1919 NL - Games of Thursday, 24 April

Giants 10, Phillies 0: New York rapped seventeen hits and took advantage of four Philadelphia fielding errors, yet Rube Benton needed almost none of it as he spun a two-hit shutout at the Phillies. The home team managed only singles in the 1st by Davey Bancroft and the 7th by Gavy Cravath, and could coax only two free passes from the hard-throwing left-hander while sending just four men over the minimum 27 to the plate. Although they didn't quite know it yet, the Giants put the game away with two-spots in the 2nd and 3rd, Benton chipping in with an RBI single and Hal Chase hitting for three bases and scoring a run. The Phils began to phail in the phield in the late innings, making errors in the 5th, 7th and 8th that led to five unearned runs as NY piled on to reach double digits on Heinie Zimmerman's two-run single in the penultimate inning. George Burns had four of the Giant hits, and Zimmerman, Larry Doyle and Art Fletcher had three apiece. [box]

1919 NL - Games of Wednesday, 23 April

Phillies 5, Giants 4: Gavy Cravath blooped a game-winning hit into left field with one away in the bottom of the 9th as Philadelphia avoided an epic collapse in its home opener at the Baker Bowl. The Phillies held a 4-1 lead into the 9th inning behind the fine pitching of Elmer Jacobs, six stolen bases and a two-run home run by Cy Williams but Jacobs couldn't finish off New Yrok. Art Fletcher led off the final inning for the visitors with a home run and Lew McCarty followed with a single to bring the tying run to the plate. That run was represented by pinch-hitter George Kelly, and "High Pockets" drove a ball into the left-field sets to tie the game before Jacobs had recorded an out in the inning. The young right-hander retired the next three men, and then his teammates went to work. With Jean Dubuc taking the mound in relief of Jesse Barnes, Phils backstop Bert Adams drilled a one-out triple past to outstretched glove of CF Bennie Kauff and the slugging Cravath was called upon to hit for Jacobs. The long ball was not the biggest worry for the NY outfield, but they were paying deep enough for the five-time home run king that his dying quail fell onto the grass well in front of the charging George Burns and Adams skipped home with the winning run. [box]

1919 NL - Games of Saturday, 19 April

Robins 5, Braves 1: In the first game of the season-opening Patriot's Day doubleheader, Leon Cadore sent ten Boston batters back to the bench having failed to connect with his varied offerings, and Ernie Krueger's two-run single was the key blow in a four-run 2nd inning that represented almost the entirety of the afternoon's plate-crossing while powering the visiting Brooklyns to victory. Dick Rudolph ran into difficulty as soon as he toed the slab in the top of the 2nd, as Zack Wheat walked and stole second, and then scored on a base hit by Hi Myers. But the Beantown hurler wasn't off the hook yet - Ivy Olson singled, and then Myers beat the throw to third when Ollie O'Mara bunted to first and Walter Holke threw across the diamond looking for the force. That loaded the sacks for Krueger, who grounded one sharply off the glove of Rudolph and into center field to score two runs; the frame's fourth tally later hit the books on Jimmy Johnston's groundout. This would be more support than Caddy would need on a 50-degree afternoon in the Hub, as he allowed but one Brave safety in the first six innings and coasted home looking as if his year away from the game on the front lines in France had done nothing to diminish the promise he had shown in his first big-league season in 1917. Ivy Olson had three hits to pace the Robins.  [box]

Uniforms of the 1919 National League

For a little visual background, here are the uniforms worn by the clubs in the 1919 AL (courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Uniform Database) . . .

1919 National League preview

Let's take a brief look at how the eight contending clubs shape up for the 1919 season in the National League, in order of their 1918 finish . . .

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