By the morning of September 6, 1912, the Boston Red Sox had pulled away from the rest of the American League and were well on their way to the World Series. Behind the success that saw the Sox lead mushroom to 14_ games over both Washington and Philadelphia was the fabled Smokey Joe Wood. The dominating right-hander was amassing one of the finest seasons in pitching annals and would finish with a 34-5 regular-season mark and three World Series victories.

With the Washington Senators in town, Walter Johnson was scheduled to take his turn on the mound this day. Wood was not due to pitch until Saturday, but other circumstances turned this into more than just another regular season game. Johnson earlier in the season had established the American League consecutive win streak record at 16, but Wood was working with an active 13-game streak of his own. Washington management publicly challenged Boston and Wood to face Johnson to afford the “Big Train” an opportunity to protect his record. Newspapers publicized the challenge and treated the hurlers like prizefighters, listing their height, weight, biceps measurement, arm span, and so forth.

Droves of fans piled into the still-new Fenway Park, which had opened its doors for the first time just five months earlier. Thousands more than could be seated found their way along the outfield fences while others occupied dangerous territory along the foul lines. So many patrons jammed the area in front of the grandstand that the players were forced to abandon their dugouts and sit on benches along the lines. No one in the crowd was disappointed with the game, but several spectators were injured by foul balls.

Washington had many more scoring opportunities than the home team. They got a runner as far as second base in the fifth, sixth, eighth, and ninth, but Wood always rose to the challenge: Only once did they advance a runner to third. In the third inning a leadoff double and a sacrifice put a runner just 90 feet from home. Johnson then hit back to the box, and Wood came home with his throw, getting the runner on a dazzling play at the plate. Wood walked the next two batters, loading the bases, but struck out Danny Moeller to erase the peril.

In only two innings were the Red Sox able to get runners as far as second base against Johnson. In the second frame, with one out, they stroked back-to-back singles, but second baseman Frank LaPorte made a great running catch in short right field to save a run, and Johnson got the last batter to fly out. Finally, with two outs in the sixth, Boston scored the first and only run of the game on back-to-back doubles by Tris Speaker and Duffy Lewis. Both blows rolled into the fans lining the outfield perimeter.

With a 1-0 lead, the huge crowd remained captivated. The climax came in the ninth when, with the tying run at second and one out, Wood fanned the last two Senators.

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