IN THE NEWS: The Cardinals, behind the pitching of Oscar Horstmann and Milt Watson, win both ends of a doubleheader with Pittsburgh by 1–0 scores. Wilbur Cooper takes the loss in Game One on an unearned run in the 9th. Hal Carlson loses the 2nd game. The Cards have now won three straight 1–0 games from the Pirates, tying the ML mark and setting the NL mark.
In the bottom of the 1st inning at Cleveland, Tris Speaker tries to steal home with Joe Evans batting (as noted by Retrosheet). Evans swings and lines the ball into Speaker's face. Tiger manager Hugh Jennings allows a courtesy fielder Elmer Smith to play CF in the 2nd frame while Speaker has his face stitched. Speaker then returns to CF in the 3rd.
AL president Ban Johnson instructs umpires not to tolerate unnecessary delays. His statement is an outgrowth of a complaint by Charles Comiskey that protests of some managers and players about the condition of the ball in recent games has made it necessary to play two hours or more. The New York Times writes that, "Johnson said he would enforce the rule about discoloration of the ball but he has given out no bulletin on the 'shine ball.'"
IN THE NEWS: The first place White Sox take a pair from the Tigers, winning 7–2 and 6–5. The Sox bunch four in the 1st and three more in the 3rd to make the shine ball's leading proponent, Ed Cicotte, a winner over Willie Mitchell. In the nitecap, the Sox snap a tie in the 9th when Eddie Collins, with one stolen base already, swipes 2B and 3B after a walk. Joe Jackson's sac fly brings him home.
IN THE NEWS: Trying to keep the Phils in the race, Grover Alexander does double duty, beating Brooklyn 6–0 and 9–3 in a Labor Day twinbill. Rube Marquard and Allan Russell try and stop Pete in the opener, while Jack Coombs and George Smith pitch in the nitecap. Milt Stock lines a homer in the opener when Zack Wheat, hampered by a sore ankle, can't reach his drive. Dode Paskert's bases loaded triple in the 2nd game is the big blow. Alex will win 30 for the 3rd straight year, with a league-leading 1.86 ERA.
In a twinbill that will resonate for years, the White Sox sweep a pair—4 wins in the last two days— from the Tigers winning, 7–5 and 11–8, while the Yankees sweep a pair from the Red Sox. Chicago now leads the Red Sox by six 1/2 games. Detroit takes the lead in the morning game, driving Red Faber from the mound in the 5th, but Ray Schalk's triple in the 8th seals the win for Chicago. In the afternoon contest, Detroit again chases Faber and scores seven runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings to take the lead, but Schalk's three-run homer in the 4th, off Bill James, puts Chicago in a lead they never relinquish. Ed Cicotte takes the p.m. game with six innings of relief, while Lefty Williams pitches three innings of hitless relief to win the a.m. game. The Sox run wild on the bases, stealing seven against Oscar Stanage in the opener and five against Archie Yelle in the 2nd game. The Tigers total 24 hits, just two less than the Sox, in losing Two weeks from now, while staying at the Ansonia Hotel in New York, the White Sox will collect $45 from each player as a gift for the Tigers, allegedly as a gift for beating the Red Sox. But suspicion will linger that some Tigers threw these two critical doubleheaders and Ty Cobb, though he had three hits, will be included in the accusations.
At Shibe Park, the A's host their biggest crowd in three years and celebrate by sweeping a pair from the Senators, 7–4 and 9–2. Joe Bush, reinstated today by Connie Mack after being suspended for two weeks, starts for the A's but is lifted after three because of wildness. Roy Grover and Amos Strunk have three hits apiece in the opener. In the 2nd game, the Mackmen jump on Walter Johnson, knocking him off the rubber in the 3rd inning, and Jing Johnson coasts to the win.
IN THE NEWS: The Phillies Joe Oeschger and Brooklyn's Jeff Pfeffer face off to a 14-inning scoreless tie. Pfeffer gives up just three hits, while Oeschger allows just 6.
The rampaging White Sox use an 8-run 8th inning to beat the Browns, 13–6. Red Faber is the winner over reliever Tom Rogers.
The Yankees split a pair with Boston, losing 4–2 to Babe Ruth in the opener, then beating Carl Mays, 7–3. Ruth allows no hits until the 6th inning and just five hits overall.
IN THE NEWS: Following yesterday's loss to Chicago, Browns owner Phil Ball accuses his players of laying down on the job because they dislike manager Fielder Jones. SS Doc Lavan and 2B Del Pratt sue him for $50,000 damages for alleged slanderous statements in St. Louis newspapers. Both are in the lineup, however, when Detroit beats the Browns, 1–0 in 12 innings. Ty Cobb triples off the RF fence in the 12th and scores on a sac fly.
The Yankees trade shutouts with the Senators, winning 2–0 before losing, 5–0. Doc Ayers wins the nitecap, his 2nd shut out in a row over the Yankees and the third time he's beaten them in eight days. Nick Cullop takes the loss for New York. In the opening game, Ray Caldwell fires his only shut out of the year.
In Chicago, with the score tied 3–3 in the 10th inning between the Sox and the Indians, umpire Brick Owens forfeits the game to Chicago, 9–0, because of the 'dilatory tactics' of the Tribe. Chicago now leads the AL by seven games. The Cleveland players protest Owens ruling in the 10th when, with two on a no outs, he calls Jack Graney out on a close play. The ensuing argument delays the game ten minutes with several Indians rolling on the ground and tossing their mitts. When Chicago's first hitter, pitcher Dave Danforth, strikes out to open the bottom of the inning, Indian catcher Steve O'Neill fires the ball into CF, whereupon Owens calls the forfeit.
