September 6, 1912: Official scorer reverses decision, giving Giants rookie Jeff Tesreau a no-hitter

With multiple hits in four of his past five games, Philadelphia Phillies center fielder Dode Paskert probably felt frustrated after popping up on the infield against New York Giants rookie Jeff Tesreau to lead off the bottom of the first inning on September 6, 1912. But what should have been an easy out for the Giants turned into the most controversial play of the game.

Both Giants first baseman Fred Merkle and catcher Art Wilson camped under the high pop along the first-base line, but neither man called for the catch – as two below-average defensive players unfamiliar with each other failed to take charge.1

As the ball dropped closer to the ground, Merkle found himself out of position but lunged to try to make an out. The ball bounced off his glove, and Paskert reached first base safely.

The game’s official scorer, Stoney McLinn of the Philadelphia Press, apparently did not see the ball glance off Merkle’s glove and ruled the play a single for Paskert.2

Paskert advanced to second as George Mangus, playing his fourth of 10 big-league games, and Doc Miller made outs. He attempted to score from second when one of Tesreau’s spitballs went wild, but Wilson tagged him out at the plate.

It was the closest the Phillies came to scoring in New York’s 3-0 victory in the first game of the third straight doubleheader between the teams at Baker Bowl. In fact, the 24-year-old Tesreau, an imposing 6-foot-2 spitballer,3 did not allow any hits after Paskert’s first-inning at-bat.

Both teams left the field believing Tesreau had pitched a one-hit shutout. But reporters in the press box – who had been sitting in a more direct line with the Giants’ first-inning misplay than McLinn – were disputing the scorer’s call.

As the Philadelphia Press reported, there “was much discussion in the press box” throughout the game about how the popup should be scored and suggested it would “have been outrageous” to take away Tesreau’s place in history once all the facts became known.4

After the game, Sid Mercer of the New York Globe reportedly implored McLinn to query Merkle about the play, resulting in the reversal of the initial decision because the first baseman acknowledged that he got his glove on the ball.5 When McLinn changed his call to an error on Merkle, Tesreau earned a spot in the record book as the third rookie since 1901 to fire a no-hitter.6

Philadelphia had two baserunners in the third after Bill Killefer reached on an error and Paskert walked, and John Dodge reached in the eighth on a walk.7 Otherwise, Tesreau was masterful, basking in Philadelphia’s “hot and sultry” Friday afternoon weather.8 He fired “crackling curves”9 and “baffling” spitters10 while spinning the NL’s first no-hitter since 190811 – and doing so on a single day of rest.12

Phillies rookie Eppa Rixey, meeting the Giants for the first time, hung tough in one of the most challenging assignments the 21-year-old southpaw had faced in the opening campaign of his Hall of Fame career. In the third, Wilson and Art Fletcher hit back-to-back singles for the Giants, and both advanced on Tesreau’s sacrifice to put Rixey in a jam.

Giants manager John McGraw lifted center fielder Josh Devore for relief pitching specialist and oft-used pinch-hitter Doc Crandall, who did his job and delivered a two-run single to center before Beals Becker replaced him on the bases.13 New York added its final run in the fourth when Wilson scored on Fletcher’s groundout. Rixey pitched six innings before a crowd of around 10,000, and the damage could have been more severe, considering that he walked four and allowed seven hits while falling to 9-7 for the season. The loss dropped Philadelphia to 62-65 as the Phillies fought to take the final spot in the National League first division.14

As the Giants left the field with their 88th win of 1912, Tesreau had his second career shutout. But McLinn then changed his ruling on Paskert’s at-bat, making it a no-hitter.

“The pop fly which Paskert hit in the first inning was at the time scored a hit by me,” McLinn said after the game. “It is customary to give a hit even on such a weak batting effort when no player touches the ball. I was under the impression that neither Merkle nor Wilson, who went after the ball, had touched it.

