Baseball | Chicago American Giants | 1909—Chicago Cubs vs Leland’s Giants
The Leland Giants faced off against the Chicago Cubs in a mid-October series. Johnny Evers and Frank Chance sat out. In game one the Cubs’ Three-Finger Brown beat Walter Ball 4–1. The Leland Giants were leading 5–2 in the bottom of the ninth the next day as Foster faced Ed Reulbach, but Rube allowed four runs in that frame to fall on a controversial final play at the plate. In game three, Brown beat Charles Dougherty 1–0. The Leland Giants had lost two one-run decisions and another fairly close game against a team that had won 104 games in the National League, showing they could compete with the top white teams in the country.
Inter Ocean, October 18, 1906
Cubs to Play Lelands.
The city champions will tackle the pennant winners of the Chicago Baseball league this afternoon, when the Cubs and Leland Giants meet at Gunther park In the first series ever played between the crack colored club and the barnstorming Cubs, The combined semi-pro and colored fans of the city are talking loud over the chances of the dark-hued chaps to win the series of three games which has been listed for this week, the other two games being billed for Thursday and Friday.
While the National leaguers will be a shade weaker than their city championship form, the Giants will be considerably strengthened. Two of the stars from the St. Paul Gophers, one of the leading colored nines of the country have been signed for the fray. Wallace at third and Marshall at first: Marshall is the former half back of the University of Minnesota, and he plays baseball in grand style, according to Rube Foster. Joe Green, Pete Hill and Payne will be the outfield, while Marshall, Harris, Wright, Wallace and Booker will be the infield, with Walter Ball pitching today and Rube Foster a probability on Thursday.
The Cubs will probably lose Johnny Evers and Zimmerman will be hauled into his place, Archer catching, and either Moran or one of the pitchers working in the outfield. Mordecai Brown is expected to twirl for the Cubs today.
The Cubs’ schedule for the rest of the week is as follows: Cubs and Athletics at National league grounds tomorrow, Beloit Wednesday, Leland Giants at Gunther park
Thursday and Friday, and Rogers Park on Sunday. Saturday has not been filed in by them yet, but they are figuring on an exhibition game with Pittsburg that day.
The White Sox signed to play. Ànson’s Colts on Saturday and Sunday at the American league grounds. Anson will make a couple of changes in his line-up for the occasion.
Chicago Tribune, October 19, 1909
The Cubs won the first game of their series with the Leland Giants yesterday, beating the City league champlons at Gunther park by a score of 4 to 1. Three errors and two hits in the third inning clinched it for the big leaguers.
Perhaps the most striking feature of the contest was an exhibition of gameness on the part of Center Flelder Joe Green of the colored team. This person tried to go home from third base in the eighth inning with a broken leg. He had slid back into Steinfeldt’s bag when Moran tried to catch him napping. Pat’s throw sailed into left field. Green was lifted to his feet—or his one foot, for he had put the other out of commission in his slide—and sent toward the plate. He hopped to within a yard of the counting station, when Moran caught Sheckard’s relayed peg and tagged him.
Green dropped to the ground from the pain of his injury and was carried from the field. Green is the third man of the Leland Giants to break his leg in a ball game this year. Other features that kept the crowd interested outside of the game were a small race war between two citizens on the bleachers, with a big bluecoat as referee, and the appearance of President Murphy and Manager Chance as spectators.
Del Howard Starts It.
Miner Brown and Walter Ball were the pitchers and the Cubs made only two more hits off the colored twirler than the three fingered expert allowed. Five of the Cubs’ wallops went for extra bases, while none of the Glants was able to put a ball outside of the lot. Del howard got the first crack at the colored man’s shoots with a triple to the fence in the second inning. Steinfeldt, the next man up, shot a hot grounder to Harris, who fumbled it, letting in the first run.
