October 11, 1916: Larry Gardner’s 3-run homer deflates Robins in Boston’s Game 4 win

With a Game Three win under their belts, the Brooklyn Robins were “bubbling over with enthusiasm” and insisted a second straight victory would give them so much “pep” going into Game Five that the Red Sox wouldn’t recognize them.1 Boston manager Bill Carrigan’s hunch to start left-hander Dutch Leonard under better conditions came to fruition when the weather turned warmer for Game Four. The slightly higher temperature brought more fans to Ebbets Field and higher tension when Boston’s Royal Rooters disrupted ticket lines and almost caused a riot.2

When they learned the Rooters had purchased tickets in advance and would be entering the park to parade across the field, some fans rushed the gate, and mounted police were called on to keep the peace.3

Carrigan and Brooklyn skipper Wilbert Robinson tried to outbluff each other by warming up multiple pitchers prior to the game. When Leonard was passed over for Carl Mays in Game Three, the Robins thought the Red Sox southpaw wasn’t “right” and might not appear in the series. Carrigan played that up by having Game One starter Ernie Shore warm up next to Leonard. Robinson took it a step further and had Larry Cheney, Jeff Pfeffer, and Rube Marquard get loose before the game.

When Marquard took the mound, he “received a mighty cheer that increased in volume as he disposed of three men in order. … ”4 Marquard fielded Harry Hooper’s grounder and threw him out at first, then struck out Hal Janvrin and Tillie Walker in the top of the first inning. Robins hitters jumped on Leonard immediately and scored two runs in the bottom of the first to go up 2-0. Leadoff man Jimmy Johnston hammered Leonard’s first pitch to the center field fence for a triple and Hi Myers singled to right to give Brooklyn a 1-0 lead.

Fred Merkle walked and Zack Wheat grounded to third for what should have been a double play had Janvrin not been slow getting to second base, resulting in a late throw to first that Wheat just beat.5 Boston forced Merkle at second, but Myers advanced to third, and Wheat went to second when Leonard threw a wild pitch with George Cutshaw at the plate. Cutshaw grounded to Janvrin, who made his second blunder of the inning when he failed to field the grounder and Myers scored on the error.

Wheat and Cutshaw attempted a double steal with Mike Mowrey at the plate, but the Red Sox got a break when Wheat started for home, then had second thoughts and retreated to third. Janvrin took Carrigan’s throw at second and fired to third to cut down Wheat for the second out of the inning. Leonard fanned Mowrey to end the frame. After an easy first, Marquard ran into trouble in the bottom of the second. He walked Dick Hoblitzell on six pitches to begin the inning, then fell behind Duffy Lewis before surrendering a double to the right-field fence that put Red Sox on second and third with Larry Gardner coming up.

Gardner worked the count to 3-and-2 and fouled a couple off before slamming a drive to center field, the longest hit in the series to that point, and raced around the bases for a three-run inside-the-park homer that gave Boston a 3-2 lead. According to Grantland Rice, Brooklyn’s chance to win the Series all but died when Gardner crossed the plate. “That one blow, delivered deep into the barren lands of center field,” Rice wrote, “broke Marquard’s heart, shattered Brooklyn’s wavering defense and practically closed out the series.”6

It also broke Robins fans’ confidence in Marquard and when Everett Scott lined to left and reached second when Wheat muffed his fly ball for a two-base error, calls for Marquard’s removal from the game grew louder. Carrigan sacrificed Scott to third, but Marquard fanned Leonard and got Hooper to ground to first to end the inning.

Leonard faced four batters in the bottom of the second and walked Chief Meyers, but he couldn’t get past second; Marquard allowed an infield single to Walker in the top of the third, but he was caught stealing with two outs and the game went to the bottom of third. Leonard continued his rebound from his poor first inning and set down Myers, Merkle, and Wheat on a fly out to center, a popup to short, and a fly out to left, respectively.