“Later, I was informed by two reputable baseball writers, one from Philadelphia and the other from New York, who were seated on a line with the play, that Merkle had touched the ball. The New York first baseman himself says he is willing to take an affidavit that he did. Under the circumstances, I reversed my decision, not wishing to do Tesreau an injustice. It was, and still is, my intention to write to Secretary John] Heydler, who keeps the National League statistics, not to get his opinion or decision, as has been intimated, but to explain I changed my score so as to give Tesreau the no-hit game which he deserved.”15

Though most outlets gave Tesreau credit for a no-hit, no-run game in the next day’s newspapers, some, such as the New York Sun, still ran headlines and a box score representing a one-hitter, a type of contradiction that had occurred multiple times in the past. The Sun gave its own estimation of the play under a headline that read, “Phillies Get Only One Hit Off Giants Tesreau.” According to the paper: “There was much dispute over this hit, and the official scorer decided that Tesreau had pitched a no hit game. In the judgment of The Sun scorer, however, one hit was made, although it was a fluke, and in effect Jeff did pitch a no hit game.”16 Other publications such as the New York Times17 and the Philadelphia Inquirer18 both feted Tesreau’s no-hitter, as did wire dispatches sent throughout the country.19

Tesreau’s performance – coupled with New York’s 9-8 victory in the second game – capped a turning point in the club’s season. After building as large as a 16½-game first-place lead in early July, the Giants lost ground throughout August and entered September with only a 4½-game advantage.

Ace and 300-game winner Christy Mathewson had scuffled in August, losing five straight starts between August 7 and 27, and the emergent Rube Marquard also showed weaknesses after failing to get out of the fifth inning in two starts and allowing 13 or more hits in two others – a far cry from his 19 straight wins to open the season. But Tesreau’s rise helped counteract those stumbling stars, and he firmly entrenched himself in New York’s potential World Series plans by earning the victory in five of the club’s 15 wins in August and continuing to win into September.

“[McGraw] turned loose big Jeff Tesreau as a real ‘iron man’ and the big bear catcher20 pulled the faltering forces back to a stiff front,” William J. McBeth wrote in The Sporting News. “… It is not likely that he would lose his nerve even in a World’s Series, but one can never tell. If cool and collected, he will doubtless prove the toughest obstacle of the Red Sox, for he is a great powerful fellow, who works better the oftener he tolls.”21

Naturally, Giants fans hoped Mathewson and Marquard would rebound over the season’s final five weeks, but if they could not regain their early-season form, rooters held hope that Tesreau could lead the Giants if they made the World Series22 – which began to look very realistic one week into September. By sweeping the doubleheader in Philadelphia, the Giants had secured seven wins in nine games over a five-day stretch, doubled their lead over the Cubs to eight games, and brought pennant fever back to their home city days after The Sporting News boldly proclaimed: “Gotham Is Scared.”23

Others around the baseball world agreed Tesreau would make a difference for the Giants if they met the Boston Red Sox in the World Series – such as Cubs second baseman Johnny Evers, who said: “If the Giants win the pennant, the man who will win the world’s championship for them will be Tesreau. Why, do you know that big fellow has the best spitball in the National League? I think he is as good with the spitter as Ed Walsh … and he has a way of mixing it in with his fast ball that keeps us all guessing.”24

Tesreau, who improved to 13-5 with his no-hitter, and the Giants never looked back after the pivotal series in Philadelphia, finishing the season with a 10-game cushion to earn the right to play the Red Sox in the World Series. Boston prevailed in a classic Series that required eight games. Tesreau drew the start in the first, fourth, and seventh games, winning one game and losing two. He remained a key cog in New York’s rotation, winning 119 games over seven seasons. His 27 shutouts included a one-hitter in 1914 and six two-hitters.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Kevin Larkin and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted the Baseball-Reference.com, Stathead.com, and Retrosheet.org websites for pertinent material and box scores. He also used information obtained from news coverage by the New York Times, New York Sun, New York Tribune, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Baltimore Evening Sun.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI191209061.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1912/B09061PHI1912.htm

Notes

1 Wilson was in action only because regular catcher Jack Meyers had yet to recover from a toe injury. Meyers left a game against Brooklyn on August 30 after injuring his toe trying to beat out a hit. He did not return to action until September 13 and did not play a complete game again until September 28.

