When Al Michaels asked “Do you believe in miracles?” after the 1980 ice hockey U.S. gold medal victory, those familiar with the story of the “Miracle Braves” would have simply nodded. Before the Amazin’ Mets, before Maz’s Sudden Shot to beat the Yankees in 1960, before the Washington Senators, “first in war, first in peace, last in the American League”, won their only World Series in 1924, the Miracle Braves staged the greatest second half ever seen on a diamond.
The 1914 Boston Braves proved that a baseball season is full of up and downs. In the era of the “Inside Game”, with baseball genius George Stallings managing, the rowdy Braves thrived under one rule -- “Do what you want but don’t wind up in jail and come to play everyday”. In the perfect environment for the zany shortstop Walter “Rabbit” Maranville, who once jumped into a hotel fish tank, the Boston Braves, behind two 26-game winning pitchers, a Cubs great, and a rotation of eleven outfielders shocked the baseball world and swept the World Series.
At a time when most clubs are now deciding to continue the pennant race or scrap veterans in exchange for prospects, the Boston Braves on July 19th began the most spectacular comeback in Our Pastime. This would be just another double-header for the average cellar-dweller, but not the Miracle Braves. Most teams, especially one that left last place on June 25 for the first time only to regain their stronghold the next day are labeled “Bums” and left to toil in last. But these men were Stallings’ castoffs, players with plenty of determination, and he believed that slowly he was getting them into a winning mindset. “Give me a club of only mediocre ability,” he said, “and if I can get the players in the right frame of mind, they’ll beat the world champions.”
The quintessence of mediocrity in the first half, the Boston Braves sat in last place at 33-43, 15-˝ games behind the first place Giants on July 19th. It must be recognized that the Braves were 7-3 in their last ten games going into the day. After losing a July 4th doubleheader to Brooklyn and an exhibition with the Buffalo club of the InterNational League, the boys ended the first half well. They were unable, however, to gain any ground on McGraw’s Giants. After the American holiday of Independence, the Tribe became a united All-American baseball machine. Unrevealed to the rest of the baseball realm, the Miracle Man, George Stallings, had his rowdies ready to take 51 of their next 67 games.
On the afternoon of July 19th, the Tribe swept a doubleheader from the Cincinnati Reds pulling them for the second time out of the basement. After the sweep, the Braves rejoiced as if, ironically, they had won the World Series. Stallings told the group, “Now we’ll catch New York. We’re playing thirty-percent better ball than any team in the league. They won’t be able to stop us.” Little did John McGraw know, the Miracle Man had given fair warning. His second division team had expressed their aspirations in the second half. For Boston’s other franchise, their first National League pennant had become ripe for the picking.
The Giants witnessed the Braves’ sweep. The New York Giants were enjoying an off day in Cincinnati and ran into their old teammate, Dick Rudolph, then twirling for the Tribe, in their hotel. Rudolph warned the Giants of the Braves’ new confidence. “You’re just wasting your time, Dick,” the Giants told him. With just the second half of the season to move 8 places the Braves wasted very little time climbing the National League ladder.
While the 1914 Braves batted .251 with 35 home runs, very respectable Deadball Era numbers, their stellar pitching staff led the Miracle Braves in the second half. Following their return from Cincinnati, the Tribe’s bats became relatively silent. Now their incredible triumvirate of Lefty Tyler, Bill James, and Dick Rudolph took turns posting goose eggs. In Pittsburgh, the three posted four shutouts in five games. One of those victories should be attributed to Rabbit Maranville.
The score was 0-0 and the bases were loaded. “Get on somehow, even if you have to get hit,” Stallings told his shortstop. Babe Adams, the Pittsburgh twirler, tossed two straight strikes. Rabbit inched closer to the plate and took one for the team, on his forehead! Umpire Charlie Moran questioned Maranville’s attempt to avoid the ball.
“If you can walk to first base, I’ll let you get away with it,” Moran offered. Rabbit got his most painful of 78 RBIs that year, and the Braves held the Pirates scoreless in the bottom of the inning to notch a 1-0 victory.
On August 10, riding a nine game win streak, the Braves took second place in the National League. They were 6 ˝ games behind the fidgety, nervous New York Giants. New York sportswriters tried to relieve worries. “The same thing happened in 1912. The Cubs and Pirates charged up, but the Giants went on to win by ten games,” they remembered.
