Mordecai Brown by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Mordecai Brown

Page 69

called a “great stop” by Joe Tinker on Mathewson’s hard hit ball to short, and an equally impressive scoop of the low throw by Chance.

Mathewson had cruised through two innings but everything changed in the third. It started with a triple from Tinker. W.J. McBeth, a Giants beat writer, stated that center fielder Seymour misjudged it and should have caught it. Cubs beat writers were kinder, saying Seymour “made a great try” but couldn’t catch up with it. Whatever, take your pick. Kling then singled to center, bringing Tinker home, tying the game, 1-1.

Brown’s bunt sacrifice moved Kling to second. Jimmy Scheckard flied out to center, but Mathewson walked Johnny Evers. With two men on base and two outs, right fielder Frank “Wildfire” Schulte came up to bat. Long known as a clutch hitter, Schulte doubled to left. Kling scored, and Evers went to third. The Cubs had taken the lead, but the scoring wasn’t finished. Chance doubled to right, and both Evers and Schulte came home. Suddenly, the Cubs led 4-1, as Giants fans fell into a stunned silence. It was the only bad inning Mathewson had in the seven innings he pitched, but the damage had been done.

For most of the game, the Giants could do nothing with Brown’s pitching, which was augmented by stellar fielding. In the fifth,