2 “Tesreau Pitches No-Hit No-Run Game,” Baltimore Evening Sun, September 7, 1912: 8.

3 During spring training in 1912, Tesreau learned the spitball from former major-league catcher Wilbert Robinson, who served as a special instructor for the Giants before beginning his Hall of Fame managerial career in Brooklyn in 1914. Robinson was also credited with turning Rube Marquard into a dependable pitcher by working closely with him during the spring in 1911.

4 “New York Wins Two Games Again,” Philadelphia Press, September 7, 1912: 1.

5 Joe Reichler (Associated Press), “Scorer’s Decision Can Affect BB History,” Elmira (New York) Sunday Telegram, April 21, 1957: 3D.

6 Tesreau joined teammate Christy Mathewson (July 15, 1901) and Nick Maddox of the Pirates (September 20, 1907) as rookies to throw a no-hitter since 1901.

7 By season’s end, Philadelphia’s collective batting average ranked seventh in the NL at .267. Three of the club’s leading hitters did not play in the game – Hans Lobert (.327), Sherry Magee (.306), and Gavvy Cravath (.284).

8 “Smoke From the Field of Battle,” New York Times, September 7, 1912: 7.

9 “Giants Boom Along in Pennant Dash,” New York Tribune, September 7, 1912: 10.

10 “Giants Now Look to World’s Series,” New York Times, September 9, 1912: 10.

11 Between Nap Rucker’s no-hitter for Brooklyn on September 5, 1908, and Tesreau’s outing, the American League enjoyed nine no-hitters. On Opening Day in 1909, New York’s Red Ames held Brooklyn hitless for nine innings but eventually lost his no-hit bid in the 10th and the game in the 13th.

12 Tesreau had defeated the Phillies in the first game of a doubleheader on September 4, the first of six games between the two teams in a three-day period because cold weather or wet grounds disrupted three series between the teams in the first two months of the season.

13 Crandall made 122 pinch-hit appearances throughout his career and posted a .285 lifetime batting average over 10 seasons.

14 Philadelphia finished the season at 73-79 to finish fifth in the NL.

15 “Tesreau Pitches No-Hit No-Run Game.”

16 “Phillies Get Only One Hit Off Giants Tesreau,” New York Sun, September 7, 1912: 10.

17 “Phillies Get Only One Hit Off Giants Tesreau.”

18 Jim Nasium, “Giants Drive in Another Spike for World’s Series,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 7, 1912: 10.

19 Reporters invoked Tesreau’s name 40 years later when Virgil Trucks fired a no-hitter for the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium on August 25, 1952. On that day, New York Times reporter and official scorer John Drebinger flip-flopped his decision on a play in the third inning involving Tigers shortstop Johnny Pesky. Just as McLinn did decades before, Drebinger went straight to the source, eventually contacting Pesky in the seventh inning to get the player’s opinion on whether the play should have been ruled a hit or error.

20 Tesreau picked up the nickname “The Ozark Bear Hunter” early in his career, even though he never hunted bears. The Ozark was a nod to his upbringing in Ironton, Missouri, in the Ozarks.

21 W.J. McBeth, “Giants Plan a Rest,” The Sporting News, September 12, 1912: 1.

22 Bozeman Bulger, “Giants Look to Tesreau to Make Them Champions,” New York Evening World, August 31, 1912: 7.

23 W.J. McBeth, “Gotham Is Scared,” The Sporting News, September 5, 1912: 1.

24 Bulger.