The next day Braves’ pitcher Lefty Tyler began a 23 inning scoreless streak. Though the Reds’ Red Ames matched him that day in a 13 inning scoreless tie, Tyler outdueled Christy Mathewson 2-0 in ten innings on August 15 to finish a three game sweep of the Giants at the Polo Grounds.
Eight days later on August 23, the Tribe did the impossible. They took over first place. Boston’s “other” team went from worst to first in 50 days. Though the Braves’ are credited with the greatest comeback in baseball history, their second half comeback would not be without fallbacks.
The Braves fell to third place and were one-hit in Chicago by the Cubs’ Larry Cheney before refueling their crusade. It would be the comical Maranville, with the help of his militant double play partner, Evers, who would get them back to their rowdy roots.
While in the Windy City, an interesting squabble occurred between Maranville and the Cubs’ Heinie Zimmerman. Zimmerman, attempting to steal second, got a hard swipe tag from Evers. Fearing for Evers’ safety, Maranville recognized Zimmerman’s fury and laid a powerful punch on the Cubbie knocking him on to his back.
An alert Zimmerman was soon back on his feet and claimed he knew the perpetrator. “I know who hit me. It was Moose Whaling,” exclaimed Zimmerman, who was being held back from attacking Whaling, the third baseman. The sly Maranville casually escorted Zimmerman off the field.
“Whaling didn’t hit you. I did,” Rabbit explained to Zimmerman, the Cubs’ third baseman.
“The hell you did,” Zimmerman retorted. “No midget like you could give me a belt like that. It was Whaling or Butch Schmidt.”
Zimmerman then provoked Schmidt, the Braves’ first baseman, resulting in a challenge from Butch Schmidt. Later, from his teammates, Zimmerman learned of Maranville’s sucker punch, much to his chagrin.
Maranville’s escapade cured the bug inflicting the Miracle Braves and helped put the Tribe back on the winning track. Strong pitching continued to lead the Tribe. Boston swept a doubleheader from the Cards and took a third game, 2-0 behind a no-hitter from Lefty Tyler. Rudolph and James continued their dominant pitching as the Braves took another doubleheader, from the Phillies on September 2. Brooklyn did their part in the Braves’ equation by defeating the Giants. The Tribe took a one game advantage over the Giants, who they jockeyed with in the standings for the next week.
While owner Jim Gaffney rewarded the Braves with new caps for standing alone atop the standings, Boston relinquished their crown the next day when Grover Cleveland Alexander outdeuled Tyler in a 7-4 Phillies victory over the Tribe. Alexander, the only National League pitcher to top the Braves’ pitchers with his league leading 27 wins, would have a few run-ins with the Tribe.
September 4 brought a twelve-inning Braves victory with Hank Gowdy’s squeeze bunt scoring Red Smith. Alexander, relief pitching in the late innings, plunked Herby Moran. He then challenged the feisty Evers. “So you’re the next hitter,” Alexander said to Evers, on-deck with two bats in his hands. “I’ll land one on the side of your head, too,” Alexander warned.
Evers, the Braves’ field general and never one to back down from a challenge headed out towards Alexander with his lumber still in hand. He, however, only had words for Alexander, but he gave Pete an intimation of what would occur if he landed one near his head.
A half-game behind the Giants going into the final game of the series in Philadelphia, the Braves smoked the Phils 7-1 to conclude a long but successful road trip and deadlock the Giants in first. The Miracle Braves and the still stunned Giants met over Labor Day to determine the outright leader of the National League. Fenway Park, the two year old diamond of the Boston Red Sox, became the Braves’ home for the Giants’ series and the rest of the season.
With Red Sox owner Joe Lannin’s opening of Fenway to the Tribe, the Braves, Boston’s other team became the toast of the town. Even the “Royal Rooters”, who had supported the Red Sox through their championship years, threw their allegiance to the Tribe. Led by former Mayor Honey Fitzgerald, JFK’s grandfather, and current Mayor James Curley, the rooters were the frenzied fans of Boston, including the wealthy and the common worker.
While the Tribe took the first game of the Labor Day doubleheader, 5-4 with Evers’ two run double off Christy Matthewson in the ninth, the Tribe lost their grip on first place a few hours later. In the afternoon session of the twinbill, the Braves fell 10-1. The Braves, though, didn’t fail to get the crowd involved. After Lefty Tyler went headhunting with Fred Snodgrass up, Snodgrass leaned into the next pitch taking one on the sleeve. Drawing boos from the crowd, Snodgrass did a dance on way to first. Tyler, showing Maranville he wasn’t the only team comedian, did a recreation of Snodgrass’ muffed fly ball from the 1912 World Series in that same park. The next inning, the embarrassed Snodgrass headed out to center and was welcomed with a bombardment of pop bottles. McGraw replaced Snodgrass with Bob Bescher rather than risk his life.
