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Pivotal World Series Moments
Over Before It Started?
1927 World Series Game 1: New York Yankees @ Pittsburgh Pirates
The 1927 New York Yankees won 110 games and ran away with the American League pennant, finishing 19 games ahead of second-place Philadelphia Athletics. Paced by Babe Ruth's record 60 home runs and Lou Gehrig's record 175 RBI, the Yanks hit more homers and scored more runs than any other team in modern history.
The Pirates worked out at Forbes Field the day before Game 1. Then they remained in the stadium to watch the American League champions go through their paces. They were awestruck by what they saw. All the Bucs talked about that evening was the incredible power-hitting of the "Bronx Bombers."
Ruth had more home runs (60) than the entire Pirates team (54). Ruth, Gehrig, and 2B Tony Lazzeri each had more homers than anyone on the Senior Circuit champs. The Yankees hit 158 homers and scored 976 runs compared to Pittsburgh's 54 round-trippers and 817 runs.
The Pirates' chances were also diminished by Manager Donie Bush's attitude toward one of his top players. He stopped playing his .309 hitting outfielder Kiki Cuyler on August 9. Bush had just fined Cuyler $50 for not sliding into second base on a double-play ball and then kept him out of the next game as a disciplinary move. But the rest of the month, Cuyler appeared only a few times and then as a pinch hitter or late-game replacement. "There's nothing personal in my attitude toward Cuyler," said Bush. "He has not been playing up to the quality of the Waner brothers and his replacements, and therefore I feel it necessary to keep him out of the game." Cuyler would not play in the World Series.
    L-R: Ray Kremer, Waite Hoyt, Glenn Wright, Lloyd Waner Each side scored a run in the first inning. The Yankees' tally off Pirates' starter Ray Kremer came on Ruth's single and Gehrig's triple. The Pirates' run against Waite Hoyt came on Glenn Wright's sacrifice fly that drove home Lloyd Waner, who had been hit by a pitch and took third on his brother Paul's double.
Yanks Explode in 3rd
With one out in the third, Pirates 2B George Grantham booted a grounder to put SS Mark Koenig on first–not a good idea with Ruth and Gehrig up next. The Bambino singled to right field, sending Koenig to third. Kremer walked the next two batters, Gehrig and Bob Meusel, to force in the go-ahead run. Lazzeri hit a grounder to shortstop and beat the throw to first in a vain attempt to foil the double play. With runners on first and third, the Yanks pulled a double steal, Meusel scoring when the throw back to home got past C Earl Smith. Yankees 4 Pirates 1
    L-R: George Grantham, Mark Koenig, Bob Meusel, Earl Smith The Pirates got one run back in the bottom of the 3rd. Kremer pounded a ground-rule double. After a flyout, Kremer reached 3rd and the batter, Clyde Barnhart (Cuyler's replacement) was safe at first when Meusel dropped a fly ball. Paul Waner then singled home Kremer. Yankees 4 Pirates 2
The Yankees got that run back in the 5th on Koenig's double, a groundout, and Gehrig's sacrifice fly. Yankees 5 Pirates 2
But the home team bounced right back with a run in the bottom of the 5th on Lloyd Waner's double and Barnhart's single. Yankees 5 Pirates 3
   L-R: Clyde Barnhart, Paul Waner, Wilcy Moore Moore Bails Out Hoyt
The game stayed 5-3 until the bottom of the 8th. With one out, Wright and 3B Pie Traynor singled. Yankee manager Miller Huggins called for reliever Wilcy Moore, who had led the American League with 13 saves as retroactively computed.
Throwing his sinker, Moore got Grantham to rap a grounder to Gehrig. The Iron Horse threw to second to force Traynor, who knocked over SS Koenig to prevent completion of a double play. After a delay to give Koenig medical attention, 1B Joe Harris singled up the middle to pull the Pirates within one run. Moore then bore down and got Smith to bounce to Gehrig. Yankees 5 Pirates 4
After the Yanks went down 1-2-3 in the top of the 9th, Moore got two groundouts sandwiched around a lineout to preserve the victory. FINAL SCORE: YANKEES 5 PIRATES 4
References
The World Series and Highlights of Baseball, Lamont Buchanan (1951) https://vault.si.com/vault/1960/10/03/who-hanged-the-1927-pirates |