1905 Chicago Cubs replay update: homestand vs. the rival Giants

by Scott Fennessy

North Side Park, Chicago, IL 6/12/1905

The Cubs continue their home stand with game 2 in this now very heated rivalry. Game two with the Giants. New York has been raking of late and has caught the Cubs in their first stretch of less than stellar play.. While Manager Frank Chance was clearly upset on Reulbach’s injury yesterday he kept his opinion to himself. Giants Manager John McGraw was surprisingly contented and did not stir the pot as expected. Considering he has momentum and Christy Mathewson on the hill today he can afford to be. Mordecai Brown who has struggled a bit lately goes for the bruins.

Brown looks sharp in the first, stranding Mike Donlin at first with a 2 out walk and the Cubs come to bat 0-0 in their half of the first. Art Hofman also draws a two out walk and Frank Chance at the plate. Chance signals from outside the batter’s box and the hit and run is on. Hofman’s off with the first pitch, a fastball and Chance who is heating up rips a frozen rope into the right field corner. Hofman scores easily, and Chance rounds third, the relay from Dahlen at short and Bowerman is in perfect position to block the plate and he isssssssssssssss OUT!!!. The inning is over, but the Cubs get the early lead against a tough pitcher. 0-1 Cubs.

Bowerman is at first with a 1 out single. Mike is having a great season hitting about .350 for the year, but Sammy Strang hits a one hopper to Casey at third, who goes around the horn for the inning ending double play, and another scoreless inning for Brown. Tinker leads off with a single, and suddenly has a 6 game hitting streak. One out later Johnny Kling who is really coming on strong after a horrible start gets a rare treat today, Mathewson throws a hanging curve and Kling sends it to the fans in the center field bleachers for his third home run of the year. “Big 6” strikes out Casey and Brown to end the inning 0-3 Cubs.

No action in the third although the Cubs miss a chance in with runners on the corners with 2 out. In the 4th the Giants finally break through. Sam Mertes who had 3 hits yesterday leads off with a double and scores one out later on a hi flying double deep into the gap by Dan McGann. Dan is really an underappreciated member of this lineup but is steady as a rock, with a little better than average pop. George Browne is hit by a pitch but the inning ends with just the run scoring. 1-3 Cubs. McGraw smells blood and in the fifth he draws some as “Bad Bill” Dahlen draws the deadly leadoff walk. Mathewson gets an infield hit and Dahlen who had been on the move with the pitch goes to third. Art Devlin squares away for the sacrifice and gets the job done. Suicide squeeze one run in and another in scoring position. Mertes strikes again with a triple into center scoring Mathewson. Brown squeaks by to end the inning tied at 3.

The Cubs get a one out walk from Tinker and with the hot hitting Frank Schulte up the hit and run is on. And like Chance (seen right) did earlier in the game he puts it into the right field corner and Tinker scores the lead run. Unfortunately just like Chance did earlier the Giants cut the batter down at home trying for the inside the park homer. But the inning does end with the Cubs back on top 4-3. Fate was not kind today as the Giants come right back in the top of the 7th. Dahlen strokes a leadoff double and moves to third on a soft grounder by Mathewson. Devlin walks, and Mertes gets a bases filling infield single. Donlin knocks Brown out for good with a bases clearing triple and now the game is in McGraw’s control. Wicker comes in to get the final two outs but the damage is already done 6-4 Giants lead.

The Cubs take another shot in the 8th when Chance rips a double and scores on Schulte’s second straight triple and the lead is cut to 6-5 Giants. In the 9th the Giants start a 1 out rally against Lundgren when Mertes draws a walk, and moves to third on Donlin’s second hit of the day. Donlin then steals second, and with two out and the inning seeming to be over George Browne bloops a single into right center. Maloney comes over and as Donlin waddles around third and slides just under Kling’s tag. Bowerman hits a soft fly to Casey in foul territory and the inning ends 8-5 Giants. Mathewson gets a 1-2-3 inning to finish the game and the Giants win 8-5.

For the Giants Sam Mertes strikes again. While hitting under .200 he has 6 hits in two games. He just missed the cycle by just the home run and scored 3 times. Mathewson gets the win, but has struggled both times against the Cubs this year. For the Cubs it was not all bad news, Tinker, Chance (who also needed just a homer for the cycle), Schulte and Kling all are hitting and Schulte’s streak is at 7, while Kling at a team high 8 game mark. The Giants now have a 1½ game lead and have erased a 3 game deficit in less than a week. Hoping Jake Weimer can stop the bleeding..

[photo credit]