Though the Labor Day doubleheader drew a total of 74,163 fans, it was 17,000 cranks the next day that saw the Braves take sole possession of first place. Bill James pitched a three-hit gem to lead the Tribe to an 8-3 over McGraw’s boys. The Tribe was now 69-53 and would finish the year on a 25-6 run. The Giants would go 16-16 after the Labor Day series.
With first place psychologically secured from the demoralized New York Giants, Stallings looked to rest his pitching staff. George “Iron” Davis, a Harvard law student that Stallings cajoled into performing, debuted in the second game of a September 9th doubleheader with the Phils. After the first game was surrendered to Pete Alexander, 10-3, Davis pitched a no hitter in the second. After walking the first three batters, Davis struck out Ed Burns and got Gavvy Cravath, the next batter, to hit into a double play. After the three runners in the first, Davis only allowed four runners the rest of the game, on two walks and two errors. However, none of Phils crossed home plate or hit safely as the Braves won 7-0. Another no name player became a famed 1914 Miracle Brave.
Even though Evers, going through his fourth pennant race after three with the magnificent Cubs teams of ’06, '07, and '08, felt that he would be the first to crack under the pressure, “the Crab” and the rest of the Braves played solid and took the pennant on September 29, beating who else but Evers’ ex-teammates, the Chicago Cubs, 3-2. The unquestionable leader of the Tribe on the field, Johnny Evers was named MVP of the National League in 1914. With most fans believing the miracle to be finished, the Braves finished the season 94-59, 10 ˝ games in front of the second place Giants. But these overachievers weren’t done overachieving. The Tribe prepared to wipe out any inkling of a fluke by sweeping the Philadelphia Athletics, 2 to 1 odds on favorites to win the Series.
The Miracle Braves, with a 68-19 record after July 4, two 26 game winning pitchers, and a National League pennant, received the praise of every fan, but the Tribe had a fairytale ending to write to a phenomenal story. The fearless, hard-nosed Braves were heavy underdogs against the Philadelphia Athletics’ $100,000 infield and the pitching staff of Chief Bender, Eddie Plank, and Joe Bush. And not only were the Athletics supposedly the superior team, but the American League was considered the far superior league. Ban Johnson’s circuit had won the last four World Series and had made the Fall Classic a display of the American League’s domination and clean play. This contributed greatly to Philadelphia’s cockiness. Chief Bender, the A’s starter in game one, rather than scout the Tribe, went fishing.
“Why scout a bush league team?” he said.
Although Stallings made guarantees and even predicted a World Series sweep, he had his assistants thoroughly scout the Athletics. Stallings, like his boys, did a little rabble-rousing. With Walter Hapgood of the Boston Herald in the room, Stallings telephoned Connie Mack about having the Braves practice at Shibe Park at 2 p.m. While Stallings had told Mack the A’s could have the field between two and three, the Miracle Man was looking to stir up some controversy to inspire his men.
“Hello, Connie. I was wondering about practice tomorrow. I figure on taking my boys on the field about two o’clock,” Stallings said. After Mack’s reply Stallings roared, “But I don’t want the field at noon or at four. I want it at two ... Well you can have your field at two and at noon and at four, too. We’ll still beat you four straight.”
Boston and Philadelphia papers headlined: BRAVES FIND SHIBE PARK CLOSED TO THEM FOR PRACTICE. MACK TURNS DOWN BRAVES. Stallings went further and told his men to ignore the A’s on the field. Rowdyism, McGraw’s brainchild that so angered Ban Johnson, made small men out of these American League All-Stars.
Chief Bender, the fisherman, was shellacked by the “bush leaguers” as the Braves took game one in Shibe Park, 7-1. Behind the complete game of Dick Rudolph, the Tribe gave Bender his first loss in ten World Series appearances. While rowdiness and slandering of the A’s won the first game, game two came down to a few key plays.
In game two Bill James and Eddie Plank each pitched eight shutout innings. The Braves’ Charlie Deal doubled to lead off the ninth. After James struck out, Deal was caught off second by a snap throw from Wallie Schang, A’s catcher. Hustling to third, Deal slid in safely. The next batter, Leslie Mann laced a hit to left scoring Deal. In the bottom of the inning, the A’s had a chance with one out, men on first and second, but speedy Eddie Murphy hit into his first double play of the season to seal a 1-0 Tribe win. The rowdies were going back to Boston with a 2-0 lead.
