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  ‫ﱛﱠﱛ‬ From Labor Day to the End of the Season The Best Pennant Races in Fifteen Years N OT SINCE 1908, the year of Merkle’s boner, had the baseball public been offered the September spectacle of two transfixing pennant races. In the National League, the once-soaring New York Giants were flailing about, having squandered their mighty lead to the general rejoicing of a national fandom that had grown weary of their success. The Giants were looking for a fortification of pitching that might enable them to withstand two challenges. The first came from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Written off after their dismal opening, the Pirates had solidified around a combination of veterans and rookies and surged to within 1 game of the lead. The second challenge came from the Brooklyn Dodgers, who, led by baseball’s finest pitcher, had won 7 consecutive games, including 3 over the Giants, to emerge from the obscurity of the pack to stand 3 games off the pace and to remind a public curious for auguries that presidential election years often produced pennants for Brooklyn.1 The Giants and the Dodgers were scheduled to meet for 2 more games in September, and then, when the western teams made their last swing through the east, each New York City team would play 3 games with the Pirates. Almost everyone west of Manhattan was rooting against the Giants as September got under way. In the American League, there was a two-team race, featuring the surprising Washington Nationals, with a youthful manager and an idolized veteran pitcher, against the powerful New York Yankees, with the most feared and crowd-pleasing hitter in the game. The Nationals were almost everyone’s favorite team. “It is,” the Sporting News editorialized, • 94 • “perhaps the most profound and genuinely sincere sentiment that has been shed for a major league ball club in many seasons.”2 Having just lost 3 of 4 to the Nationals, the Yankees were in the uncomfortable position of being a game and a half out of first place. Their season series with one another now over, these two eastern teams would soon head west, where, in addition to the weaker clubs of the western division, each would play the Detroit Tigers, firmly ensconced in third place and notably dangerous in their own lair. It could be expected that New York and Washington would frequently have their eyes on the scoreboards in September. The Dodgers on Fire The story of the opening days of the month belonged to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Having swept their Labor Day twin bill, they returned to the attack on September 2 and again won both games of a doubleheader. But it wasn’t easy. Dazzy Vance was terrible in the opener, and Brooklyn quickly spotted Philadelphia a 7–1 lead. The Dodgers fought back, however , tied the game in the ninth, and then won it 12–9 by scoring 3 in the top of the tenth. In the second game Wilbert Robinson gambled on Bonnie Hollingsworth, and the newcomer, in his first mound appearance of the year, secured his only victory of the season, 4–3, in a game shortened by rain. On September 3, the Phillies again hosted them in a doubleheader , and in an eerie imitation of the previous day’s opener, the other Dodger ace, Burleigh Grimes, spotted the Phillies an early 5–1 lead; but, once again, a late rally—the winning run was pushed across in the ninth inning—saved the contest for Brooklyn, 7–6. The nightcap found Bill Doak in top form, as he spun a 2-hitter and benefitted from Zack Wheat’s 2 home runs to win 7–0. The victory was Doak’s seventh straight. On September 4 the Dodgers changed cities—from Philadelphia to Boston—but faced the challenge of yet another doubleheader.3 Having scarcely worked up a sweat during his brief and painful pounding in the earlier opening game, Dazzy Vance opened the first game. He was in his finest form, allowing only 3 hits, striking out 11, and winning his twelfth consecutive decision, 5–1. Dutch Ruether dominated the second game, holding Boston to 4 hits, the same number that he himself stroked out, while winning 9–1. The Dodgers were afire: They had swept 4 doubleheaders in as many days, could boast of 13 consecutive victories, and had sped past the Pittsburgh Pirates into a virtual tie with the Giants, only F...

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