SABR Digital Library: The Miracle Braves of 1914: Boston’s Original Worst-to-First World Series Champions
You won’t want to miss this championship book just published by the SABR Digital Library; add it to your baseball collection today:
The Miracle Braves of 1914: Boston’s Original Worst-to-First World Series Champions
Edited by Bill Nowlin
Associate Editors: Bob Brady, Clem Comly, and Len Levin
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-933599-67-0, $19.95
ISBN (e-book): 978-1-933599-68-7, $9.99
392 pages, 100+ photos
Long before the Red Sox “Impossible Dream” season, Boston’s now nearly forgotten “other” team, the 1914 Boston Braves, performed a baseball “miracle” that resounds to this very day. The “Miracle Braves” were Boston’s first “worst-to-first” winners of the World Series.
Shortly after the turn of the previous century, the once mighty Braves had become a perennial member of the National League’s second division. Preseason pundits didn’t believe the 1914 team posed a meaningful threat to John McGraw’s powerful New York Giants. During the first half of that campaign, Boston lived down to such expectations, taking up residence in the league’s basement.
Refusing to throw in the towel at the midseason mark, their leader, the pugnacious George Stallings, deftly manipulated his daily lineup and pitching staff to engineer a remarkable second-half climb in the standings all the way to first place. The team’s winning momentum carried into the postseason, where the Braves swept Connie Mack’s heralded Athletics and claimed the only World Championship ever won by Boston’s National League entry. And for 100 years, the management, players, and fans of under-performing ball clubs have turned to the Miracle Braves to catch a glimmer of hope that such a midseason turnaround could be repeated.
Through the collaborative efforts of a band of dedicated members of the Society for American Baseball Research, this benchmark accomplishment is richly revealed to the reader in The Miracle Braves of 1914: Boston’s Original Worst-to-First World Series Champions. The essence of the “miracle” is captured through a comprehensive compendium of incisive biographies of the players and other figures associated with the team, with additional relevant research pieces on the season. After a journey through the pages of this book, the die-hard baseball fan will better understand why the call to “Wait Until Next Year” should never be voiced prematurely.
SABR members, get this e-book for FREE!
- E-book: Click here to download the e-book version of The Miracle Braves of 1914 for FREE from the SABR Store. Available in PDF, Kindle/MOBI and EPUB formats.
- Paperback: Get a 50% discount on the paperback edition of The Miracle Braves of 1914 from the SABR Store ($17.99 includes shipping/tax).
Buy the book
- E-book: Click here to purchase the e-book version of The Miracle Braves of 1914 for $9.99 from the SABR Store. Available in PDF, Kindle/MOBI and EPUB formats.
- Paperback: Get the paperback edition of The Miracle Braves of 1914 from the SABR Store ($34.99 includes shipping/tax).
Related link:
- Read 1914 Braves bios online: Biographies from this book can now be read online by clicking here.
About the SABR Digital Library
For 40 years, SABR and its members have led the way in publishing the best baseball historical and statistical research. Our publications program is shifting to take advantage of new methods of publishing. Not only will we continue to publish new books like CAN HE PLAY? A Look At Baseball Scouts and Their Profession (released in December 2011); OPENING FENWAY PARK IN STYLE: The 1912 World Champion Red Sox (May 2012); Red Sox Baseball in the Days of Ike and Elvis: The Red Sox of the 1950s (September 2012); Detroit Tigers 1984: What A Start! What A Finish! (December 2012); Sweet ’60: The 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates (April 2013); and Inventing Baseball: The 100 Greatest Games of the 19th Century (July 2013), which showcase the best efforts of SABR’s members, chapters and committees, but new technology makes it possible for us to bring out-of-print titles like RUN, RABBIT, RUN: The Hilarious and Mostly True Tales of Rabbit Maranville (February 2012), GREAT HITTING PITCHERS (March 2012), NINETEENTH CENTURY STARS (August 2012); Batting (January 2013) and The Fenway Project (September 2013) back again. Books will be available in digital formats as well as paperbacks produced by “print on demand” (POD).
Stay tuned throughout the year for new (and old!) titles that we’ll be adding to the SABR Digital Library. SABR members will get discounted rates for all Digital Library publications. If you’re not a member, click here to join SABR.
To view all books in the SABR Digital Library, visit SABR.org/ebooks.
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Originally published: February 19, 2014. Last Updated: August 5, 2020.