September 4, 1915: Ball lost in the sun costs Braves rookie Art Nehf a perfect game

Throughout human history, many cultures and religions have worshipped sun deities. The ancient Greeks had Apollo and Helios; the Aztecs had Tonatiuh. In Japan, Amaterasu is the Shintō sun goddess.1

Although it’s unlikely that Art Nehf did anything to anger any of these deities, the late-afternoon sun in Boston on September 4, 1915, still cost him a perfect game. To his credit, he didn’t blame an annoyed sun god or point the finger at his right fielder. “Braves Field always had that tough sun field,” he lamented more than 40 years later.2

Nehf was unlike most professional ballplayers of his era. SABR biographer Gregory Wolf described him as “erudite, studious, and cultivated,” and in 1914 he graduated from Rose Polytechnic Institute with a degree in electrical engineering.3 Shortly after finishing his studies, he joined his hometown Terre Haute (Indiana) Terre-iers of the Class B Central League, holding his own against much older competition.

Nehf went 19-10 with a 1.38 ERA for Terre Haute in 1915, which attracted the attention of several major-league teams.4 After he tossed a no-hitter against the Erie Sailors on July 24, it became crystal clear that his time in the minors was coming to an end.5 The defending World Series champion Boston Braves became the successful suitor, purchasing Nehf’s contract on August 4 for a reported $3,500.6

Nehf made his big-league debut just five days before the opening of Braves Field, tossing two perfect innings of relief in Philadelphia. On August 21, in his inaugural appearance at “baseball’s first superstadium,” Nehf tossed a shutout and knocked in both runs in a 2-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.7 Coming into his September 4 outing against the Brooklyn Robins, the 23-year-old southpaw had tossed two shutouts in his first three major-league starts, giving him a 2-0 record and a 2.20 ERA.

The third-place Braves were in need of a boost if they were going to repeat as World Series champions. Staff ace Bill James, a 26-game winner in 1914, had been shut down for the season with a sore arm,8 and reigning National League MVP Johnny Evers was in rapid decline.9 The 34-year-old second baseman had missed more than two months of action with an early-season ankle injury, and he was serving a five-day suspension for making an inappropriate gesture after being ejected for arguing balls and strikes.10 Although the Braves had gone 31-14 since July 15, they still trailed the first-place Philadelphia Phillies by four games.

The Robins were also playing good baseball, hoping to finish above .500 for the first time in over a decade. Under the guidance of future Hall of Fame manager Wilbert Robinson, they had gone 41-24 since June 30.11 The team’s second-half surge had them in second place with a 67-58 record, three games back of the Phillies.

Robinson gave the ball to 32-year-old righty Jack Coombs (12-9, 2.22 ERA). Colby Jack, a former Philadelphia Athletics great and a three-time World Series champion, was having a nice bounce-back year after nearly dying of typhoid fever and missing almost two full seasons.12

Nehf breezed through the first two innings, retiring all six Brooklyn batters he faced.

The rookie hurler came to bat in the bottom of the second with two out and runners on second and third. With the memory of Nehf’s two home shutouts still fresh in their minds, the Boston fans gave their new phenom a “rousing reception.” Nehf stepped into the batter’s box and drove a single over the head of Brooklyn shortstop Ollie O’Mara,13 scoring both runners.14 The hit gave Nehf six RBIs in his first 11 big-league at-bats.15

Fred Snodgrass, who had recently signed with the Braves after being released by the New York Giants, hit a Texas Leaguer that dropped between O’Mara and center fielder Hi Myers.16 Ed Fitzpatrick – playing second base for the suspended Evers – walked to load the bases.

Pete Compton singled up the middle,17 scoring two more runs, and when Myers made a “useless” throw to the plate, Compton and Fitzpatrick advanced an extra base. Sherry Magee followed with Boston’s sixth single of the inning, bringing both runners home and giving the Braves a commanding 6-0 lead. It was the last time either team scored all afternoon.

Coombs, a .280 hitter in 1915, batted for himself with two outs and nobody on in the top of the third. He grounded out to end the inning and was replaced on the mound by Wheezer Dell.18

Nehf continued to mow down the Robins, retiring every batter he faced until his fateful encounter with catcher Otto Miller. With one out in the sixth, Miller hit a liner into right field that was “the most simple kind of play under fair conditions.”19 But Compton briefly lost the ball in the sun and it fell for a single, ending Nehf’s bid for a perfect game and no-hitter.20

The next batter, Dell, hit the first pitch from Nehf into a 5-4-3 inning-ending double play.

Nehf breezed through the final three innings, retiring the Robins in order. The only other difficult fielding chance for the Braves came with one out in the ninth when Magee made a nice running catch on Miller’s hard liner to left field.21 Pinch-hitter Ivy Olson made the final out on a groundball to third baseman Red Smith.

