Cleveland catches pennant fever
Retelling the 1920 Indians’ story
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We like to think of modern times as sports crazy and perhaps we are right, given the sheer volume of sports in any normal year and the angst from this year when most sports had to shut down.
But reviewing the 1920 Indians articles, it’s hard to believe Northeast Ohio ever had much more “buzz”.
James H. Lanyon, holder of the lofty title of “Sporting editor of The Plain Dealer, didn’t hold back his excitement. Of course, folks at the time were just beginning to realize what an economic boom a hot sports team could be for the local newspaper.
“Day by day, things happen that make the Cleveland ball club stand out as the real thing in the American League and as the coming champions of the American League,” Lanyon wrote.
“What if Cleveland should win the pennant? How will Cleveland behave?
“Winning the American League pennant will place Cleveland in a position it never held before. It will mean playing at least half the games of the World Series in this city. And for the time being such a thing would make the city the metropolis of the sport world. It would be a great thing for Cleveland.”
Cleveland was very much a recent boom town at the time, taking advantage of the nation’s industrial surge at the beginning of the 20th century. The end of the World War gave another boost.
The city was growing and mighty proud of itself. You might compare it to the Silicon Valley excitement of recent years. Ohio had:
Huge corporations: None bigger than Standard Oil.
Technology: Thomas Edison came from these parts.
Key supply chain industries: Akron tires, Cleveland steel, even Ashtabula and Conneaut were key harbors for ore heading to Pittsburgh (which the PD kept spelling without and H).
So Lanyon had another question:
“If the pennant comes here what will Cleveland do?
“Cleveland has been clamoring for such an honor for years. It has been hungry for a pennant winner. It has stood for any position in the league with a sportsmanlike spirit. It has been second more than once and has ‘gone through’ with the club the following season.
“So if Cleveland does win the American League this year and some games of the World Series are played here, let us continue to be sports. Let us give the opposing club a run for its money. Let us give the visiting wins, give it credit and give to the fans who support the National League contender every courtesy. Let the best club win and more power to it.”
Aw shucks, that makes you want to stand up and recite the Scout’s Pledge!
Henry Edwards, the PD’s beat writer, knew that nothing stokes local interest more than the Yankees.
“The series at League Park promises to break all records in attendance for one staged entirely on week days,” Edwards wrote. “All the reserved seats for all four games were sold several days ago and it is believed it may even be necessary to put the circus seats along the foul line. An effort, though, will be made to keep the crowd off the playing field and it is not thought the crowds will necessitate stretching ropes in the outfield boundaries.
“Jim Dunn remembers what happened the last time the Yankees played here to an overflow crowd. The Yanks slammed the ball into the crowd on numerous occasions and obtained two bases on drives that ordinarily might have been caught. He is opposed to being caught the same way again as he would rather play without the overflow and win than play with the crowd on the field and lose.”
The Yankee series was to start Monday, August 9 and the Tribe was in first place, 4½ games ahead of the Yankees with the White Sox close behind. They were wrapping up a long homestand and had just beaten the Philadelphia Athletics 9–1 and 5–0 over the weekend.
Few articles at the time failed to mention The Babe. The Sultan of Swat was teaching the nation how much fun it was to make larger-than-life heroes out of common men.
The big guy from Baltimore had the personality to pull it off and New York provided the media force willing to go along with the many myths. (See Big Fella by Jane Leavy) Edwards managed to put a Cleveland twist on the Babe’s swagger.
“Babe Ruth says the right-field wall here is made to order for him and that it is just as easy for him to hit home runs at League Park as at the Polo Grounds,” Edwards wrote. “Perhaps it is, but Babe made only one four-sacker in four games here.”
Ruth would later hit his 500th homer at League Park and Edwards probably never heard the end the jinx he inspired by suggesting Ruth was not dominating in Ohio.
The Yankee series did not turn out the way any Ohioan wanted it.
By Wednesday the Tribe had lost the first game to the Yankees and their lead was down to 3½ games. (They didn’t play that Tuesday)
Edwards, ever the optimist, looked at the bright civic pride in the face of impending Yankee doom:
“The contest was staged in the presence of close to 27,000 persons, the largest crowd that ever saw a week-day game in Cleveland and one that, like the Indians, went down fighting. Right to the very finish, those 27,000 spectators were hopeful, even in the face of the three-run lead the New Yorkers acquired in the first half of the tenth inning.”
Even worse, the game had lost much of its star power.
