Sunday, July 08, 2007

Beaneaters as Speed Bump

The season, she is finished.

There is joy in Pittsburgh as the 1902 Pirates outlasted the 1897 Boston Beaneaters, coming from behind in the bottom of the 10th to win 14-13 in a sloppy game featuring 6 errors and multiple blown leads. Ed Poole will live on in the hearts of Pirates fans as he got the win after an inning of not-effective-but-not-disastrous relief, which was good enough. Jack Stivetts gutted out three innings of not-quite-good-enough relief after Ted Lewis' not-at-all-good starting for the Beaneaters, wasting a monster 5-6 day by Jimmy Collins. Fred Clarke was the star for Pittsburgh, going 2-3 with a 3b, 3 R and 3 RBI.

The Beaneaters then went on to host Chicago in a makeup game the day after the season ended. Needing a win to avoid a playoff game in Milwaukee, Chicago's Jack Pfiester pitched in and out of trouble to seal the 4-1 victory. Pat Moran did most of the Cubs' damage, going 3-4. Fred Klobedanz lost, and ends the season 20-22.

As reigning champions, perhaps it was fitting this seasons' winners both had to defeat Boston to move on. The Cubs will have home field advantage in the NLCS.

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