It was a masterful performance by Nehf, who faced the minimum 27 batters and allowed only six balls to be hit to the outfield. He struck out three and didn’t walk a single batter.

The victory moved the Braves into second place by one percentage point.22

Although Boston played well down the stretch, the Phillies were even better, winning 21 of their final 30 games to claim the first pennant in franchise history and finish seven games ahead of the second-place Braves. The Robins, with their first winning record since 1903, finished third. One year later Brooklyn won the National League pennant for the first time since 1900.23

Compton wasn’t the only fielder to battle the sun at Braves Field. In the 1915 and 1916 World Series, the Boston Red Sox shifted their home games from Fenway Park to Braves Field to take advantage of the much larger seating capacity.24 In Game Three of the 1915 Series, the “greatest center fielder of his day,” Tris Speaker, lost a fly ball off the bat of Milt Stock for a sun-aided double − roughly five weeks after Nehf was denied a perfect game.25 Fortunately for the Red Sox, Stock was stranded on the basepaths.

The Robins weren’t as lucky in Game One of the 1916 World Series at Braves Field. Center fielder Myers lost Harry Hooper’s fly ball in the sun with the game tied in the fifth inning. The ball dropped for a double and two batters later Hooper scored what turned out to be the game-winning run. The Red Sox went on to win their second consecutive World Series, four games to one.

Nehf blossomed into one of the National League’s top pitchers. In the six-year period from 1917 to 1922, the 5-foot-9 southpaw won 109 games − Wilbur Cooper of the Pittsburgh Pirates was the only pitcher in the league to win more (124). Despite Nehf’s brilliance, he never threw a no-hitter.26

His greatest accomplishments came after his trade to the New York Giants late in the 1919 season. Nehf earned the reputation as a “money pitcher” on John McGraw’s club, picking up the victory in the deciding game of both the 1921 and 1922 World Series.27

Nehf’s career appeared to be over in 1926 when a medical condition caused numbness in his fingers, limiting him to only nine appearances with the Giants and Cincinnati Reds that season.28 But he experienced a renaissance after joining the Chicago Cubs for the last month of the 1927 pennant race.29

He was outstanding in 1928, posting an adjusted ERA (ERA+) of 146 in 21 starts and 10 relief appearances.30

Nehf was still with the Cubs when they won the 1929 pennant, their first of four in a 10-year period.31 After pitching a perfect inning of relief in a blowout loss to the Philadelphia Athletics in Game Two of the 1929 World Series, Nehf made an appearance at a pivotal moment of Game Four at Shibe Park, which had a notoriously bad sun field.32

The seventh inning began with the Cubs leading, 8-0. Nehf came in to face left-handed slugger Mule Haas with two runners on base and the lead cut to 8-4. Haas lined a Nehf offering toward center fielder Hack Wilson, who lost the ball in the sun for the second time that inning. The ball sailed over his head for a three-run inside-the-park homer. Nehf was pulled after walking the next batter, Mickey Cochrane. The Athletics scored three more runs after Nehf departed, taking a 10-8 lead. Philadelphia hung on for the win and clinched the World Series two days later.

It was the final appearance of Nehf’s big-league career.33 In retirement, he escaped the cold Indiana winters by living in Phoenix, which, fittingly, is also known as the Valley of the Sun.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Kurt Blumenau and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org. Unless otherwise noted, all detailed play-by-play information for this game was taken from the article “Only One Robin Sees First Base” on page 12 of the September 5, 1915, edition of the Boston Globe.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BSN/BSN191509040.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1915/B09040BSN1915.htm

Notes

1 N.S. Gill, “Who Are the Sun Gods and Goddesses?” ThoughtCo, January 30, 2020, https://www.thoughtco.com/sun-gods-and-sun-goddesses-121167, accessed February 7, 2023.

2 Harold Kaese, “Even Ruth Had Trouble Batting Against Nehf,” Boston Globe, December 21, 1960: 33.

3 As of 2023 the university was known as the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Gregory H. Wolf, “Art Nehf,” SABR BioProject, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Art-Nehf/, accessed February 7, 2023.

4 “Five Major Clubs Looking for Nehf,” Lincoln (Nebraska) Star, July 25, 1914: 26.

5 “Nehf Cuts Niche in Hall of Fame,” Evansville (Indiana) Journal, July 25, 1915: 6.

6 One report suggested Chicago White Sox owner Charles Comiskey was so angry with Nixey Callahan for being unable to acquire Nehf that he nearly fired him. “Fred Mitchell, Braves Scout, Unearthed Nehf,” Boston Herald, September 5, 1915: 32; Wolf, “Art Nehf.”

7 Nehf’s first appearance at Braves Field was in the second game of the doubleheader on August 21. Ray Miller, “Braves Field (Boston),” SABR BioProject, https://sabr.org/bioproj/park/braves-field-boston/, accessed February 7, 2023.

