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A dated photo of the first world series stadium, alongside the article headline

Massachusetts Digital Commonwealth

Fans show up to watch Deacon Phillippe win his third game of the series: Game 4 at Pittsburgh's Exposition Park on Oct. 6, 1903.

By Charles Apple

In 1903, the Boston Americans and the Pittsburgh Pirates — the pennant winners of each of the nation's two major baseball leagues — agreed to meet in a best-of-nine series to determine an overall champion.

What was essentially the final game of the first World Series was played 120 years ago Friday, on Oct. 13, 1903.

A Successful Attempt At Bringing Together Baseball Champions

The idea of professional baseball league champions facing off against each other in a postseason series had been around since 1884, when the Providence Grays of the National League faced the New York Metropolitans of the American Association in a three-game series called “the Championship of the United States.”

The two leagues played similar series of between six to 16 games over the next several years until the American Association folded in 1891.

In 1900, the National League contracted from 12 teams to just eight. The next year, the American League was founded. In 1903, Pittsburgh Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss challenged the American League champions, the Boston Americans, to a best-of-nine championship series that would bounce between Boston and Pittsburgh.

The Americans featured a dominant pitching staff led by Cy Young, who had finished the 1903 season at 28-9, and reliever Bill Dinneen, who led the league in saves.

Pittsburgh had dominated play in the National League for the past three seasons and was led by legendary shortstop Honus Wagner — who hit .355 that year and drove in 101 runs — and player/manager Fred Clarke, who batted .351.

A dated photo of The Pirates posing together.
Credit: WikiMedia Commons

The owner of the Pirates — in the back row of this photo showing both teams — was so pleased with the series he gave his share of ticket sales to the players, which made for a bonus of $1,316 each. This was more than the Boston players received for winning the series.

A dated photo of fans climbing over the walls into the first world series.
Credit: Boston Public Library

Fans in the cheap seats helped other fans gain admission for Game 3 on Saturday, Oct. 3.

A dated photo of fans rushing the stadium field before game 3.
Credit: Northeastern University Library

Fans rushed the field before Game 3, gathering around the outfield and the diamond itself.

The Pirates, however, had ended the regular season with a bizarre series of incidents: Utility player Otto Krueger was beaned on Sept. 19 and had hardly played the rest of the season. Three days later, pitcher Ed Doheny left the team after exhibiting signs of paranoia. He was committed to an asylum where he would spend the rest of his life. In addition, Wagner suffered from a nagging leg injury and pitcher Sam Leever injured his shoulder while trap shooting.

The first three games of the series were held in Boston's Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds. The Pirates and the Americans split the first two games, setting up a Saturday afternoon game that would officially draw 18,801 fans but, in fact, pulled in far more than that.

Seats were sold out hours before game time. Fence jumping was widespread. The crowd gathered around the playing surface began wandering onfield during pregame warmups.

“A surging, struggling, frantic crowd,” reported the Boston Post, “a sea of faces, a perspiring mass of humanity that fringed the fences, packed and jammed the stands, encircled the diamond and fought both police and players.”

Despite all this, the game began only 15 minutes late.

Pittsburgh's Deacon Phillippe, with only one day's rest after tossing a complete game in Game 1, threw another complete game for a 4-2 win. Phillippe would pitch a third complete game of the series two days later when play resumed in Pittsburgh's Exposition Park. He'd finish the series with a 3-2 record and a 2.86 earned run average.

A portrait of Deacon Phillippe
Pittsburgh's Deacon Phillippe started five games, winning three.
A portrait of Bill Dinneen
Boston pitcher Bill Dinneen started four games and won three.
A portrait of Cy Young
Boston's Cy Young started three games and won two, with an ERA of 1.85.

World Series Records


Christy Mathewson

Complete Games


10

Mariano Rivera

Games Pitched


24

Whitey Ford

Innings Pitched


146

Whitey Ford

Games Started


22

Whitey Ford

Games Started


10

Whitey Ford

Wins


8

Mariano Rivera

Saves


11

Christy Mathewson

Shutouts


4

Catfish Hunter

HRs Allowed


9

Whitey Ford

Strikeouts


94

Single Game Records

Strikeouts

Bob Gibson

1968


17

Hits

Paul Molitor

1982

Albert Pujols

2011


5

Innings Pitched

Babe Ruth

1916


14

Home Runs

Babe Ruth

1926

Babe Ruth

1928

Reggie Jackson

1977

Albert Pujols

2011

Pablo Sandoval

2012


5

Sources: “The Baseball Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of Major League Baseball” by Publications International, “The Ultimate Baseball Book” by Daniel Okrent and Harris Lewine, “On This Day in Baseball History: A Day-by-Day Account of Baseball's Most Indelible Moments” by the Baseball Time Machine, “For the Love of the Red Sox: An A-to-Z Primer for Red Sox Fans of All Ages” by Frederick C. Klein and Mark W. Anderson, Northeastern University, Massachusetts Digital Commonwealth collections, Baseball-reference.com, Baseball-almanac.com, Boston Globe, GoldenRankings.com

This edition of Further Review was adapted for the web by Zak Curley.