1914 World Series Champions

Lore & Background

The 'Miracle Braves' were in last place on July 4, then won the National League pennant by 10+1⁄2 games. The Braves' relatively unknown starting trio of pitchers, with a combined career record of 285–245, outperformed the Athletics' vaunted rotation (929–654) in all four games. Hank Gowdy hit .545 (6 of 11) with five extra-base hits and also drew four walks for Boston in the series and made the difference in Games 1 and 3. Adding to their supposed disadvantages, the Braves arguably lacked a notable home-field advantage. They had abandoned their 43-year-old home field South End Grounds in August 1914, choosing to rent from the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park while awaiting construction of Braves Field (1915). Thus their home games in this Series were also at Fenway.

In Their Own Story

The rain had stopped just long enough for Game Seven to begin, but the sky hung heavy over Boston. Fans clutched their programs tightly, knowing a tie would mean another day of waiting. The pitcher wound up on the mound, the dirt kicking up around his cleats as he delivered the ball. In that suspended moment between windup and strike, the city held its breath, hoping for a miracle that had already begun with their improbable run.

Reader's Guide

Game 1: Dick Rudolph scattered five hits while striking out eight as the Braves won the opener against Chief Bender. Hank Gowdy had a single, double and triple as well as a walk. Game 2: Bill James allowed only three base runners in the first eight innings, picking off two of them. The game went to the ninth tied 0–0, then the Braves scored on a double by Charlie Deal and a single by Les Mann. James got Eddie Murphy to ground into a game-ending double play. Game 3: Lefty Tyler went up against Bullet Joe Bush in a 12-inning thriller. Frank Baker's two-out single in the tenth gave the Athletics a 4–2 lead, but Hank Gowdy led off the bottom of the tenth with a home run, and the Braves tied the game on Joe Connolly's sacrifice fly. Bill James earned the win in relief after Gowdy led off the bottom of the 12th with a double and pinch-runner Les Mann scored on a throwing error. Game 4: Johnny Evers' two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the fifth broke a 1–1 tie. Dick Rudolph allowed only one base-runner after that and struck out seven in notching his second win. The Athletics were held to a .172 team batting average and no home runs in the series.

Did You Know?

• This was the first official four-game sweep in World Series history. The Chicago Cubs had defeated the Detroit Tigers four games to none in 1907, but Game 1 had ended in a tie before the Cubs won the next four in a row.
• At least one publication, To Every Thing a Season by Bruce Kuklick, has suggested other factors that might have contributed to the sweep, noting that some of the A's may have been irritated at the penny-pinching ways of
• Chief Bender and Eddie Plank jumped to the rival Federal League for the 1915 season. Mack unloaded most of his other high-priced stars soon after and, within two years, the A's posted the worst winning percentage in mode