The best series we have seen so far came down to the last inning of game seven where the Highlanders made a memorable comeback to win this series. Down 6-2 going into the bottom of the 9^th the Pre Yankees team rallied in a big way against Ole Olsen and the Tigers. With two out the home side got four straight hits and a walk to get the win, the clincher coming from series MVP Birdie Cree who singled in two as the winning run beat a Ty Cobb throw on a close play at the plate.

 

The series started off with great pitching with two initial shutouts but the offenses opened up after that. Cobb himself, older then his prime years, batted .303 in the series but did hit a rare walk off winning home run in game three. The Highlanders were led by Cree and Hal Chase who batted .438 and drove in nine.

 

The Tigers were a strike away from victory and could chase it but they saw it all slip away.

 

The 41 Cardinals lost all three of their games at Sportsman’s Park and could not complete a comeback after losing the first three games of the series. The Pirates took control of the series after winning a 15 inning marathon in game 2. Down three games to none Lon Warneke pitched a shutout in game four while the Cards won big 11-1 in game five and seemed to be ready for a monumental turnaround heading back home, it wasn’t meant to be however.

 

Pittsburgh hit five home runs in the clinching win and although they were out hit thoroughly in the series, they got the big hits when they needed them. Willie Stargell and Dave Parker did not have good series at the plate but other players stepped up like Riche Hebner and Rennie Stennett. Bob Robertson was also a key man off the bench getting three hits as a pinch hitter including a two run home run.

 

A great series comes down again to the last game and the upstart Reds pull the upset against the favored Phillies. This series really came down to the ability of the Reds to hit Phillie pitching at a .317 clip and more specifically the fails of Roy Halladay who lost twice and had an ERA over six. In game seven especially Halladay didn’t get out of the 2^nd inning and allowed seven runs that were just too much.

 

There were great games in the series including two walk off games by each team. In game six with the Phllies having their backs to the wall Roy Oswalt pitched an inspired 2-1 win to keep his team alive, but it wasn’t meant to be. Ryan Howard only batted .161 for the series and the Phils as a unit only had 2 home runs for the series. The likes of Jackie May and Pete Donohue did the job for the Reds who were in truth a bit better managed and a bit more aggressive on the bases.

Games

Game 1
Citizens Bank Park
26 Reds	7
10 Phillies	4	(12 inn)
Game 2
Citizens Bank Park
26 Reds	4
10 Phillies	5
Game 3
At Redland Field
10 Phillies	3
26 Reds	2
Game 4
At Redland Field
10 Phillies	1
26 Reds	4
Game 5
At Redland Field
10 Phillies	7
26 Reds	8
Game 6
At Citizens Bank Park
26 Reds	1
10 Phillies	2
Game 7
At Citizens Bank Park
26 Reds	8
10 Phillies	4

Stats

2010 Philadelphia Phillies (97-65)	AB	H	HR	RBI	AVG	SB
Jimmy Rollins	33	7	0	4	0.212	2
Placido Polanco	32	10	0	1	0.313	0
Chase Utley	26	11	0	5	0.423	0
Ryan Howard	31	5	0	1	0.161	0
Jayson Werth	31	10	1	4	0.323	0
Raul Ibanez	30	10	1	2	0.333	0
Shane Victorino	30	12	0	3	0.400	1
Carlos Ruiz	26	4	0	3	0.154	0
Ross Gload	7	1	0	0	0.143	0
Mike Sweeney	1	0	0	0	0.000	0
					#DIV/0!
Totals	247	70	2	23	0.283	3
	IP	W	L	ER	K	BB	ERA
Roy Halladay	15	0	2	11	5	2	6.60
Chad Durbin	4.3	0	0	9	2	2	18.84
Jose Contreras	3.6	0	0	0	2	3	0.00
Ryan Madson	4	1	0	0	5	0	0.00
JC Romero	2	0	1	1	5	4	4.50
Danys Baez	1.6	0	0	0	1	2	0.00
David Herndon	2	0	1	3	0	0	13.50
Nelson Figueroa	2.3	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Roy Oswalt	14.6	1	0	3	1	1	1.85
Cole Hamels	7	1	0	2	2	3	2.57
Brad Lidge	2.3	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Joe Blanton	5.6	0	0	2	1	0	3.21
Totals	64.3	3	4	31	25	17	4.34