Stallings, showing a great level of confidence in his men, ordered all traveling equipment be taken to Boston.
“We won’t be coming back. It’ll be all over after two games in Boston,” Stallings stated.
While the Miracle Man counted out the A’s, the Athletics came to play in game three. After nine innings, the score stood deadlocked at two.
The Athletics led for the first time in the Series in the first inning. After the Braves tied the score at one in the second, the A’s took the lead in the fourth 2-1 only to see the Braves add a run in the bottom. After the Athletics put up two runs in the tenth, both scoring on an error by Evers, the Braves staged their third counterattack. Hank Gowdy, the Braves’ backstop led off with a round tripper. With one out, Joe Bush walked left fielder Herb Moran. After advancing on an Evers’ single, Moran tied the game on Connolly’s sac fly. Two innings later, Hank Gowdy’s double started another rally. Leslie Mann ran for Gowdy and pinch hitter Larry Gilbert was intentionally passed. Herb Moran, who scored to bring the Braves back in the tenth, laid down a bunt. Bush’s attempt to get the lead runner at third, however, led to an errant throw, and Mann trotted home to conclude a 5-4 12-inning win, the longest World Series game at the time.
After Stallings cancelled train reservations to Philadelphia, the Tribe responded by taking game four, 3-1. Gaining a 3-1 advantage in the fifth, the Braves rode out four shutout innings of Dick Rudolph. In the series, Rudolph pitched eighteen innings giving up only one run. Hank Gowdy set a Series record with .545 batting average that only Babe Ruth would top. The World Series sweep and the Miracle were complete along with the 1914 Braves’ chapter in baseball history.
The Miracle Braves of 1914 raise an interesting question. Just how miraculous was the Tribe? Though this team of no names went from last to first in 50 days, going 68-19 after July 4, the Braves were one of the few teams that caught little interest from the Federal League. The new, upstart league attempted to raid the Majors of its stars. With competing organized baseball leagues, the ballplayers took advantage. While few stars jumped to the new league, using the possibility of jumping to the competitor, players’ salaries for 1914 increased greatly. This took the focus off winning for players and put it on augmenting their salaries. Though Evers used the Federal League option to get a $25,000 salary from Braves, the Tribe was a team of youngbloods, unproven stars. With a 4-18 start during which Evers and Maranville were ill, the team was not a major target for Federal League raids. The Philadelphia Athletics, swept by the Braves in World Series, lost their focus during the 1914 season. After an impressive start, the Federal League began to waive the almighty dollar at the Athletics. Many contracts had to be restructured during the year and though they captured the pennant; the Braves embarrassed the A’s.
“The Federal League wrecked my club by completely changing the spirit of my players,” complained manager Connie Mack. Mack knew the problems of running a successful team. “When you win,” he explained, “you have a general rise in expenses. When a club is behind, salaries are low, so are expenses.”
The Boston Braves of 1914, with a poor start, had average player salaries. But as the team began winning in the second half, money was not the focus. Winning motivated them. John B. Foster in the 1915 Spalding Baseball Guide described the Miracle Braves best. “It was hard to convince some of the seasoned baseball patrons that here was a team that actually seemed to be playing because the players liked it and were not confining their thoughts to their salaries or worrying for fear that they might work too hard in proportion to their reimbursement.” Although the Braves did not repeat in 1915, the Tribe finished second in the N.L., disclaiming any suggestions of a fluke in 1914.
When analyzing the post-1914 numbers of the Miracle Braves’ players and history of the “other” Boston baseball franchise, the Tribe’s accomplishments in 1914 are quite incredible. Two of the Boston’s pitching trio Bill James and Dick Rudolph never again reached the success of the 1914 season. James, having perhaps the greatest second half of any pitcher ever, going 19-1after July 4, pitched only three full major league seasons before enlisting in the military for WWI. Rudolph pitched for thirteen years in the majors, going 122-108. The spitballer, however, had only one 20-win season after 1914. George “Iron” Davis, who gave the Braves a boost with his no hitter and a 3-3 record in less than a month of playing time, would go on to win only four more games the rest of his career. The Boston Braves would make only one more appearance in the World Series in 1948, losing to the Cleveland Indians, before the team left for Milwaukee. 1914 would be remembered as a miraculous year for every Braves’ fan and a great year for baseball.
» Zack Triscuit is a baseball fanatic and a student of the game.
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Posted August 3, 2001.
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