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1910 World Series Photo Gallery
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Let’s Revisit the 1910 World Series: Cubs vs. A’s!
Two Early 20th Century Dynasties Square-Off
The 1910 Fall Classic featured the Philadelphia Athletics and the Chicago Cubs, with the Athletics winning in five games. The first decade of the 20th century ended with these two powerhouses going head-to-head for the World Series championship. Connie Mack’s A’s had chalked up a 102-48 record (.680) in winning the American League pennant by 14 1/2 games over the New York Highlanders. The Cubs, managed by the “Peerless Leader,” Frank Chance, had a similar record, 104-50 (.675), 13 games ahead of New York’s National League team, the Giants.
The Cubs, often considered the new century’s first dynasty, were coming into the World Series having won four pennants and two World Series championships in the last five years. The A’s, on the other hand, were just beginning their run as an early 1910s dynasty with four pennants in five years between 1910 and 1914.
The photo above is one of my favorite Dead Ball Era photos, showing Cubs and A’s players mingling before the start of Game One. See if you can identify any of the players before looking at the IDs below. Hint: There’s three Hall-of-Famers in the pic.
Many Future Hall-of-Famers on the Field
The series featured a total of nine Hall-of-Famer: Connie Mack, Frank “Home Run” Baker, Chief Bender, Eddie Plank, and Eddie Collins for the A’s; and Mordecai “Three-Finger” Brown, Frank Chance, Johnny Evers, and Joe Tinker for the Cubs. In addition, two Hall-of-Famer umpires were on the field: Tom Connolly, and Hank O’Day.
And how about these infields! Two-thirds of the famous “Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance” trio for the Cubs (Evers was injured and didn’t play); and three-fourths of the famous “$100,000 Infield” (Eddie Collins, Jack Barry, and Frank “Home Run” Baker minus Stuffy McInnes) for the A’s.
Both Teams Solid
The A’s line-up included three .300 hitters: Eddie Collins, Rube Oldring and Danny Murphy, plus and a 31-game winner in Jack Coombs; while Solly Hofman and Frank “Wild Fire” Schulte topped the .300 mark for the Cubs. Their 2.51 ERA led the National League. The A’s staff was even better, with an American League-leading 1.79 mark. Both teams suffered injures and would not be at full strength. The Cubs lost second baseman Johnny Evers to a broken ankle; and Philadelphia was missing Oldring with a broken leg. With pitcher Eddie Plank also out for the series with a sore arm, Connie Mack had to rely completely on his other aces, Jack Coombs and Chief Bender.
A Quick Recap of the Five Games
In Game One, Bender went against the Cubs’ Orval Overall. The A’s got three hits and two RBIs from Frank Baker, and scored a 4-1 victory with Bender tossing a three-hitter. Game Two saw Coombs pitch a solid, but unspectacular 9-3 victory. The A’s came out swinging in Game Three and drove Ed Reulbach off the mound in the second inning en route to a 12-5 romp, as Coombs won again, pitching with only one day’s rest. On the brink of elimination. the Cubs put their faith in rookie King Cole, coming off a 20-4 season, and managed to eke out a 4-3 win in 10 innings.
The Cubs went with their ace Mordecai Brown against the undefeated Coombs for Game Five. Both pitchers rose to the occasion and went neck and neck for seven innings. The A’s pulled ahead by a run before adding five more in the eighth on the way to a 7-2, Series-winning victory.
Coombs and Bender Only Pitchers Used in the Series!
Not only had the A’s defeated one of baseball’s earliest dynasties, but they also did it with just two starting pitchers, Bender and three-time winner Coombs. The victorious A’s went on to will pennants in 1911, 1913, and 1914, with World Series victories in 1911 and 1913, before being upset by the Miracle Braves in 1914.
Player IDs from the Featured Photo:
L-R: Frank Chance (HOF), Eddie Plank (HOF), Mordacai “Three-Finger” Brown (HOF), Harry Davis, Jimmy Sheckerd, and Jimmy Archer.
Gary Livacari
Photo Credits: “The Book of Baseball,” 1911 by William Patten; “Greats of the Game,” by Ray Robinson; Pulbic domain.
Information; Excerpts edited from Baseball Almanac.com; the 1910 World Series Wikipedia page; and Baseball-Reference.com
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