- Doak Pitches Spanking Good Ball
- Beats Brooklyn 2-1 in 9 innings on 5 hits, no earned runs, 4 SO, 2 BB.
- Record Now 10-4 with 2.08 ERA
July 23, 1914 Age 23
St Louis Post Dispatch
JACK MILLER and Lee Magee, chiefly the latter, donned their “blinders” and ran wild on the bases Wednesday afternoon at Robison Field in a vain attempt at losing a ball game for Willie Doak, the Akronite blond. However, Willie went in there and pitched his best brand of stuff and won, 2-1, in spite of the Magee-Miller combine.
Indeed Doak pitched such spanking good ball that he converted Magee in the ninth inning, Lee turning a catch off Hummel that retired the side in the midst of a rally, giving St. Louis the box score by a one-run margin. There were those who thought Magee made a pick-up on Hummel’s drive in this inning. However, among those who allowed that Lee snared the ball on the wing was Umpire Johnson, who is a very important person in such crisis. The Brooklyn players were so sure that Magee “trapped”‘ the ball, that Cutshaw set sail for the plate and easily was doubled off first.
A walk, two singles, a hit-batsman and a double netted the Cardinals only two runs in the first inning because of the weird base running, of which we previously referred to. Hug bummed his way to first as a starter and made third on Magee’s single to right. Riggert’s single scored Hug and sent Magee to third, but when Magee tried to score he was cut down at the plate easily, Myers to Egan to Cutshaw to O. Miller.
Later Jack Miller was beaned and after Wilson lined to Wheat, Beck doubled to right, scoring Riggert, but J. Miller also tried to score and he, too, was nailed to the cross, Myers to O. Miller.
There was a lot of bad baseball in this inning. Magee and Miller should have been coached to stop at third. The Cardinals had Southpaw Allen on the run and should have scored a flock of runs. As it proved up, though, Willie Doak managed to win, ridden out, with the scant allowance of two marks gained in the first inning. Don Carlos Patrick Ragan, who succeeded Allen, was invincible.
The victory was the tenth Cardinal conquest in 11 collisions with the Brooklyn team. Hug’s men seem to have something “on” the Brooklyn boys, as local victories are gained even with indifferent baseball.
Ivey Wingo was humiliated in the seventh inning. With the bases filled Ivey went up for Joe Riggert and struck out. Two strikes were called while Ivey swung at the third – a high one inside. Ragan had a lot of stuff and worked the corners beautifully.
Willie Doak gave two walks, one of them in the ninth. For a time he seemed unnerved In the final Inning, but after Cutshaw forced Wheat, Doak became normal. Just the same, that decision on Hummel’s drive to Magee helped considerable.
Strain of Pennant Fight Telling on Cards’ Leader
May Take Needed Rest
Huggins’ Batting Eye Has Failed Him, Temporarily – Team Will Rely on Its Splendid Pitching Corps to Carry It to the Top on Coming Trip.
By W. J. O’Connor.
AFTER all is said, successful baseball is entirely a question of pitching, as was proved Wednesday at Robison Field. The Cards staged almost weird stunts on the offense, but won because Willie Doak pitched tight ball all the way. And the most interesting part of the Cards’ present spurt is that THERE IS AN ABUNDANCE OF GOOD PITCHING.
Manager Huggins will start on an all-important Eastern invasion tonight with four pitchers – Doak, Sallee, Perritt and Perdue – going at top speed, while Griner has flashed with two good games. Robinson Is the only cripple and word has been passed out by the club physician that Robbie will be ready when the team returns Aug. 18.
The improved hitting of Chief Wilson, who respects no pitcher, the symptoms of healthy hitting from Jack Miller, who still is below his normal stride, and the all-round aggressiveness of the club, makes the Cardinals, with their four pitchers, a potent pennant contender. They are in the fight now and should remain there.
Griner to Get Chance.
When the club opens Saturday in Philadelphia, Manager Huggins may start Dan Griner against the Phils, and If he does, it will be a very important experiment. Should Griner come through with another good game, he may be installed on the regular staff, taking turns with Perritt, Doak and Perdue, while Sallee, the Old Master with perfect control, will be used almost exclusively for relief duty. Of course, Sal will start a game against the Braves and Giants, and other hard clubs to beat; but, in the main, Sal will be saved to finish up for faltering brothers.
This move depends entirely upon Griner’s work in his next out, but It is a move now contemplated by Huggins, who realizes that he would be doubly fortified If he always had Sal as an ace in the hole. There are few better finishers in either League than Sallee. He always has control and, as Hug so often remarks, “he always has something on that old ball.” There will be genuine joy, therefore, if Dan Griner comes through with a victory next time he receives the hurling nomination. The addition of Griner to the list of regulars would easily round out the best pitching staff in the League for the Cardinal club.
Hug May Bench Himself.
Another move contemplated by Huggins is the benching of himself. Hug needs a rest. He’s slightly track sore, while his batting orbs are just a wee bit dusty. That’s because he has worked faithfully and hard during the club’s recent climb and the strain Is beginning to tell. Hug has been up 19 times without a hit, while he has fanned four times in the last two games, an unusual record for him.
Had Cozy Dolan not been spiked by Mr. Egan, Hug would have taken a rest cure in the current series: but Dolan now is out for at least a week and Hug sees his chances for laying off vanishing. He may send Senator Nash to second in the Philadelphia series as it would be well for the Manager to rest up before the club reaches New York. When the Giants are met, we want Huggins on second base every inning of every game. He’s a big factor in a hard-fought series.
No Stay-at-Homes This Trip.
Every member of the Cardinal squad will be taken on the coming swing around the circuit. Mascot Callahan may also go while the entire business office with the exception of Kenneth Mooney, who is forced to remain at home because of illness, will make the junket.
This is following the style set by the Giants who carry a party of from 40 to 50 on some of their trips. There were 48 in the New York party last trip after the Scouts had reported to McGraw here. There will be almost that many with the Cardinals, when they hit New York. two weeks hence.