September 9, 1911: Cardinals’ Gene Woodburn falls one inning shy of no-hitting Pirates for first career win

But Mr. Jinx was on the job,
Determined he would slyly rob
Young Woodburn of his fame;
For, when V. Campbell hit the ball,
He made Konetchy slip and fall,
And spoiled that no-hit game. – L.C. Davis, St. Louis Post-Dispatch1

Perhaps it was a jinx. Perhaps nerves. Or perhaps just bad baseball luck.

An unusual ninth inning left St. Louis Cardinals rookie Gene Woodburn two outs shy of a no-hitter on September 9, 1911, in what amounted to the first of only two major-league victories during his brief career – a 7-2 win in the second game of a Saturday doubleheader against the pennant-hopeful Pittsburgh Pirates.

Woodburn’s control was at times spotty over the first eight innings in front of 8,000 friendly fans at Robison Field. He issued five walks, but the short-handed Pirates hit only two balls out of the infield against the 25-year-old right-hander, who had lost all three of his previous starts for the Cardinals.

And in the infield – still soggy from rain that postponed a game the day before and sprinkles that fell during the afternoon’s opening game – was where Woodburn’s chance at history went astray in the ninth inning.

Woodburn was facing a Pirates lineup without any .300 hitters because of four significant injuries. Sidelined were outfielder-manager Fred Clarke and shortstop Honus Wagner – future Hall of Famers who had the two highest batting averages in the NL2 – plus slugging outfielder Owen Wilson and catcher George Gibson.3

The Pirates had last been atop the National League standings on August 21, but by going 9-11 since, Pittsburgh (76-54) had fallen five games behind the first-place New York Giants with four weeks left on the schedule.

The fifth-place Cardinals (64-62) no longer had pennant aspirations but hoped to finish the season in the first division – especially after the return of player-manager Roger Bresnahan in this game.

Bresnahan had been out of action since getting spiked in the right hand by Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Hans Lobert on August 16. Bresnahan was the only Cardinal not to get a hit in this game, but his return “seemed to put new life in every member of the team,”4 especially after Pirates starter Lefty Leifield threw a two-hitter in the afternoon’s opener, a 4-1 Pittsburgh win.

Woodburn had debuted on July 27, nine days after the Cardinals purchased him from the Class C Duluth White Sox for $1,500. He took the mound for his fourth major-league start under sunny skies, and his chance at history was almost spoiled in the first inning.

Native St. Louisan Vin Campbell, himself nursing a rib injury he sustained after colliding with teammate Dots Miller five days earlier, smacked Pittsburgh’s hardest-hit ball of the game with two outs in the first inning. Cardinals right fielder Steve Evans rushed in to make a sliding, somersaulting catch of the liner, denying Campbell a hit.

“In order to make the catch,” wrote the Pittsburgh Gazette Times, “[Evans] had to lean forward, get the ball a few inches from the ground, and then turn completely over.”5

After Woodburn retired the next six batters, his offense gave him his first lead in the major leagues with a two-out rally in the third against Pirates starter Howie Camnitz. Bresnahan drew a one-out walk, stole second after Woodburn flied out, and came home when Miller Huggins poked a looper between left fielder Max Carey and shortstop Alex McCarthy. Rebel Oakes reached on an infield single, and Ed Konetchy ripped a triple into left for a 3-0 lead.

In the fourth, St. Louis extended its advantage after Evans singled, moved to second on Wally Smith’s bunt, and scored when Mike Mowrey placed a double into right. Mowrey moved to third after Bresnahan fouled out against the stands up the first-base line, and Woodburn collected his first and only major-league hit with an RBI single to right for a 5-0 lead.

“I don’t know what’s the matter with me,” Camnitz said after losing for the fourth time in his last five starts to fall to 18-14, “but try as I will, I do not seem to be able to [any] longer fool opposing batsmen.”6

Woodburn walked three Pirates in the fifth inning, but a pickoff and first baseman Konetchy’s one-handed snare of a sharp grounder prevented Pittsburgh from rallying. Until the ninth, the best the Pirates could muster was Bobby Byrne’s fly out to left in the sixth as Woodburn’s “fast ones, curves, and a drop that worked like a charm served to make the cohorts of Clarke look extremely foolish.”7

The Cardinals added to their lead in the sixth, getting an RBI single from Mowrey and a bases-loaded walk from Woodburn to go ahead 7-0. Evans doubled with two outs in the seventh, but he was caught trying to steal third as Smith walked, ending any chance of another rally.