The real slaughter of the Giants took place in the third inning. Brown led off with a double over the fence. Zimmerman’s attempted sacrifice was fumbled by Wallace at third, and Sheckard followed with a wallop to Ball who tried for the batter at first and saw Marshall drop his throw filling the bags. Schulte scored two runs with a pretty Texas leaguer back of second base, and there were still men on first and third. Howard followed with the first out in the inning. a long fly to Payne, on which Sheckard scored. Payne’s throw to first to get the ball back into the diamond was dropped by Marshall, and Schulte went home.
The Giants took a brace then. They shifted their team, Moore going to first and Green to center that really the best the Cubs could do after that has not get men to second by some over the fence.
Chicago Tribune, October 22, 1909
BY R. W. LARDNER.
A combination of rallies in the ninth inning allowed the Cubs to win heir second consecutive victory over the Leland Giants at Gunther park yesterday afternoon. 6 to 3.
The big leaguers, appearing hopelessly beaten when they started on their last chapter three tallies to the bad. finally railed and began to hit Rube Foster to the four winds of heaven. Rube and some of his mates rallied around the umpire, and some of the Cubs rallied around the group thus formed. The Cubs had managed to tie it up by this time, and there were two out and men on first and third bases. Frank Schulte was the occupant of the bag nearest the counting station. Remembering that Joe Green had attempted to hop home on one leg in Monday’s game, Schulte conceived the Idea of stealing to the same place with one eye. The other glim had been all but abolished in a collision with a fly ball at Beloit the afternoon before.
Umpire Meyer was the unfortunate center of the throng of Glants and Cubs close to the first base foul line. He hadn’t called time or anything else. The ball was in the hands of Mr. Foster himself, and there were a dozen or so of human beings between him and the plate. This was the situation when old Wild fire started down the home stretch. He wound up his spurt with a slide under the wire and the game was over.
Go to Sleep Debating.
But the debate was not. It was continued up to a late hour last night. No decision had been reached except that the Cubs were the winners because they had more runs than their opponents. On all other questions there may be arguments from now until next spring without any tangible results.
It happened that the Giants had pounded Mr. Reulbach for a whole lot of runs—namely, five in the third inning. Edward retired in the sixth in favor of Orval Overall, who wouldn’t let the enemy score at all. By dint of scraping and saving, the Cube collected two tallies off the tricks Foster before the ninth was arrived at. It was Rube’s first appearance since July 12, when he busted his leg. He was going along well enough to win easily until he had disposed of Joe Tinker in the final round. Bugs were hastening for the exits when their steps were arrested by the singles of Moran and Overall. Heine Zimmerman had been hitting the ball on the nose most of the afternoon and he didn’t disappoint this time. His safe wallop filled up the bases and spectators began to realize that the Cubs were not whipped after all. James Sheckard refused to offer at the bad ones and was passed. This forced Pat across with a tally. Frank Schulte, afterward the hero of the play, sent a sharp grounder to Wallace, whose throw home got Overall.
Now there were two out, the bases full and two fume still needed to tie. Up strode brave Capt. Howard and smote one he liked against the right field boards for a clean single, clean enough to allow both Zimmerman and Sheck to count and Schulte to mach third.
Foster Works Like “Hippo.”
Rube, feeling that he was slipping. started to work about as fast as a hippopotamus would run on skis. First be tossed the ball to third base, and then tossed it to third base again. Then he walked over toward the bench and conferred with Pitcher Dougherty. The pair consulted about the advisability of Rube’s continuing on the mound. The umpire then was asked the score. His answer didn’t suit and Dougherty had to answer. The Cubs objected to the delay and so did umpire Meyer. As Dougherty came forth from the bench a second time the ump waved him back and the Cubs came out to see what it was all about. The group then was formed and Schulte took advantage of the interest in the conversation to sneak his way home
When Meyer ruled him safe and the Cubs started for the clubhouse the supporters of the Giants acted as If they were about to wound the umpire. The latter was escorted from the yard by a large policeman and Special Officers Zimmerman and Howard. He also was safe.