8 In 1914 James pitched 332⅓ innings in his age 22 season. He made only one more appearance in the big leagues after July 30, 1915. David Jones, “Bill James,” SABR BioProject, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Bill-James/, accessed February 7, 2023.

9 David Shiner, “Johnny Evers,” SABR BioProject, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/johnny-evers/, accessed February 7, 2023.

10 Evers held his nose as he returned to the dugout after being ejected from a September 2 game. The next day the Boston Globe was highly critical of his behavior. “Evers Will Be Out Two or Three Weeks,” Boston Globe, April 18, 1915: 11; Melville E. Webb Jr., “Braves Need Every Regular in the Game; So Risking Suspension by Useless Umpire-Baiting Is Poor Business,” Boston Globe, September 3, 1915: 7; “Evers Suspended,” Boston Globe, September 4, 1915: 5.

11 Robinson had taken over managerial duties for Brooklyn in 1914. He won two pennants (1916, 1920) with the Robins in his 18 years at the helm.

12 Coombs had the nickname Colby Jack because he attended Colby College in Waterville, Maine. He won a combined 59 games in 1910-11, helping the Athletics to back-to-back World Series championships. Coombs did not play in the 1913 or 1914 World Series. He was released by Philadelphia and signed by the Braves before the start of the 1915 season. C. Paul Rogers III, “Jack Coombs,” SABR BioProject, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Jack-Coombs/, accessed February 7, 2023.

13 “One Lone Hit Off Nehf and Superbas Drop to Third Place,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, September 5, 1915: 31.

14 The ball landed in nearly the identical spot as Nehf’s two-run single on August 21.

15 Nehf was a career .210 hitter, although he had a knack for coming through in the clutch. He finished his major-league career with a respectable 76 RBIs in 915 at-bats.

16 The 27-year-old Snodgrass was batting .194 when the Giants released him on August 17. He was most famous for his costly “muff” of a fly ball in the final game of the 1912 World Series. According to the Boston Globe, Ollie O’Mara nearly made a great catch of Snodgrass’s Texas Leaguer but he dropped the ball when he collided with center fielder Hi Myers.

17 “One Lone Hit Off Nehf and Superbas Drop to Third Place.”

18 This was Coombs’s worst start of the season. Dell pitched six scoreless innings in this game. He was the first major leaguer born in Nevada.The next player born in Nevada to appear in the big leagues was pitcher Ted Davidson. He debuted with the Cincinnati Reds on July 24, 1965.

19 The Boston Globe described Miller’s hit as a “half-liner.” “Nehf Tumbles Superbas into Third Place,” New York Tribune, September 5, 1915: 12.

20 According to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Compton “lost it when his glasses slipped down from his hat peak. He caught sight of the ball quickly enough to trap it.” Compton was a below-average fielder. He had joined the Braves less than a month earlier from the Kansas City Blues of the American Association. “One Lone Hit Off Nehf and Superbas Drop to Third Place.”

21 According to the Boston Globe, there were two notable defensive plays by the Braves in the game: Magee’s running catch in the ninth and another by Fitzpatrick at second base. “One Lone Hit Off Nehf and Superbas Drop to Third Place.”

22 Boston had a .533 winning percentage. Brooklyn’s winning percentage was .532.

23 The Brooklyn team previously won the pennant in 1890 when it was known as the Bridegrooms.

24 According to the Seamheads Ballpark Database, in 1915 Braves Field had a capacity of 45,000, the largest in the big leagues. Fenway Park had a capacity of 24,000 in 1915.

25 Don Jensen, “Tris Speaker,” SABR BioProject, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/tris-speaker/, accessed February 8, 2023.

26 Nehf threw two other one-hitters in his career, both with the New York Giants: Game Two of a September 16, 1920, doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates and May 13, 1925, against the Cincinnati Reds. He also threw eight one-hit innings against the Boston Braves on April 26, 1923.

27 Wolf, “Art Nehf.”

28 Nehf’s contract was purchased from the Giants by the Cincinnati Reds on May 11, 1926. For years Nehf carried a grudge against McGraw for selling his contract to the Reds. Wolf, “Art Nehf.”

29 Nehf was released by the Reds on August 30, 1927. He signed with the Cubs two days later.

30 Nehf’s ERA+ of 146 – the highest of his career − means that his 2.65 ERA was 46 percent better than league average after adjusting for park factors.

31 The Cubs lost all four World Series in that 10-year period (1929, 1932, 1935, and 1938). They ended their 108-year drought by winning the World Series in 2016.

32 Bill Nowlin, ed., The Miracle Braves of 1914: Boston’s Original Worst-to-First World Series Champions (Phoenix: Society for American Baseball Research, 2014), 363.

33 Nehf had a career record of 184-120 and a 3.20 ERA.