In the top of the ninth, Pirates manager Clarke sent 19-year-old pinch-hitter Bill Keen to bat in the pitcher’s spot. Keen – who had appeared in only two other games, the most recent 18 days earlier8 – struck out, bringing leadoff man Byrne to the plate for a fourth time.

Woodburn walked him, and Byrne stole second without a throw. Carey followed with a hard smash up the middle that struck Woodburn and ricocheted toward third base. Woodburn fumbled while retrieving the ball and threw wildly over the head of Konetchy, allowing Byrne to score and Carey to get to third on the error.

With his shutout gone but his no-hitter still intact, Woodburn went to work against Campbell. The Pittsburgh right fielder tapped a slow roller toward first base, but as Konetchy charged in and cleanly fielded the ball, he slipped and fell. He could not quickly recover, and Campbell had an RBI single.

“[H]ad Koney made a clean job of the task,” noted the Pittsburgh Press, “it is very probable that the Pirates would have now been the victims of a no-hit, no-run game.”9

Woodburn instead settled for a one-hitter after Tommy Leach reached on an error, Miller popped out in foul territory, and Mickey Keliher struck out for the second time.10 Woodburn struck out a career-high six Pirates.

Had the ninth inning gone in Woodburn’s favor, he would have had his second no-hitter of the season – the first coming on June 6 with Duluth.11 It also would have been the NL’s first no-hitter since Nap Rucker tossed one for the Brooklyn Superbas on September 8, 1908, and the Cardinals’ first since October 4, 1891, when Theodore Breitenstein threw one in his first major-league start.12

The four-game series concluded the next day with a 7-6 Cardinals win,13 and Clarke took his team for two days at the springs in New Baden, Indiana, to refocus for the “final dash down the stretch,”14 especially after the Pirates had played six doubleheaders in 11 days.15

By the Pirates falling 5½ games behind the Giants, hopes of winning the pennant began to wane among fans and reporters, but the team still believed.16

“I have an idea that when we get back home and start in with the eastern clubs the boys will all feel better and that their hitting will improve,” said Mike Simon, Pittsburgh’s backup catcher, who had only one hit in his last 23 at-bats while filling in for Gibson. “I know we have some more doubleheaders to play, and I am going to predict that the hoodoo which has kept us from winning two games in any one day … is going to receive some cruel kicks on the shins.”17

Pittsburgh had three more doubleheaders on the schedule and won five of those six games. After the series against the Cardinals, however, the Pirates struggled overall, going 9-13 to fall 16 games behind the champion Giants and finish the season 85-69.

St. Louis also had a break after this series with no games scheduled for the next three days. The Cardinals held a workout each day, but then went 9-12 down the stretch to land in fifth place (75-74) – two games short of a first-division finish but with their first winning season since 1901.18

Woodburn, whose curveball was once called as beautiful as a “scenic railway” curve,19 made three more appearances in 1911, two starts and a relief effort. Control remained an issue, as he issued 13 walks in 4 innings. He finished the season with a 1-5 record, a 5.40 ERA, and 41 walks in 38 innings, but allowed only 22 hits.

Despite Woodburn’s concerns with control, The Sporting News praised him, writing after his near no-hitter that “if he’s a sample, some of the 1911 [hopefuls] of [Bresnahan] will find themselves in the discards next spring.”20

Woodburn returned to St. Louis in 1912, going 1-4 in 20 appearances throughout the season, primarily in relief.21 Walks plagued him again in his final major-league season, with 42 in 48 1/3 innings.

Author’s Note

The author became interested in Gene Woodburn’s career after learning through the SABR Baseball Graves Map that Woodburn is buried in a cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio, which is near the author’s hometown.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Laura Peebles and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Photo credit: Gene Woodburn, Trading Card Database.

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 statistics and the box scores. He also used information obtained from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis Globe-Democrat, St. Louis Star, Pittsburgh Gazette Times, Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh Post, and The Sporting News.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN191109092.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1911/B09092SLN1911.htm

Notes

1 L.C. Davis, “Random Rhymes,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 11, 1911: 8. Here is the full text of Davis’s poem, “Tough Luck!”

Said Mr. Woodburn: “I will pitch
A no-hit game and carve a niche
In baseball’s hall of fame.
For, if I do, it is a pipe
The daily press, in large black type,
My prowess will proclaim.”

So, suiting action to the word,
This great young pitcher, undeterred,
Went to it with a will.
He had the “Pirates” on the run –
For eight straight innings, one by one
They fell before his skill.

