ruth vs the
Cubs.
Lucky rapped two hits in four trips with his
father in attendance, his first time seeing George in a major league
game. His Dad traveled from Texas to see Lucky, who had a big moment
with a hit over the shortstop to move a runner into scoring position -
that runner would later score the games only run as Ruth pitches a
shutout.
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| Game Two ticket |
GAME TWO
Again Lucky gets the start
hitting fourth, Whiteman triples and walks in three at bats, plus he
drives in a run. But Lucky grounded into a double play, and Lefty Tyler
defeats Bullet Joe Bush as the Sox lose in Comiskey to the Cubs evening
the series at a game apiece.
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| Cubs pitcher Lefty Tyler |
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| Game Three ticket |
GAME THREE
Whiteman again batting
cleanup as Ruth rides pine, watching Lucky as he gets hit by a pitch in
the fourth inning and scores after a pair of Boston hits. Whiteman also
robs Paskert of an extra base hit in left field. Lucky steals a base off
of the Cubs Hippo Vaughn and the Red Sox take a two games to one
advantage home to Boston.
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| Cubs James Hippo Vaughn |
INTRIGUE
During the 1918 World Series, players on both teams met
with each other to discuss the lacking compensation owners were giving
as World Series shares. As the shares were pretty much equal to most
players annual salary, it was a bone of contention among players when it
was felt that they were getting shorted, due in part to low attendance.
Players demanded more, and refused to play unless it was given.
How
serious were they? When players get to Boston the first game there is delayed an hour until
players were assured that they were getting the money they expected to get from owners.
From
the start of game four onward, there are those who point to certain
actions by players in the series and statements by others about the
possibility of the Cubs throwing games.
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| World Series souvenir |
|
GAME FOUR
Babe Ruth pitches again. Lucky hits fourth again.
In
his second plate appearance Whiteman takes a walk and after a groundout
erases the runner ahead of him, Lucky stands at second base as the
worlds greatest power hitter steps to the plate. Cubs manager Fred
Mitchell elects to have Lefty Tyler pitch to The Bambino.
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| Cubs mgr. Fred Mitchell didn't issue walks |
Not quite the Hollywood result
though not far from it - Babe drives the ball to deep right center field
- banging it against the wall and dropping onto the outfield grass.
Lucky scampers home with the first run of the game and Ruth ends up at
third with a triple.
Whiteman would tap back to the mound in the sixth and in the 9th inning he would leave the game.
Down
just one run in the ninth, Babe allows a hit to Merkle and walks the
Cub third baseman as well, forcing a pitching change by putting the
potential tying and game winning runs on base.
Ruth was removed as pitcher and shifted to left field, replacing Lucky Whiteman.
Bullet
Joe Bush comes on to pitch and when the Cubs fail at a sacrifice, Bush
gets a ground ball double play to end the game and push the Red Sox to
needing just one more win.
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| Bullet Joe Bush - deadball era bullpen specialist |
"First pitch fastball" and a big smile was the reply I got when I asked Johnny Field what the pitch he had hit to tie Wednesdays game was, it sparked a tenth inning walk off rally. Johnny tripled in the late innings on Thursday, sparking late inning runs for the second day in a row.
