September 7, 1923: Howard Ehmke’s no-hitter saved by base-running blunder and official scorer’s change of heart

Howard Ehmke “devastated the Mackmen like a lanky cyclone,” gushed the Philadelphia Inquirer after the Red Sox hurler’s no-hitter against the Athletics, adding “[He was] unquestionably in the fettle in which heroic deeds are born.”1 The Boston Globe described the submariner Ehmke’s gem as a “classy curving performance,” but noted that it was a “tainted no-hit, no-run game,” which included a baserunning blunder nullifying a double and a scoring change.2

A late-season matchup between the AL’s two worst teams does not conjure up the fairy-tale setting for great baseball feats. A decade earlier, however, the Athletics and Red Sox ruled the junior circuit, capturing the pennant for eight of nine straight seasons (1910-1918), with the Red Sox winning four World Series titles and the Athletics three. And then they sold off their stars: Owner-skipper Connie Mack jettisoned Eddie Collins and Home Run Baker, among many; and Red Sox owner Harry Frazee famously sold Babe Ruth. Since those notorious transactions, the teams resided in the league’s cellar. En route to their ninth straight losing season, Mack’s A’s had been a feel-good story of the 1923 season. Above .500 on July 9, they had since slumped, having lost 36 of 52 games to fall into seventh place (53-72). The offensively challenged A’s had scored just 37 runs in the previous 15 games and had been held hitless by Sad Sam Jones of the New York Yankees three days earlier, on September 4. First-year manager Frank Chance’s Red Sox, whose club finished in last place in 1922 to break the A’s seven-year hold on that dubious rank, were once again pulling up the rear (48-75).

The bright spot on each of these miserable clubs was its ace starting pitcher. The A’s Eddie Rommel, who had led the big leagues with 27 wins in 1922, had beaten the Red Sox, 6-2, a day earlier in the opening contest of the series. Therefore, Mack called 6-foot-6, 180-pound right-hander William Jennings Bryan Harriss, known by the appropriate moniker Slim. The AL leader with 20 losses a year earlier, the 25-year-old Harriss was 8-14 (4.09 ERA) to push his career slate to 37-64. Banished to the bullpen about three weeks earlier because of his infectiveness, Harriss had tossed 13⅓ innings of scoreless relief to earn another starting nod.

Toeing the rubber for the Red Sox was Howard Ehmke, known for his unique side-arm, almost underhand delivery. The Boston Herald cooed that the 6-foot-3 gangly hurler had a “wonderful cross-fire delivery which seemed to come from some place in the vicinity of the shortfield, instead of the pitching peak.”3 He had been acquired in the offseason in a trade with the Detroit Tigers, with whom he had established a reputation as a steady workhorse, averaging 16 wins and 248 innings per season (1919-1922). However, he clashed mightily with player-manager Ty Cobb, who levied accusations that he was indifferent, disinterested, and lacked the mental toughness to be a winner, and finally cast off his hurler.4 Enjoying what the Herald praised as a “brilliant season,” Ehmke got off to a hot start in his first year with the Red Sox (12-5), but had struggled over the last two months, losing 10 of 14 decisions with a dismal 5.40 ERA to fall back under .500 (91-92) in his career.5

On a pleasant late summer afternoon with temperatures in the high 70s in the City of Brotherly Love, a small crowd of 2,000 patrons ventured to Shibe Park, baseball’s first steel-and-concrete ballpark, located at the intersections of 21st Street and Lehigh on the north side of the city.6

The lowest-scoring team in the league, averaging 3.8 runs per game, the Red Sox struck first. Val Picinich laced a one-out single to center and moved up a station on Dick Reichle’s sacrifice bunt, and then another when Harriss balked trying to catch him napping at the keystone bag.7 Ira Flagstead’s single drove in the first run.

With the way Ehmke twirled on this Friday afternoon, a single tally would have sufficed. Harriss pitched well until the eighth when the “Red Sox broke out with renewed fury,” observed the Herald.8 Flagstead led off with his third hit of the game, a single to left. The club’s biggest offensive threat, Joe Harris, who entered the game batting .344, singled. Howie Shanks spanked a double over center fielder Wid Matthews’s head to drive in the Red Sox’ second run. On “Mack’s wigwagged orders,” Harriss walked Mike Menosky to load the bases.9 Norm McMillian hit a routine grounder to short. Harris “should have been an easy out” at home plate, the Herald asserted, but Chick Galloway allowed the ball to get through for an error and both Harris and Shanks scored to give the Red Sox a 4-0 lead.

Ehmke came out blazing, retiring the first 12 batters he faced. A contact pitcher, Ehmke had surrendered just over a hit per inning in his career thus far. Devoid of overpowering stuff, he often struggled with his control while trying to find the proper release point in his bewildering delivery, with the ball leaving his hand just inches above the ground. Joe Hauser coaxed a walk from Ehmke to begin the fifth and was forced by Bing Miller’s grounder. Frank Welch hit into an inning-ending double play.

