1909 World Series

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The 1909 World Series featured the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Detroit Tigers. The Pirates won the Series in seven games to capture their first championship of the modern Major League Baseball era, but their second championship in the club's history.

The Tigers might have finally won the Fall Classic in their third try had it not been for Babe Adams. A rookie pitcher for Pittsburgh that year, manager Fred Clarke started him, on a hunch, in Game 1. Adams won that game and two more.

The Detroit Tigers thus became the first American League team to win three consecutive pennants, and the first team to lose three straight World Series (the New York Giants would lose three straight Series during 1911-1913).

Ty Cobb had a fairly quiet Series, going 6 for 26 with 2 stolen bases and 1 caught stealing. There is a long-standing legend that Cobb, standing on first base, called the German-ancestored Honus Wagner "Krauthead", told him he was going to steal second, and was not only thrown out but that Wagner tagged him in the mouth, ball in hand, drawing blood from the Georgia Peach's lip. However, an examination of the play-by-play does not indicate that such a play occurred. In the one "caught stealing" charged to Cobb, during the first inning of Game 4, he was actually safe at second due to a throwing error by first baseman Bill Abstein.

The Pirates, meanwhile, ran at will against the weak catching corps of the Tigers, stealing 18 bases overall.

Records: Pittsburgh Pirates (W: 110, L: 42, Pct: .724, GA: 6 ½) - Detroit Tigers (W: 98, L: 54, Pct: .645, GA: 3 ½)

Managers: Fred Clarke (Pittsburgh), Hughie Jennings (Detroit)

Umpires: Jim Johnstone (NL), Billy Evans (AL), Bill Klem (NL), Silk O'Loughlin (AL)
For the first time, four umpires were used at the same time, with the standard plate umpire and base umpire along with two outfield umpires.

Summary

NL Pittsburgh Pirates (4) vs. AL Detroit Tigers (3)

Game	Score	Date	Location	Attendance
1	Tigers - 1, Pirates - 4	October 8	Forbes Field	29,624
2	Tigers - 7, Pirates - 2	October 9	Forbes Field	30,915
3	Pirates - 8, Tigers - 6	October 11	Bennett Park	18,277
4	Pirates - 0, Tigers - 5	October 12	Bennett Park	17,036
5	Tigers - 4, Pirates - 8	October 13	Forbes Field	21,706
6	Pirates - 4, Tigers - 5	October 14	Bennett Park	10,535
7	Pirates - 8, Tigers - 0	October 16	Bennett Park	17,562

Matchups

Game 1

October 8, 1909 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit (AL)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	6	4
Pittsburgh (NL)	0	0	0	1	2	1	0	0	X	4	5	0
W: Babe Adams (1-0)  L: George Mullin (0-1)
HR: PIT – Fred Clarke (1)

Game 2

October 9, 1909 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit (AL)	0	2	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	7	9	3
Pittsburgh (NL)	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	5	1
W: Bill Donovan (1-0)  L: Howie Camnitz (0-1)

Game 3

October 11, 1909 at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburgh (NL)	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	8	10	2
Detroit (AL)	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	2	6	11	5
W: Nick Maddox (1-0)  L: Ed Summers (0-1)

Game 4

October 12, 1909 at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburgh (NL)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	6
Detroit (AL)	0	2	0	3	0	0	0	0	X	5	8	0
W: George Mullin (1-1)  L: Lefty Leifield (0-1)

Game 5

October 13, 1909 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit (AL)	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	4	6	1
Pittsburgh (NL)	1	1	1	0	0	0	4	1	X	8	10	2
W: Babe Adams (2-0)  L: Ed Summers (0-2)
HR: DET – Davy Jones (1), Sam Crawford (1)  PIT – Fred Clarke (2)

Game 6

October 14, 1909 at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburgh (NL)	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	7	3
Detroit (AL)	1	0	0	2	1	1	0	0	X	5	10	3
W: George Mullin (2-1)  L: Vic Willis (0-1)

Game 7

October 16, 1909 at Bennett Park in Detroit, Michigan

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburgh (NL)	0	2	0	2	0	3	0	1	0	8	7	0
Detroit (AL)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	3
W: Babe Adams (3-0)  L: Bill Donovan (1-1)

Composite Box

1909 World Series (4-3): Pittsburgh Pirates (N.L.) over Detroit Tigers (A.L.)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburgh Pirates	11	4	1	3	2	4	4	2	3	34	50	13
Detroit Tigers	3	4	3	5	3	3	4	1	2	28	55	18
Total Attendance: 145,807   Average Attendance: 20,830
Winning Player’s Share: – $1,825   Losing Player’s Share – $1,275

Reference(s)

Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series. 1st ed. New York: St Martins, 1990. (Neft and Cohen 27-31)

External links

• 1909 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com
• 1909 World Series at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)
• 1909 World Series at Baseball-Almanac.com
• 1909 World Series box scores and play-by-play at Retrosheet.org