April 24, 1904: White Sox beat Cleveland on fierce rally as Tom Dougherty picks up only career win

On April 24, 1904, a chilly, wet day, “that threatened to rain at any moment,” in the third game of a four-game series with Cleveland, the Chicago White Sox were down 4-1 heading into the eighth inning.1 Beyond the presence of three future Hall of Famers and a pitcher making his only appearance in a major-league game, there was very little that was remarkable about the game. It was an early-season game between two teams still trying to find their footing at the start of the season. It featured some standout pitching for the first half of the game and was followed by a fierce rally to end it. There had been some fear that the game would not be played as heavy rain the day before had soaked the field and left it in a “wretched condition.”2 Through what was called a “herculean” effort, the water was removed and the field made playable, though the infield was still slippery, and the outfield “was heavy and the footing doubtful.”3 At the time the two teams were a half-game apart in the standings, 2½ and 3 games respectively behind the first-place Boston Americans in the young season. Cleveland appeared ready to cruise to the victory with a three-run lead and just six outs to go.

Up to the seventh inning the game was “one of the cleanest games that have been played on the South Side”; the two teams were in a defensive struggle with neither side generating much offense as they managed only four hits each and were deadlocked in a 0-0 game.4

All that changed in the seventh inning when Cleveland’s hitters began “slapping” Chicago pitcher Patsy Flaherty’s “insolent benders,” scoring four runs and driving him from the game.5 The onslaught was led by future Hall of Fame right fielder Elmer Flick and left fielder Billy Lush, who each drove in two runs in the inning. Fellow future Hall of Famer Napoleon Lajoie got things started off for Cleveland with a single. First baseman Charlie Hickman reached safely on a bunt when both Flaherty and Chicago third baseman Lee Tannehill slipped and fell while trying to field the ball. A wild pitch from Flaherty moved the runners along, and both were driven in by Lush’s hit. Terry Turner got aboard next with a single. Flaherty looked to get out of the inning with only minimal damage done when he got the next two batters out, but then Flick crushed a double, driving in two more runs. Flaherty retired the next batter having given up four runs, and would see his day come to an end.

After the disastrous inning Chicago manager Nixey Callahan pinch-hit for Flaherty with Frank Huelsman, who fared no better, popping up in his only at-bat. Callahan then called on Chicago native Tom Dougherty to replace Flaherty on the mound. The Cleveland Plain Dealer referred to Dougherty as a “trial horse”; it was his first appearance in a major-league game.6 It would also turn out to be his only major-league appearance. Dougherty’s talent was highly thought of, and it was believed he would develop into a solid, reliable pitcher, but a few weeks after his appearance, he was sent to Kenosha for a month before being sold to the Milwaukee Brewers of the minor-league American Association. He never played in the major leagues again but made the most of his one and only appearance.

Dougherty started the eighth inning and faced the heart of Cleveland’s lineup. With his fastball working, he retired Cleveland’s number-three, -four, and -five hitters, including Lajoie. Chicago clawed back one run in the bottom of the eighth when center fielder Fielder Jones scored on a double by Hall of Fame shortstop George Davis.

Dougherty again shut down Cleveland one-two-three in the top of the ninth. Chicago started the bottom half of the inning with Tannehill reaching safely after laying down a bunt that became stuck in the mud, then advancing to second on a throwing error. Catcher Billy Sullivan’s sacrifice moved Tannehill to third, bringing up Dougherty for his only plate appearance in a major-league game. Dougherty appeared to stall out the comeback with a weak fly out for the second out, threatening to end Chicago’s hopes for a last-at-bat rally. Cleveland pitcher Otto Hess helped keep the rally alive by hitting the next batter, Ducky Holmes, in the chest and walking Jones to load the bases. Up next came Callahan, who tied the game when he “caught a curve on the nose” and delivered a three-run double into left-center, just out of the reach of left fielder Lush.7 He scored the winning run and completed the comeback when the next batter, Danny Green, brought him home on a line shot to right field. Hess, who pitched a complete game, picked up the loss, while striking out four and walking three. The next day the headline in the Chicago Tribune blared, “Sox Pull Game Out of the Fire.”8

Dougherty, in his only appearance in a major-league game, earned the win while working two perfect innings in which he retired all six batters he faced – Bill Bradley, Lajoie, and Hickman in the eighth, and Lush, Turner, Harry Bemis in the ninth. He gave up neither hits, walks, nor runs. While his career batting average was .000, he handled two chances in the field, with a putout and assist to his credit, for a career fielding percentage of 1.000.

While it was Dougherty’s last taste of the major leagues, five of his teammates from this game, Davis, Jiggs Donahue, Jones, Sullivan, and Tannehill, would go on to help Chicago win its first-ever World Series title in 1906 as part of the Hitless Wonders, when they and their league-worst .230 batting average defeated their crosstown rival Chicago Cubs.

For Chicago and Cleveland, Chicago’s win proved to be all that separated the two teams at the end of the season, as Chicago finished in third place, a game and a half ahead of fourth-place Cleveland.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Bruce Slutsky and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

In addition to the sources in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA190404240.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1904/B04240CHA1904.htm

Notes

1 “Chicago Won in the Ninth,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 25, 1904: 6.        

2 “Sox Pull Game out of Fire.” Chicago Tribune, April 25, 1904: 8.

3 “Sox Pull Game out of Fire.”

4 “Sox Beat Blues in Fierce Rally.” Chicago Inter Ocean, April 25, 1904: 6.

5 “Sox Pull Game out of Fire.”

6 “Chicago Won in the Ninth.”

7 “Chicago Won in the Ninth.”

8 “Sox Pull Game out of Fire.”