Ehmke’s no-hitter was preserved by a baserunning “Merkle” blunder with two out in the sixth inning. To the plate stepped Slim Harriss, whose “feebleness with the bat is a baseball jest,” according to the Globe.10 Entering the game with four hits in 53 at-bats, the string bean twirler bashed one over Menosky’s head in left field. According to the Herald, the ball “rolled all the way” to the bleacher wall,11 while the Globe reported that the smash “struck the scoreboard on the bound.”12 In any case, it was a clean hit and Harriss “ran like a scared rabbit,” quipped the Globe, to second base.13 Menosky relayed the ball to McMillan, who quickly rifled the ball to a clamoring Joe Harris at first. Harris pointed to the bag, claiming the inexperienced baserunner had missed it. Umpire Red Ormsby agreed, called Harriss out, and the no-hitter was intact.

After breezing through the seventh, retiring the side on three popups, Ehmke once again had Lady Luck on his side. With two outs, Frank Welch, who entered the game batting a robust .303, belted a blooper to left field. According to the Globe, the ball “was at Menosky’s knees” and the charging flychaser fumbled it.14 The official scorer immediately ruled it a hit; the Philadelphia Inquirer called it a “snap verdict.”15 The no-hitter was over. The next batter, Jimmy Dykes, grounded to force Welch and the inning was over.

But hold on. The official scorer later amended his decision and ruled an error on Mensoky, though it is unclear exactly when this ruling was made. According to the Globe, he consulted with the players involved, suggesting that the discussion took place immediately after the game.16 But the Inquirer noted, “[I]nstantly, however, he decided that his first decision was awry” and changed the ruling.17

In the ninth, Ehmke retired Heinie Scheer, Beauty McGowan, pinch-hitting for Harriss, and then Matthews to end the game in 1 hour and 34 minutes.

Ineptitude on the basepaths and scoring change aside, Ehmke was credited with a no-hitter and there are no asterisks following his accomplishments. He faced 28 batters, striking out one and walking one. It was the first Red Sox no-hitter since Dutch Leonard held the Tigers hitless on June 3, 1918. For the A’s, it was the second time in four games that they had failed to connect for a hit.

In his next start, four days later at Yankee Stadium, Ehmke yielded a “puzzling grounder” to Whitey Witt, the first Yankees batter of the game.18 Third baseman Howie Shanks “fumbled the ball” and did not attempt to throw to first. The official scorer, New York sportswriter Fred Lieb, ruled the play a hit.19 Ehmke did not allow another hit the entire game, and won 3-0. Lieb’s decision was controversial, to say the least. “I thought it was an error all the way,” said Witt.20 As memorable as these two games were, his final start of the season was one of the worst in big-league history: he surrendered a whopping 21 hits and 17 runs (16 earned), and walked four in a sobering 24-4 loss to the Yankees at Fenway Park. He finished the season with a 20-17 slate, 28 complete games, and a 3.78 ERA in 316⅔ innings.

SOURCES

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author accessed Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com, SABR.org, and The Sporting News archive via Paper of Record.

NOTES

1 “Ehmke Hurls No-Hit Game Against Macks,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 8, 1923: 18.

2 “Ehmke Blanks Macks Without a Safe Drive,” Boston Globe, September 8, 1923: 8.

3 “Ehmke Walks in as Jones Leaves Hall of Fame Door Open,” Boston Herald, September 8, 1923: 6.

4 See Gregory H. Wolf, “Howard Ehmke,” SABR Bio-Project, sabr.org/bioproj/person/753ebffO.

5 “Ehmke Walks in as Jones Leaves Hall of Fame Door Open.”

6 Weather from “Yesterday’s Local Weather Report,” Philadelphia Inquirer,” September 8, 1923: 2. Estimated attendance from “Ehmke Walks in as Jones Leaves Hall of Fame Door Open.”

7 Neither Baseball-Reference.com nor Retrosheet. org has a play-by-play summary for this game. Individual plays have been found in various newspapers and cited where applicable.

8 “Ehmke Walks in as Jones Leaves Hall of Fame Door Open.”

9 “Ehmke Walks in as Jones Leaves Hall of Fame Door Open.”

10 “Ehmke Blanks Macks Without a Safe Drive.”

11 “Ehmke Walks in as Jones Leaves Hall of Fame Door Open.”

12 “Ehmke Blanks Macks Without a Safe Drive.”

13 “Ehmke Blanks Macks Without a Safe Drive.”

14 “Ehmke Blanks Macks Without a Safe Drive.”

15 “Ehmke Hurls No-Hit Game Against Macks.”

16 “Ehmke Blanks Macks Without a Safe Drive.”

17 “Ehmke Hurls No-Hit Game Against Macks.”

18 “Ehmke Held Yanks to 1 Hit,” Fitchburg (Massachusetts) Sentinel, September 12, 1923: 8.

19 The Sporting News, September 20, 1923: 1.

20 John McKeon, “Howard Ehmke Lost His Shot at Immortality to a Controversial Scorer’s Decision,” Die Hard, March 1995: 22.