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Al Bridwell
1884-1969

SS-2B-3B 1905-15 Reds, Braves, Giants , Cubs, St. Louis

Al Bridwell's Teammates

GamesAverageHRRBI
Career 1251.2552348

Books and articles about Al Bridwell

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Bridwell was a useful lefthand-hitting infielder who led NL regular shortstops in fielding in 1907 but is chiefly remembered today for hitting the single that began the infamous "Merkle Boner" rally in 1908. (JK)
FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY
» January 25, 1906: The Reds trade SS Al Bridwell to Boston (National League) for OF Jim Delahanty.

» October 7, 1907: Friction between his catchers and the need to strengthen the Giants infield prompt John McGraw to trade Frank Bowerman, along with Bill Dahlen, Dan McGann, George Browne, and Cecil Ferguson to Boston for young SS Al Bridwell, veteran 1B and recently fired manager Fred Tenney, and reserve C Tom Needham.

» September 8, 1908: Christy Mathewson's 30th win is a gem-an 11-inning 1-0 win over the Superbas' Nap Rucker. A single by Al Bridwell drives home Cy Seymour with the winning tally. New York stays a half-game ahead of Pittsburgh.

» September 15, 1908: The Cardinals rattle Red Ames for five hits in the 8th inning to tie the Giants at 4-4. Cardinal killer Christy Mathewson relieves and when Al Bridwell scores the go-ahead run, Matty stops the Birds for his major-league record 24th consecutive win over St. Louis.

» September 23, 1908: Giants P Christy Mathewson and Cubs P Three Finger Brown battle in the most controversial game ever played. The score is 1-1, with two outs in the last of the 9th. The Giants' Harry McCormick is on 3B, and Fred Merkle (19, and making his first start of the year, is subbing for the sore-legged veteran Fred Tenney), on 1B. Al Bridwell singles, scoring McCormick. Halfway to 2B, Merkle turns and heads for the clubhouse in CF. Johnny Evers secures a ball (Joe McGinnity swears he picked up the ball that was in play and threw it into the stands) and touches 2B as the crowd overruns the field. Umpire Hank O'Day at 1B claims he didn't see the play, but that evening he rules the run does not count, and the game ended with a tie score. (Years later, in an interview, Merkle will describe it this way: "When Bridwell shot that long single, I started across the grass for the clubhouse. Matty was near me. When Evers began shouting for the ball, he noticed something was wrong. Matty caught me by the arm and told me to wait a minute. We walked over toward 2B, and Matty spoke to [Bob] Emslie. ‘How about this, Bob, is there any trouble with the score of the play?' ‘It's all right,' said Emslie. ‘You've got the game. I don't see anything wrong with the play.' Matty then took me by the arm and we walked to the clubhouse confident that we had won the game.")

» October 13, 1910: At the Polo Grounds, 25,000 fans show up for the start of the City Series between the Giants and Highlanders, and to watch Christy Mathewson and rookie phenom Russ Ford square off. The score is 1–1 when Mathewson and Devore single in the bottom of the 8th. An error loads the bases and Ford plunks Al Bridwell to score the winning run. The Giants score three more for a 5–1 win, with Matty striking out 14 Highlanders. The American Leaguers will win tomorrow when Jack Warhop tops Hooks Wiltse, but the Giants take the game on the 15th when Matty preserves the 5–1 win for Drucke. Matty will win game four by another 5–1 score.

» July 17, 1911: Boston Braves infielder Buck Herzog and OF Doc Miller fail to show up for a game and are suspended by the club. After a conference with the club president, they rejoin the team. John McGraw, anxious to retrieve former Giant Herzog to shore up a weak infield, will swap C Hank Gowdy and SS Al Bridwell to Boston for Herzog on the 21st.

» July 21, 1911: The Braves acquire SS Al Bridwell and C Hank Gowdy from the Giants for Buck Herzog. For Bridwell and Herzog, it is their 2nd tours of duty with their teams, while the young Gowdy will be the Boston catcher for the next ten years.

» April 30, 1913: Chicago's Al Bridwell ends a drought of 3,246 at bats without a homer by slugging his first ML homer, off George Suggs. He'll hit another next year in the Federal League. Al's dry spell stretches back to 1905.