The chances are the game would have been protested If there had been any one with whom a protest could have been lodged. Capt. Foster asserted he was not stalling at all, but merely was asking Dougherty to take his pitching job away from him. Furthermore, he wanted to know how one Cub could be allowed to steal home when three or four others were standing on the diamond in conversation. There was no answer to this query, since Meyer had made his ruling and the athletes had left the field.
Giants Have Fun in Third.
The Glants’ fun was centered in the third. Ball was walked by Reulbach, and a successful hit ard run play with Strothers sent him to third. the hits-man stopping at first. Big Ed allowed Wallace’s little roller to go through him. and Ball scored. Wright sacrificed. and Payne drove in two more tallies with a single to right. Payne’s steal of second, and Hill’s single sent the former to third. A passed ball permitted Hill to scoot to second. and the fourth and fifth runs counted on Booker’s safe drive.
Howard’s smash off Strothers’ chest enabled him to get to first base in the fourth. He advanced on Stanley’s out. Archer, who was playing center field in the dear, departed Hofman’s place, popped a fly to Strothers, but Tinker lined one to the right field barrier, and Del trotted home. The next Cub score came in the eighth on three hits. Peter Hill’s nice throw to the plate prevented more tallying in this round.
Chicago Tribune, October 23, 1909
BY R. W. LARDNER.
Mordecai Brown snuffed the last chance of the Leland Giants to boast of a victory over the Cubs when he shut them out in the third and final game of the series at Gunther park yesterday afternoon, 1 to 0.
The game went only seven innings. Umpire Clark called it at the end of the “lucky” round, saying it was too dark to pastime longer. It would have been true if he had made this remark before the game started It was a miserable day, and athletes on both sides were content to quit early. The bugs, who were out 900 strong, were equally well satisfied even if they had braved the conditions to see a full and regulation contest.
The city champions didn’t have any picnic with the champs of the City league. In fact, the result was more or less in doubt up to the finish; not that Mordecai Brown held out any hope to the colored gentlemen, for he did not, but there always was a chance that the men behind him, some of them in particular, would slip and hand out a couple of runs. In fact the only chance the Lelands had to score was due to a couple of slippings.
Dougherty Early Puzzle.
Pat Dougherty, left handed pltcher, fooled the Cubs almost as much as Brownie fooled the Giants The first three men to face the dark left hander were called out on nine strikes and most of the Leland rooters were disappointed because he didn’t keep on fanning people as fast as they faced him. The one and deciding tally of the game came in the third, when a bunch of right handed hitters was up. Joseph Tinker found the spot out on Leland avenue where two base hits are born and raised. Patty Moran was sent up to sacrifice, and he did the job neatly. Brown lined one like a shot straight to Payne in left field. Tinker raced back to third base, stopped there an instant, while Payne was making the catch, and then hiked for home. The left fielder’s throw looked good, but it bounded to the first base side of the plate, and Joe’s neat slid, enabled him to escape Booker’s attempted tag.
Aside from that smash of Joe’s, only two hits were gleaned off Dougherty. One of them was another two sacker almost to the same spot by the same actor. The other was a double over the convenient wall by Zimmerman. The big leaguers almost counted in the fifth. Strothers’ long drawn out fumble allowed Archer to get on with no one out. He stole second. It being one of the delayed variety of thefts, and went to third a second later on a passed ball. Three nice little flies to Short-stopper Wright wound up the round.
Only Four Hits Off Brown.
Brown was touched for four hits, one of which probably would have been gobbled by a regular third baseman. This one was missed by Stanley in the sixth, the only inning in which Brownie was in trouble. It put Dougherty on first and when Zimmerman messed Wallace’s roller the southpaw moved to second. There was one out at this time and the next one up, Harris, flied to Archer. Pete Hill, slugger, had one strike called, missed another, waited for one ball, and then swung at one which would have cut off his toes if he had not hopped out of the way.
Brownie used his curve ball almost to the exclusion of his fast one. The Giants swung at it when it shot down or outside and let it go over when it started at them. Those Lelands don’t care much for Mordecai. A gloved hand stab of a thrown ball by Del Howard was the fielding feature of the conflict.
Leave a Reply