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Pivotal World Series Moments
"Wild Horse" Runs Rings around A's
1931 World Series Game 2: Philadelphia Athletics @ St. Louis Cardinals
After the Athletics won Game 1 in St. Louis 6-2, the Cardinals needed a victory on their home field before heading to the City of Brotherly Love for the next three games.
The two teams had met in the 1930 Fall Classic, with the A's winning in six games. But the Great Depression wiped out much of the money the players won in that series.
Connie Mack's A's also wanted to set a record that had eluded the other great teams of the century by winning their third World Series in a row.
   L-R: Mickey Cochrane, Pepper Martin, George Earnshaw One Cardinal would lead the charge that kept the A's from setting the record – John "Pepper" Martin, who became known as "The Wild Horse of the Osage." He had three hits in Game 1, all singles, but the Cards left nine men on base in the loss.
Martin recalled: "We decided to run whenever we could against Catcher 'Mickey' Cochrane because he wouldn't be looking for it, and 'Gabby' Street (Cardinal manager) told both George Watkins and I to 'limber up.'"
Martin Scores First Run
Pepper put the plan into action right away in Game 2 against A's starter George Earnshaw. Let Martin tell the story.
I came up in the second inning and hit a single in front of Al Simmons in left. Now Al could throw pretty good, but I figured he wouldn't expect me to try for second, so I kept right on going. As I hit second in a cloud of dust, I turned my head around to look at Simmons, and he was standin' there lookin' at me as much as to say, "Oh, a smart busher, huh."
I took a quick glance at our bench, and Street looked sort of happy, so just as Earnshaw threw the next pitch to Jim Wilson, I lit out for third. Cochrane almost threw the ball into left field tryin' to get me, and I was safe again. Wilson flied, and I scored easily. The fans gave Martin a loud ovation for his derring-do. A few minutes later, the bleacher fans gave him another "noisy cheer" as he took his position in center field.
   L-R: Al Simmons, Jimmie Wilson, Wild Bill Hallahan Hallahan Shuts Down A's
Cardinal starter "Wild Bill" Hallahan was only 5'10", 170lb, but he was considered one of the hardest throwers of his era. He led the National League in strikeouts twice while also living up to his nickname by leading the league in walks and wild pitches three times. Hallahan struck out eight A's in Game 2 of the Series, allowing only three hits while walking seven.
Pepper Scores Insurance Run
The Redbirds finally gave Hallahan an insurance run in the 7th when Martin led off the inning.
In the seventh, I singled again, and Wilson was up once more, and I stole on the first pitch. I took third when Wilson grounded out.
Street decided to put the squeeze-play on, figuring Earnshaw was pretty apt to "get" Charley (Gebhard), so he told Charley to lay one down. I was all set and slid under Cochrane while Earnshaw was trying the field the bunt. Bottomley Squelches A's Rally
The A's finally threatened in the 9th and almost tied the score with the help of a strange play. 1B Jimmie Foxx walked on a 3-2 pitch and stayed at first when RF Bing Miller flied to left. Hallahan walked 3B Jimmy Dykes to move Foxx to second and put the tying run on first.
Wild Bill bore down and struck out SS Dib Williams looking. Mack sent up Jimmy Moore to hit for Earnshaw. Hallahan struck out Moore, and C Jimmie Wilson threw the ball to 3B Jake Flowers. But third base coach Eddie Collins saw that the ball hit the ground before going into Wilson's mitt. So he ran toward home yelling to Moore to run to first. He made it easily to prolong the game.
Instead of heading to the clubhouse to enjoy the victory, Wild Bill had to deal with 2B Max Bishop with the bases loaded.
Bishop lifted a high foul near the temporary boxes in short right field. 1B Jim Bottomley raced back to the flag-draped boxes, plunged in among the A's pitchers and catchers who were sitting on a bench in the improvised bull pen, and caught the ball in his upraised mitt for the final out.
His Cardinal teammates ran down the right field line to carry Bottomley off the field, but he would have none of it. "Old Jim ain't done nothing yet," he proclaimed. "Go get Hallahan. He's the fair-haired boy in this ball game. And when you get him, go get Pepper Martin. I ain't done nothing."
FINAL SCORE: CARDINALS 2 ATHLETICS 0
My Greatest Day in Baseball as told to John P. Carmichael and other noted sportswriters (1945)
The World Series: A Complete Pictorial History, John Devaney and Burt Goldblatt (1972) Pepper Martin: A Baseball Biography, Thomas Barthel (2003) |