1924
WORLD SERIES
NEW
YORK GIANTS vs. WASHINGTON NATIONALS
GAME
7
The Giants were among the most powerful teams in
baseball, having captured four consecutive pennants. The Nationals (often
referred to as the “Senators”) had established a long tradition of losing,
placing sixth or lower in the standings from 1901 through 1911. Their poor performances
in the early years inspired a long-running joke: “Washington—first in war,
first in peace, and last in the American League.” Trailing three games to two
in the Series, the Nationals took the Giants completely off guard with a tense
2-1 victory over veteran pitcher Art Nehf, who was widely considered to be New
York’s most reliable big-game pitcher. The Series finale was among the most
unusual in history.
More than 31,000 fans flocked to Griffith Stadium in
D.C. to see if the Nationals could finally shed their image as perennial losers.
The Giants jumped out to a 3-1 lead before Washington’s player/manager, Bucky
Harris, tied the game with an RBI single that took a bad hop at third base and
bounced past Hall of Fame infielder, Freddie Lindstrom. The game was still
knotted at three in the bottom of the 12th, when Muddy Ruel of the Nationals hit
a one-out pop-up near home plate. It should have been an easy play, but Giants’
catcher Hank Gowdy tripped over his own discarded mask, dropping the ball.
Given new life, Ruel ripped a double. Legendary hurler Walter Johnson, who had
delivered four innings of scoreless relief for Washington on short rest,
followed with a playable grounder to shortstop Travis Jackson. Jackson—a Hall of
Famer who carried the nickname “Stonewall” for his sensational defense—booted the
ball. Defying credibility, Nationals’ center fielder Earl McNeely followed with
a sharp grounder that took another bad
hop at third base and bounced into left field, bringing Ruel home with the
Series-clinching run. Washington owner Clark Griffith believed it was divine
intervention. Relief pitcher Jack Bentley (who was charged with the loss) later
said it was one of the “weirdest” games he ever played in.
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