“Aha!” he cried. “The port’s in sight.
I’ve got a no-hit game all right;
My fame is now assured.
I’d like to bet that Roger B.
Is tickled ’most to death that he
My services secured.”

But Mr. Jinx was on the job,
Determined he would slyly rob
Young Woodburn of his fame;
For, when V. Campbell hit the ball,
He made Konetchy slip and fall,
And spoiled that no-hit game.

2 Wagner, who had appeared in only one game since he injured his ankle while running the bases on August 16, led the NL with a .348 average, while Clarke, a 38-year-old who had not started since September 3 with an ankle injury, was close behind at .338. Wagner eventually won his eighth and final batting crown with a .334 average, while Clarke finished the season fourth at .324.

3 Wilson, who had not started since September 2 because of pain in his leg, finished the season tied for the league lead in RBIs with 107 and also had a team-high 12 home runs – which fell one shy of the franchise record set by Jake Stenzel in 1894. Gibson had not started since September 4, the result of his ongoing battle against an injury he sustained when he was hit on the arm by a pitch on May 23. He was not an offensive force, but history regards him as one of the top defensive catchers of his era, which is evidenced by his league-leading 16 double plays as a catcher in 1911. He received votes for that year’s Chalmers Award (MVP), despite playing only 100 games and hitting .209.

4 Ray Webster, “Woodburn Twirls a One Hit Encounter,” St. Louis Star, September 10, 1911: S1.

5 C.B. Power, “Comment on the Pirates at St. Louis,” Pittsburgh Gazette Times, September 10, 1911: 3:6.

6 Power, “Comment on the Pirates at St. Louis.”

7 Webster.

8 Keen had a very short major-league career, consisting of six games for the Pirates in 1911, five as a pinch-hitter. He drew one walk and struck out four times in eight plate appearances. He remained in the minor leagues through 1914.

9 W.J. O’Connor, “Locals Win, Then Lose,” Pittsburgh Press, September 10, 1911: S1.

10 Keliher was making his major-league debut. After reporting from the Petersburg Goobers of the Virginia State League, he did not expect to play because, as Clarke said, “we cannot afford to do any experimenting at this stage of the game.” Keliher replaced Newt Hunter, a 31-year-old rookie who had fallen out of favor despite winning the starting first-base job in spring training. Hunter departed for the Indianapolis Indians of the American Association and never appeared in the majors again, though he remained in the minors until 1918 and appeared in six games while managing the Kalamazoo Kazoos in 1924. C.B. Power, “Rain Prevents Game on Cardinals’ Grounds,” Pittsburgh Gazette Times, September 9, 1911: 9.

11 Woodburn walked five batters and his defense committed three errors, but Duluth beat Winona 5-0.

12 Earlier in the 1911 season, Smoky Joe Wood of the Boston Red Sox and Ed Walsh of the Chicago White Sox had completed no-hitters in the American League. The NL finally saw its next no-hitter on September 6, 1912, when rookie Jeff Tesreau no-hit the Philadelphia Phillies as the New York Giants won 3-0. A Cardinals pitcher did not throw a no-hitter again until July 17, 1924, when Jesse Haines shut down the Boston Braves.

13 The teams split the series, but the Pirates held an overall 13-9 edge over the Cardinals in 1911.

14 “Cardinals Will Wind Up Season 4 Days Earlier,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 9, 1911: 6.

15 The Pirates split all of those doubleheaders, harming their chances at winning the pennant.

16 In its September 14 edition, The Sporting News published a headline about the Pirates that read: “Pirates at Crisis.” In the article, owner Barney Dreyfuss remained committed to staying in the pennant chase, even though the chances of winning seemed bleak because of the injuries. “At any rate, I am not ready to quit. I shall not give up hope as long as there is a chance. … I believe that if we had not sustained accidents which put all our strongest hitters out of commission at the most critical moment, we would now be leading the league.” Ralph S. Davis, “Pirates at Crisis,” The Sporting News, September 14, 1911: 3.

17 Power, “Comment on the Pirates at St. Louis.”      

18 The nine straight losing seasons from 1902 to 1910 are the longest stretch of futility in franchise history as of 2024.

19 Ray Webster, “Alexander Comes Back,” St. Louis Star, July 28, 1911: 8.

20 “Cards to Try Pitcher That Browns Pronounced No Good,” The Sporting News, September 14, 1911: 4.

21 Woodburn made five starts and relieved 15 times. His lone victory in 1912 came in relief, when he worked the seventh inning and part of the eighth against the Cincinnati Reds in an 11-10 victory.