1926 Cincinnati Reds (87-67)	AB	H	HR	RBI	AVG	SB
Wally Pipp	32	13	0	4	0.406	0
Curt Walker	28	10	0	5	0.357	0
Bubbles Hargrave	30	11	0	2	0.367	0
Cuckoo Christensen	32	12	0	7	0.375	0
Edd Roush	32	9	0	5	0.281	0
Chuck Dressen	30	6	0	3	0.200	0
Hughie Critz	31	5	0	1	0.161	0
Hod Ford	28	11	0	5	0.393	0
Rube Bressler	5	2	0	1	0.400	0
Val Picinich	1	0	0	0	0.000	0
					#DIV/0!	0
Totals	249	79	0	33	0.317	0
	IP	W	L	ER	K	BB	ERA
Pete Donohue	19.6	2	0	8	8	4	3.67
Jackie May	11.3	0	0	2	11	1	1.59
Red Lucas	9	2	1	3	5	3	3.00
Eppa Rixey	7	0	0	5	2	3	6.43
Carl Mays	13	0	1	4	6	2	2.77
Dolf Luque	4.6	0	1	2	2	1	3.91
							#DIV/0!
							#DIV/0!
							#DIV/0!
							#DIV/0!
							#DIV/0!
							#DIV/0!
Totals	64.5	4	3	24	34	14	3.35

The Washington Senators behind quality pitching and timely hitting come out winners in this series that was competitive but lacked the superstar player that we usually see in this tournament. The Senators took the first two games on the road at Shibe Park beating the A’s behind Dutch Leonard’s complete game in game one and then a breakout six RBI performance by Joe Kuhel in their game two win.

 

In Washington the Athletics and Connie Mack came right back wining two in a row to tie the series, thanks in huge part to the great play of Al Simmons who batted .519 for the series with 14 hits. In the end however the Senators turned it things around and wrapped things up in Philadelphia where they won all three games. Roger Wolff was a star on the mound for the Senators allowing only three earned runs in his two starts.

 

The battle of the Sox turned into a one sided affair as a rare sweep came into effect with the White Sox beating Roger Clemens twice on the way to four straight wins. The games were close but ultimately it came down to the White Sox pitching which allowed only 10 earned runs in the four games and were paced by ace Ray Herbert who won two games, Herbert outpitched Clemens in the opener in what was a tight 2-1 affair.

 

In the deciding game four Cam Carreon stepped up with a three run shot off of Clemens which was the final blow of the series, Carreon played well and Nellie Fox did a fine job with the glove to hold down the Red Sox. The lack of speed overall hurt the Sox as they got little movement on the bases and little help from the top of the lineup, they hit .298 as a team but did little with the base runners they had; Tony Pena hit leadoff the entire series and batted only .200.

A great series between the Cubs and the DBacks came down to the final game where Brandon Webb proved the difference over Ed Ruelbach in game seven, Webb was just determined to get the win and threw a two hit shutout for the clincher. The series looked to be in complete control by Arizona was they won the first three games and had two chances to wrap things up at home. The Cubs battled back however and won three in a row looking like a new team, game six was especially a seesaw battle that saw the Cubs come from behind for a 7-5 win.

 

In the end Arizona rode their ace however to victory. Conor Jackson was another star in the series driving in 11 runs while Eric Byrnes stole four bases and batted .346. The Cubs tried to use their small ball to counter and stole 11 bases in the series, to help overcome their feeble .232 team average. The Cubs do deserve credit for not quitting and fighting to the end in this series, but Mr. Webb was just too much striking out 13 in his three games, overcoming an unusual amount of walks with 14.

Another tight series between two Midwest American League rivals that came down to the final game where the Twins took game seven at home behind a late rally that included a two run home run by Harmen Killebrew in the late innings. No team in the series won two games in a row but kept coming back and forth; Dean Chance had two of the wins while Billy Pierce lost two of the games including the clincher.

 

In the series the Twins hit .317 as a team with Zoilo Versailles leading the way with a .500 average (12-24). In contrast in styles the Twins battered nine home runs while not stealing a single base, in complete opposite form the White Sox stole nine bases, five by Luis Aparicio, but didn’t have a single long ball.