MLB history: Forgotten stars of the current AL East teams
By Rick Soisson
Larry Gardner, Red Sox
Many somewhat casual fans of MLB history will recall that the Boston Red Sox – then known as the Americans – won the first World Series contested in 1903, and some will likely even tell you the great Cy Young pitched for that team.
What few can tell you is when the Sox won their next championship, although if given the year, 1912, some might be able to guess one of the stars of that team was Tris Speaker. However, despite the fact that a writer for the respected Sabr.org once wrote the final game of that Series was “one of the most dramatic games in baseball history, and one for which Larry Gardner will be forever remembered,” few alive today could tell you what Gardner did, or even what position he played.
Ruth’s called shot is recalled, Williams’.406 season is recalled, Gardner’s story is not. But it’s a good one, a shining moment in the 17-year career of one of the game’s early stars. And calling Gardner an early star is not an overreach in his context. Remember that the modern game as we know it, including the foul strike rule, had only been played for a dozen years when Larry Gardner found himself, in his fifth season as the Red Sox third baseman, driving for a spot in the championship series with his team in September.
On September 21, however, Gardner dove for a ball hit down the third base line. Tiger Donie Bush’s grounder must have been hard hit since it caught Gardner’s right pinky, fracturing the digit at the first joint and “causing the bone to protrude through the skin.”
It was feared that the Sox would be without their third baseman for the Series. This was not good. Gardner hit .315 that season, and was, despite his smallish frame, an above average fielder.
However, the infielder taped his fingers together for the Series after some days recuperating in his native Vermont, and one final game in the regular season against the Athletics.
When the Series reached eight games, the Giants’ Fred Snodgrass and Fred Merkle put themselves into the pages of MLB history with defensive lapses. Their team was up, 2-1, and Christy Mathewson was pitching in the 10th inning. First, Snodgrass made his infamous muff on a soft fly to center; then Merkle didn’t make much of an effort on a lazy foul pop by Speaker near first base, his position, leaving his desperate catcher to chase and lunge unsuccessfully at the ball.
Speaker then singled, tying the game, and eventually, Gardner came to the plate with one out and the bases loaded following an intentional walk.
The 165-pound infielder, with his recently fractured finger stabilized with tape, muscled the great Mathewson’s fourth pitch deep to right. It was caught, but the runner on third tagged and scored.
Gardner’s $4000 bonus nearly doubled his salary, and he went home to Vermont on a train covered with red lights from the engine to the last coach, surely a first in MLB history.
Larry Gardner retired a .289 lifetime hitter after departing Boston in 1917 for a year with the Athletics, then six more with the Indians. In 1920 he bettered his .315 in that championship season by posting a .319 average, but surely, 1912 was his favorite year.