RELATED LINKS Submissions » Baseball's Miracle Boys: The 1914 Boston Braves' Comeback: Still the Greatest in Baseball History by Zack Triscuit

James was brilliant for one season, helping pitch the 1914 Miracle Braves to a World Championship with 26-7 record and 1.90 ERA. In the WS he shut out the Giants 1-0 on two hits in Game Two and won Game Three in relief. He won only five games in 1916, entered the military for WWI, and got no decision in his one postwar appearance. (JK)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » April 17, 1913: After two losses and four rainouts, the Giants finally register a victory, in Boston, winning 3–2 in 10 innings. Larry Doyle collects four of the five New York hits, including the game winner in the 10th off Bill James. Christy Mathewson is the winner, scattering nine hits. » July 20, 1914: Lefty Tyler and Bill James combine to hold the Pirates to four hits and the Braves score a run in the 9th to win, 1–0. Boston (37-43) now moves into 6th place past the Dodgers. » July 22, 1914: Bill James continues the Braves remarkable pitching by blanking the Pirates, 1–0. The Braves then lose the nitecap, 8–4. » August 10, 1914: Bill James tops the Reds, 3–1, to push the Braves past the Cubs (53-48) and the Cardinals (54-49). » August 14, 1914: The Braves pound another 11 hits, off Jeff Tesreau, and the Braves beat the Giants, 7–3. Bill James is the winner with help from Connolly, who belts a homer, double, and single. » August 17, 1914: The Braves sweep two from the Reds, winning 11–1 behind Dick Rudolph and 5–3 with Bill James on the mound. » September 8, 1914: Bill James allows just three hits in beat the Giants, 8–3, and dropping New York to the 2nd spot. » October 9, 1914: The Boston Braves go into the World Series as underdogs, despite their strong finish. Only one regular, LF Joe Connolly, hit .300. Their strengths are pitchers Dick Rudolph, George "Lefty" Tyler, and "Seattle Bill" James, 2B Johnny Evers, who wins Chalmers' final MVP automobile, and SS Rabbit Maranville, their cleanup hitter. The Philadelphia A's Eddie Collins, with a .344 BA, wins the Chalmers AL award with 63 of 64 possible points. The A's have seven pitchers with 10 or more wins, led by Chief Bender's 17–3. Bender's World Series magic is quickly dispelled as the Braves knock him out in the 6th. Rudolph coasts to a 5-hit 7–1 victory. Hank Gowdy has a single, double, and triple. He will hit a World Series record .545, and Evers, .438. Only Babe Ruth will top Gowdy with .625 in 1928. Bender makes his last World Series appearance, finishing with a record 59 strikeouts. » October 10, 1914: In game 2, Bill James and Eddie Plank match zeroes for 8. In the 9th, Boston's Charlie Deal doubles, steals 3B, and scores on Les Mann's single. James gives up two hits. » October 12, 1914: Joe Bush, 17–10 for the A's, faces Lefty Tyler in game 3. Tied 2–2 in the 10th, Home Run Baker drives in his only two runs of the Series, but a home run by Hank Gowdy starts a game-tying rally. After Bill James comes on and sets the A's down for two innings, Gowdy doubles. Bush gives up a walk, then throws a sacrifice bunt past Baker at 3B allowing pinch runner Les Mann to score the winning run. » October 18, 1914: NL and AL all-star teams, featuring stars such as Grover Alexander, Jeff Tesreau, Joe Bush, and Bill James, start an exhibition tour today in Milwaukee with the Braves' Bill James losing to Bullet Joe Bush, 6–2. The tour will take them to Hawaii after wandering throughout the West, with the NL winning 29 of the 50 games played. Playing tomorrow in Mandan, ND, the NL will win, 2–1, in 12 innings. » April 14, 1915: In Boston, Pete Alexander stops the world champion Braves, 3–0, as the Phillies beat Dick Rudolph. Bill James, the Braves' other star from the World Series, is in California recovering from an illness incurred in Hawaii during the all-star world trip. James' career is virtually over.