“The game had now settled down to real business,” wrote T.H. Murnane. “Leonard was on his feet, working with his magic spell curves, and the home team commenced to realize that the Fresno pet was all that he had been advertised.”7 In the top of the fourth, Boston began adding insurance runs. Lewis started the inning with a hard liner to left that “singed Mowrey’s hand” before landing safely for a hit, and went to second when Gardner sacrificed.8 Scott grounded to third and Lewis had to hold his ground, but Carrigan rapped a single that scored Lewis and gave the Red Sox a 4-2 lead.

Leonard walked, but ran Boston out of the inning when he tried to go to second on a pitch to Hooper that got away from Meyers, noticed that Carrigan was firmly planted on the base, tried to go back to first, then reversed course when Meyers fired the ball to Merkle at first. Carrigan had no choice but to try for third, but Leonard was an easy out when Merkle tossed to Cutshaw at second.

Brooklyn started the bottom of the fourth with a minor rally when Cutshaw led off with a double and Mowrey walked. Ivy Olson tried to move the runners up with a bunt, but popped out to Hoblitzell. Meyers battled through nine pitches, fouling off three straight, before popping up to Scott for the second out. Pfeffer, hitting for Marquard, took two balls before Leonard struck him out with his next three offerings, “the last of which broke two feet in front of the plate.”9

Rather than send Pfeffer to the mound in the fifth inning, Robinson called on spitballer Larry Cheney, an 18-game winner who led the National League in fewest hits and most strikeouts per nine innings and tied Pfeffer for sixth in ERA at 1.92.10 Cheney got off to a rough start and walked Hooper on five pitches. Janvrin attempted a bunt but fouled it off, took three balls, then swung at the next two and struck out. But Hooper stole second and the Red Sox had a runner in scoring position.

After Walker popped out to Olson, Hoblitzell hit a shot past Mowrey for a double and the Red Sox increased their lead to 5-2. Cheney struck out Lewis to end the inning but, essentially, the game was over. Brooklyn made one last attempt to plate another run when Merkle and Wheat poled singles with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, but Cutshaw flied to left to end the threat. That was Brooklyn’s last hit.

The Red Sox tacked on another run in the seventh when Janvrin came around to score on a wild play that included a hit by Hoblitzell and a throwing error by Cheney. Hooper led off with a single but Janvrin forced him at second when he grounded to third on an attempted bunt. Janvrin went to second when Olson robbed Walker of a hit and threw him out. Hoblitzell topped a grounder to Cheney’s right and, though he had no chance to throw out Hoblitzell, the desperate hurler threw to Merkle anyway, but the ball hit the runner in the back and rolled far enough away for Janvrin to score.11

Nap Rucker replaced Cheney in the top of the eighth and threw two scoreless innings, allowing only a single to Hooper in the ninth. From the fifth inning on, Leonard set down 11 straight Brooklyn batters before walking Olson with one out in the ninth inning, then retired Meyers and pinch-hitter Gus Getz to close out Boston’s 6-2 win.

SOURCES

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

Photo credit: Larry Gardner, Boston Public Library.

NOTES

1 “Can Dodgers Tie Up Series? Fans Flock Again to Game,” Brooklyn Standard Union, October 11, 1916: 1.

2 “Can Dodgers Tie Up Series?”

3 “Can Dodgers Tie Up Series?”

4 T.H. Murnane, “Larry Gardner’s Mighty Circuit Drive Puts Robins All but Out of the Running,” Boston Globe, October 12, 1916: 1, 6.

5 Murnane.

6 Grantland Rice, “Only Question Now Is When,” Boston Globe, October 12, 1916: 6.

7 Murnane.

8 “Detailed Account of Game by Innings,” New York Times, October 12, 1916: 12.

9 “Detailed Account.”

10 There was method to Robinson’s madness when he sent Pfeffer to hit for Marquard but didn’t have him pitch. Pfeffer was Brooklyn’s best hitter off the bench and Robinson was saving his ace to start Game Five.

11 “Detailed Account.”