1903 World's Series Summary
Game 1 : Pittsburg 0 –
Detroit 3
Wild Bill Donovan outpitches Rube Waddell, keeping the Pirates to only 5 hits in complete game shutout. Detroit, without stars Gleason and Crawford, take advantage of 2 errors by Pittsburg in the 3rd and 5th innings and never look back. Honus Wagner goes 0-3 with 2 strikeouts and catcher Jiggs Donahue leaves five men on base.
Game 2 :
Pittsburg 5 – Detroit 4, 15 innings
Honus Wagner, despite striking out three times, redeems himself by scoring the winning run in the top of the 15th inning on Cy Seymour’s sacrifice fly. Wagner reached third after an errant throw by catcher Bob Wood on a steal attempt sailed into center. Loser Frank Kitson pitched all 15 innings, having endured a two-run homer by Seymour in the 4th and two errors in the 6th inning by shortstop fill-in Mike Kahoe. 20 year old Pirate Jim St. Vrain pitched 12 strong innings but it was Bucky Veil in relief that got 3 key strikeouts to secure the victory, sending the Series to Pittsburg.
Game 3 :
Detroit 4 – Pittsburg 3
Cy Seymour continued his hot hitting by driving in two runs in the first frame against Detroit’s Stan Yerkes. But the Pirates booted the ball around the infield after that, this time second baseman Jack Dunn committing 3 out of 5 errors by the team. Kid Gleason returns from injury and replaces Kahoe in the lineup. It’s apparent that the top of Pittsburg’s lineup is struggling to get anything going, leaving cleanup man Ginger Beaumont in fits. Tension builds among the Pirates on the field as the underdog Tigers are now up 2 games to 1.
Game 4 :
Detroit 7 – Pittsburg 6
The Pirates squander a 6-1 lead in the 6th inning and allow 6 runs in a hit-barrage led by Kid Gleason, who finished with 4 hits. The top 3 hitters for Pittsburg set the table by collecting six hits and two walks yet Beaumont continues to struggle and the hot hitting Seymour, hitting fifth, goes 0-4 with 2 strikeouts, failing to take opportunity.
Game 5 : Pittsburg 0 –
Detroit 2
Donovan hands Rube Waddell his second shutout loss in the Series, putting Detroit up 4 games to 1. Donovan was masterful in his control, allowing only four hits in the game. Kid Gleason is red hot, collecting two more hits and a run driven in. He is now hitting .538 since his return. The Tigers find themselves one win away from the title, all without Sam Crawford.
Game 6 : Detroit 3 –
Pittsburg 10
The Tigers got a quick 3-1 lead against pitcher Jim St. Vrain, but were silenced the rest of the way. To add injury to insult, star pitcher Frank Kitson blew out his arm in the seventh inning and is expected to miss the rest of the Series. The Tigers were forced to enter journeyman Bock Baker who promptly allowed the Pirates 6 runs in the 9th inning. Cy Seymour collected 3 hits and 2 runs batted in despite committing 2 errors in the field. Detroit still leads the Series 4 games to 2.
Game 7 :
Detroit 4 – Pittsburg 2 “Deerling a Darling in Detroit”
Sam Crawford made his only appearance of the Series and made good, going 3 for 4, but his return was overshadowed by the play of an unsuspecting hero as the Detroit Tigers defeated the Pittsburg Pirates for the first ever World’s Series Championship. Detroit called upon green John Deerling to pitch the eventual final game against star hurler Harry Felix. Deerling found the control that eluded him all year in 31 innings of work (he walked 16) and allowed just one free pass against three strikeouts in the complete game win. Detroit tied the game in the 7th on a double by Kid Gleason, who quickly stole thirdbase with Deerling in the box. Deerling tapped a weak grounder to a hard-charging Honus Wagner who gloved the ball and threw home to catch Gleason, who originally hesitated, but then scored after he kicked the ball out of Donahue’s glove. All was bedlam at Bennett Park and the game had to be delayed for a half hour to restore order. Deerling worked out a jam in the 8th and after an insurance run by Harry Davis (Crawford scoring), Deerling breezed through the final frame to capture the title for Detroit, five games to two!