The 1912 WS was the high point of Yerkes's career. He drove in the winning run for
the Red Sox in Game One with a two-run seventh-inning single, and he scored the Series-winning
run in the tenth inning of Game Eight (Game Two had been a 6-6 tie). In that final
game, Yerkes drew a walk off Giants ace Christy Mathewson two batters after outfielder
Fred Snodgrass's famous error, and later scored on Larry Gardner's sacrifice fly.
That season, his first as Boston's regular second baseman (he'd been their shortstop
in 1911), he hit .252 with a career-high 73 runs. After three solid seasons with
Boston he jumped to the Federal League in mid-1914 (while earning $3,500 a year with
the Red Sox) to make $6,500. He hit a career-high .288 for the 1915
Pittsburgh Rebels.
He later managed in the minors and coached Yale's freshman team.
(NLM)
FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY
»October 16, 1912: In the Series finale, Christy Mathewson squares off against Hugh Bedient in quest of his first win of the Series. He takes a 1–0 lead into the 7th, but with one out, Boston manager Jake Stahl hits a pop-up to short LF. The ball drops among Art Fletcher, Josh Devore, and Fred Snodgrass. Heinie Wagner walks, and with two outs, pinch hitter Olaf Henriksen doubles home the tying run. Smoky Joe Wood relieves Bedient, and the two aces match zeroes until Red Murray doubles and Fred Merkle singles in the 10th to give New York a 2–1 lead. In the last of the 10th, pinch hitter Clyde Engle lifts a can of corn to CF Snodgrass, who drops the ball. Snodgrass then makes a great catch of a long drive by Harry Hooper. Steve Yerkes walks, bringing up Tris Speaker, who pops a high foul along the 1B line. C Chief Meyers chases it, but it drops a few feet from 1B Merkle, who could have taken it easily. Reprieved, Speaker then singles in the tying run and sends Yerkes to 3B. After Duffy Lewis is walked intentionally, 3B Larry Gardner hits a long sac fly to a retreating Devore that scores Yerkes with the winning run. This World Series was the most butterfingered in history, with thirty-one errors recorded, seventeen for The Giants. The Red Sox earn $4,024.68 each; the Giants' share is $2,566.47 each.
»August 28, 1913: Walter Johnson's 14-game winning streak is ended, although it takes Boston 11 innings to beat him 1–0. Boston manages a 2nd inning single by Steve Yerkes and doesn't have another baserunner until Yerkes singles again in the 11th., and reaches 3rd on the ball goes through the legs of CF Clyde Milan. A fielder's choice, and single wins it. Johnson strikes out 10, five in a row, and walks none.
»October 4, 1913:
Washington manager Clark Griffith uses an unheard-of eight pitchers in an end-of-season farce game with Boston, including five in the 9th inning. At age 43, he pitches one inning himself, and coach John Ryan, also 43, catches. Griffith also plays RF, where he plays one off his head and misplays Hal Janvrin's liner into an inside-the-park homer. On the other end of the scale, 17-year-old Merito Acosta plays outfield alongside Walter Johnson in CF. Johnson then comes in the 8th inning to lob pitches to two hitters. Both batters, Clyde Milan and Steve Yerkes lace hits to send Johnson back to CF, and then, in relief, Nats catcher Eddie Ainsmith, in his only ML pitching appearance, gives up two triples to allow the base runners to score. The Sox score in the 9th on Janvrin's 2nd inside-the-park homer. Joe Gedeon, in his only pitching appearance, retires the last two batters as Washington wins, 10–9, beating Fred Anderson who goes the distance. The two runs "allowed" by Johnson will have historical repercussions: his ERA goes from 1.09 to 1.14, and Bob Gibson's 1.12 ERA in 1968 will put Johnson's ERA in 2nd place on the all-time list. The eight pitchers sets a major-league record that won't be matched until the Dodgers, September 25, 1946.
»September 16, 1916:
At Baker Bowl, Grover Cleveland Alexander is coasting with a two hit, 6–0 lead in the 8th over the Cubs, when weak-hitting Steve Yerkes lines a single followed by manager Joe Tinker's only hit of the year. On a DP grounder, 1B Fred Luderus pulls his foot of the bag and Chicago goes on to score three runs. Second-place Philadelphia wins, 6–3, to pull with one 1/2 games of Brooklyn.
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