“The Yankees were Ruth-less when they triumphed over the league leaders, as Babe Ruth, the home run monarch, twisted his right knee in sliding to second base in the first inning and had to be carried off the field. Meusel, the prodigal who has been doing bench duty for several days as part of the discipline imposed by Manager Huggins, not only scored the tying run in the sixth inning but drove in the winning marker in the tenth. Ruth could have done no better, especially as the Californian made three nice catches in the garden.”
(Edwards tended to treat even visiting players as if they were his best buddies, not providing their first names and figuring even the most casual fan knows Meusel was Bob from San Jose, Calif.)
I present the following paragraphs not because of their historical significance or even because I understand them. They are here for you as an example of the baseball hyperbole of the time when streaming was done by rivers, broadcasting was a way to distribute seeds and baseball had to be seen in person.
“When Carl Mays, the underhand hurler of the Yankees shot the first one over, Smith swung with such force that he whirled all the way around as the ball was fouled into the grandstand. He repeated on the next offering and this time he lifted the ball into Lexington Avenue. Following O’Neill, Jamieson and speaker came across the plate, he was greeted with one of the most spontaneous and wildest ovations ever accorded any player within the confines of the base hit orchard located at the corner of Lexington avenue and E. 66th street. His fellow redskins rushed from the dugout to slap him on the back and all but carry him to the bench while scores of fans threw their straw lids upon the field.
“Had that eastern alienist who a few days ago said baseball fans were suffering with dementia been present, he would have had much to corroboratory evidence and would have amended his statement by declaring they were raving maniacs. In this particular instance, it was several minutes before the spectators recovered from their delirium and noticed the game was proceeding just as if home runs were frequent occurrence.”
It took the historical sleuthing of Vince Guerrieri to identify this “alienist” as a reference to Charles Ponzi, the “spectacular financier” who was gaining headlines for bilking rich folks out of thousands of dollars. He would inspire thieves of even larger proportions throughout the century and beyond.
I don’t know what Edwards meant by the “orchard”. Maybe it’s the “garden” where Meusel did his good fielding, now known as an outfield.
As for the game, Elmer Smith hit a grand slam for the Indians in the third inning and that got in the PD’s headline over Carl Mays who pitched a 10-inning complete game and started to Yankee rallies, including the 10th-inning rally that beat the local heroes.
Jim Bagby also worked 10 innings, allowing 12 hits and just one walk.
The final score: 7–4 New York.
The Yankees would complete the four-game series later in the week and further despair would come after the lowly St. Louis Browns came to town and put the Tribe loss streak at five games.
Better times were coming of course, but there were valleys filled with tragedy ahead and Mays would play a key role.
Play it again
Strat-O-Matic fans can easily have unrealistic expectations for how well the game will recreate the data from any particular season. It is possible for the 1962 Mets to beat the 1927 Yankees because we would be talking about a small number of die rolls — maybe 70 or 80. The dreaded “small sample size” is to blame.
This game shows the virtue of big numbers. It’s the season totals that show how good a game it can be.
In the replay, we use the exact same pitchers and lineups as were used in 1920 and the Indians and Yankees had precisely the same number of games played as in real life on Aug. 11, 1920.
Just as on that day 100 years ago, the Indians entered the series 4 1/2 games over the Yankees. Unlike the real game, Ruth did not get injured on his first at bat. That’s a small number kind of event. You should not be surprised that Ruth had a big day. Five at bats, three runs, three hits, four RBI. He hit his 40th home run.
In this one, Jim Bagby had another rough start and was done after three innings. He gave up nine hits, eight runs, seven earned.
Previous blog posts:
The Spitter Starts Sliding Out of Baseball
It Happens Every Spring — in Cleveland Anyway
Cleveland Fans Party — Tribe Style
Throwing it around in the old days
Bagby Flashes but Soon will Fade
Please consider sharing this blog with your friends. Some of the Facebook places where I notify folks about new editions have objected to my simple messages and the blog’s following has been reduced. I make no money from this.
Dave Scott was a newspaper writer and editor for 40 years. He is a lifelong baseball fan and a member of the Society for American Baseball Research for decades, although SABR records might indicate I skipped my dues on occasion! DavidAScott@gmail.com I owe a great debt to the Cleveland Public Library for its excellent resources.
The following have helped me tremendously with editing, error correction and technical advice:
David Bodemer
Ken Krsolovic
Joe Shaw
Vince Guerrieri
Thanks to all of you!
