BOSTON - September 5, 1924
Yesterday I reported to you that the Dodgers had completed a stunning “Triple-Double,” as they won 3 doubleheaders in 3 days over the Phillies in Philadelphia.
You can read or listen to that article at this link:
In that article, I also reported to you that the Dodgers had to take a night train to get to Boston after the final double header in Philly, where the Dodgers were scheduled to play another doubleheader against the Braves.
Readers will know that I’m following sports news day-by-day precisely 100 years ago. So this morning I made the virtual trip back 100 years to read the Brooklyn and New York area newspapers from September 5, 1924 eagerly looking to see the results of the Dodgers doubleheader games from the prior day.
GAME 1 - Dodgers vs. Braves
The first game at Braves Field started at 1:30pm. The Dodgers sent their ace, Dazzy Vance to the mound. Vance had a record of 23 - 4 coming into the game, but 2 days ago in Philly he was knocked out in the 1st inning. It was the only start of the entire season in which he hadn’t gone at least 8 innings. He was lucky to get off the hook when the Dodgers bounced back from a 7 - 1 deficit to win that game 12 - 9.
Dazzy got off to an inauspicious start again yesterday as he hit the Braves first batter, Herb Thomas.
But then Dazzy settled down. He got Frank Wilson to pop up. Then he struck out Casey Stengel. And he got out of the inning when Thomas was caught stealing.
Vance got a 1-2-3 inning in the 2nd, and then he struck out the side in the 3rd.
In the 4th, Vance got the first two batters to fly out and then Casey Stengel came up for his 2nd at bat.
Vance stuck out Casey again.
Vance had a no-hitter through 4 innings.
In the 5th, Vance lost his no-hitter and his shutout, but held the Braves to a single run.
Fortunately, Dodgers hitters had given Vance a cushion and the score was 5 - 1 Dodgers after 5 innings.
Vance allowed one single in the 6th and one more in the 7th.
In the 8th he got the first 2 batters out and faced Casey Stengel again.
Vance struck out Casey for a 3rd time.
Going into the bottom of the 9th the score was still 5 - 1 Dodgers.
Vance registered his 5th 1-2-3 inning and closed out the victory.
Dazzy Vance had been dazzling. He won his 24th game of the season on a 3-hitter. He also struck out 11 Braves.
The Dodgers had now won three-and-a-half doubleheaders and 12 games in a row in total.
And they had one more game to play on this day.
GAME 2
The most vexing thing about playing doubleheaders on 4 consecutive days is how to manage the pitching staff. Fortunately this Dodgers team carries 13 pitchers on their roster, and 4 of the 6 games in the first 3 doubleheaders had been complete games by the starters. So the Dodgers actually had a pretty rested bullpen.
In the 2nd game the Dodgers sent Dutch Ruether to the mound. Ruether had been a regular starter until mid-July when he had 2 straight starts in which he gave up 6 earned runs in under 6 innings. Since then he’s been a spot starter and relief pitcher.
Coming into this game Ruether had a record of just 6 - 13.
He last pitched 3 days earlier when he closed out the final 2 innings of 2nd game of the 1st doubleheader. In that short stint he pitched well allowing 1 hit and no runs. Overall he has only pitched 3 innings in the past 10 days.
So considering this was to be the Dodgers 8th game in 4 days, it is remarkable that they had a fresh arm starting.
Ruether opened the game strong not allowing a hit in the 1st and just one single in the 2nd.
Meanwhile the Dodgers managed 5 singles in the 2nd inning and opened a 3 - 0 lead.
Ruether allowed just a walk in the bottom of the 3rd and then got the Braves out 1-2-3 in the 4th and the 5th.
Then Ruether put down the Braves in order again in the 6th! He was now working on a 1-hitter and had retired 11 Braves in a row.
The Dodgers were supporting Ruether well with 9 runs through the top of the 7th.
In the bottom of 7th, Ruether retired the first 2 Braves batters to make it 13 outs in a row. And then he finally gave up his 2nd hit of the game, a single to Mickey O’Neill. That was followed immediately by a single from Bob Smith and a double by Ernie Padgett. O’Neill scored to ruin Ruether’s shut out, but he got out of the inning when Smith was thrown out at home.
Ruether returned to form in the 8th with another 1-2-3 inning and he allowed just one hit in the 9th to close out a complete game 9 - 1 win.
Ruether had pitched his best game in 2 months, a 5 hitter, to enable the Dodgers to win their 4th consecutive doubleheader.
The Brooklyn Daily Times, Thomas Meany, wrote effusively about Ruether’s performance:
Ruether’s victory meant the Dodgers had done it.
A quadruple double!
4 doubleheaders in 4 days and the Dodgers had won all 8 games.
Plus they had won the 5 prior games giving them a 13 game winning streak - a new club record.
And they had won all 13 games in just a little more than a week!
And here’s another lucky 13 to ponder. With the win the Dodgers pulled into a tie at the top of the National League with the Giants, although they were still technically in 2nd as they were percentage points behind.
But the Dodgers had completely made up the 13 game lead the Giants had on them on August 9th, less than 4 weeks ago.
Some Kind of Record
There has to be a major league record here somewhere.
Has a team ever won 4 consecutive doubleheaders in 4 days - a quadruple double?
Has a team ever won 13 games in just 9 days?
And has any team ever come back from 13 games behind to tie for the lead in just 26 days?
Brooklyn sportswriters thought the 4 consecutive doubleheaders was indeed a record. Here’s an except from the Brooklyn Daily Times from September 5, 1924:
And as the above article points out, the quadruple-double is even more stunning that it was all done on the road.
The New York Times was more definitive in declaring the 4 straight doubleheader victories as a major league record:
Brooklyn in now buzzing about the Dodgers who suddenly find themselves in the thick of a pennant race against the cross town Giants.
Frank Kearns of the Brooklyn Daily Times was assigned a most unusual task yesterday by his editor. In a front page story Kearns wrote this:
By “the Robins,” Kearns means the Dodgers. They were often called the Robins in the 1920s because their manager was Wilbert Robinson.
Here’s what Kearns heard:
They’re going crazy in Brooklyn over the Dodgers.
It’s going to be a great pennant race. The Dodgers have 20 games left to play.
Here’s the standings in the 2 leagues as of this morning, September 5, 1924:
The Sports Time Traveler™ is going to continue following both pennant races and will report when there is something so exciting I just have to share it.
Thanks for reading.
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