IN THE NEWS: Walter Johnson allows just two hits to beat Dutch Leonard to give the Nats a 4–3 win over the Red Sox. All the runs are unearned for Boston.
Stanley Coveleski allows just three Detroit hits and Jack Graney scores the only run as Cleveland wins, 1-0.
The Giants sweep the Robins at the Polo Grounds. New York takes the opener 3–2 by scoring the winning run in the 10th on George Burns' inside-the-park homer. They do it again in the nitecap, scoring two runs in the 9th to beat Jack Coombs. Pol Perritt, with relief help in the 9th, wins.
At Wrigley Field, Military Day is celebrated by a double victory for Chicago over the Reds, with Jimbo Vaughn credited with both wins. Vaughn starts the opener and retires after an inning with his team ahead by three runs. The Cubs win, 6–5, with Vic Aldridge allowing two runs in five innings, with Carter finishing. Aldridge will eventually get credit for the win and not Vaughn. Vaughn then goes nine innings in the nitecap, striking out nine to win, 5–1.
White Sox pitcher James Scott is admitted to the reserve officer's training camp at the Presidio in San Francisco. Death Valley Jim was 6–7 this year, his final season.
IN THE NEWS: The Senators toss shutouts in both games today with the A's. Harry Harper wins the opener 5–0, and Walter Johnson follows with a 4–0 victory.
At the Polo Grounds, Boston's Babe Ruth takes an 8–0 lead into the 9th before allowing three Yankee runs. He finishes with a complete game 8–3 win and slugs his 2nd and last homer of the season.
IN THE NEWS: At Boston, the Braves whip the Pirates, 4–1. Honus Wagner makes his last appearance of the year and is pinch hit for by Bill Wanger. Wanger strikes out. Wagner has played sparingly since being spiked by Stengel on July 14; at the Polo Grounds on August 29, he played SS, the only game of the year at that position.
IN THE NEWS: For the 2nd time this month, a pitcher beats Brooklyn twice in one day, as the Cardinals' Bill Doak wins 2–0 and 12–4. With his 14th and 15th victories, Doak picked up a bonus check as well. In a salary dispute in the spring, the Cards and Doak agreed upon a bonus if the pitcher reached 15 wins, and another bonus if he won twenty. He'll win just one more.
The Giants suspend team captain Buck Herzog for refusing to accompany the team on its western trip. Herzog will be traded after the season.
IN THE NEWS: In Boston, the White Sox clinch the pennant with a 2–1 win in 10 innings. Pinch-hitting in the bottom of the 10th, Babe Ruth grounds into a game-ending DP.
IN THE NEWS: In Washington, Walter Johnson fans Ty Cobb in the 1st inning, and then laughs about it. The next time up, in the 3rd with two on, Cobb lashes an inside-the-park homer and Detroit beats the Big Train, 4–3. It is Cobb's only career homer off Johnson.
IN THE NEWS: At the Polo Grounds, Slim Sallee tops the Cards, 2–1, and clinches the N.L. pennant for the Giants, their 6th under McGraw. The New Yorkers manage just four hits (and six walks) off Bill Doak, but they come when needed.
Babe Ruth shuts out the champion White Sox, 3–0, scattering nine hits. The Babe is 0-for-3 at the plate.
The 3rd-place Indians finish their season with a 5–4 win over the A's, the 10th win in a row for the Tribe. Ray Chapman doubles, then steals 3B and home to lead the Indians.
IN THE NEWS: The Red Sox play a benefit game against an AL all-star team and Babe Ruth and Rube Foster combine for a 2–0 shutout. The AL squad features Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, and Joe Jackson in the outfield. More than $14,000 is raised for the family of sports writer Tim Murnane, who died February 13th. Murnane had played and managed in Boston in the 19th century. Actress Fanny Brice helps sell programs and former heavyweight champ John L. Sullivan coaches 3B for the Sox. Ruth wins the fungo hitting contest with a drive of 402 feet, while Joe Jackson has the longest throw at an impressive 396 feet.
IN THE NEWS: Babe Ruth coasts to his 6th shutout of the year, an 11–0 pasting of the Browns. He also leads the offense with three hits and three runs scored.
IN THE NEWS: Detroit's future Hall of Fame OF Sam Crawford retires from ML baseball at 37. In addition to his career-record 312 three-base hits, he has hit 50 inside-the-park home runs. He will play in the PCL for several years.
Jim Bagby scatters 11 hits to give the Indians a 2–1 win over the Senators as Cleveland completes it's schedule. Cleveland's leadoff man, OF Jack Graney, walks once to lead the AL with 94 walks despite a .241 BA. No other player will lead a league in walks with so low a batting average until Gene Tenace with Oakland in 1974 draws 110 walks with a .211 BA. In 1919 Graney will walk 105 times and bat .234.
The Cubs finish the season with a 9–2 loss to the visiting Braves. Vic Saier, out with a broken leg he suffered April 15th (as noted by Bill Deane), starts at 1B and goes 3-for-4 in his last game as a Cub. He'll play in 1919 with the Pirates.