By: Brian Frank
It was not uncommon for the Bisons to play exhibition games against major-league teams in the early years of the franchise. Big-league teams passing through Buffalo by train in the late-1800s and early- to mid-1900s would often stop in Buffalo to take on the local club. The Herd took on numerous baseball legends in exhibition games during this period, including Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb, Josh Gibson, and Jimmy Foxx. One game in particular is historically significant because of when it took place – just two days before the first modern World Series began.
On September 29, 1903, the Bisons took on Honus Wagner and the Pittsburgh Pirates at Buffalo’s Olympic Park at the corner of Michigan Avenue and East Ferry Street. The game took place just two days before the Pirates played the Boston Americans (now called the Red Sox) in the first World Series game ever played. The Pirates arrived in Buffalo by train on the morning of their game with the Herd, played a Tuesday afternoon game against the Bisons, and then took an overnight train to Boston to begin their historic series with the Americans on Thursday.
Honus Wagner in 1903.
The Pirates were a powerhouse at the time, having just won their third consecutive National League pennant, and coming off a 91-49 season. They were led by shortstop Honus Wagner. Wagner had won the National League batting title, slashing .355/.414/.518, while also leading the N.L. with 19 triples and an 8.4 fWAR. Buffalo baseball fans were excited to see the future Hall of Fame shortstop play against their local heroes. Prior to the game, the Buffalo Courier wrote “The great Hans Wagner will hold down the shortfield. He is probably the greatest drawing card in the country. He is a marvelous player. He is a clever fielder and at the bat he is king of timber-wielders.”[1]
It was the second consecutive season the Pirates played the Bisons in Buffalo. In 1902, the 103-win National League champion Pirates sent future Hall of Famer Jack Chesbro to the mound in front of nearly 8,000 fans in Buffalo. Chesbro’s spit-ball, a legal pitch at the time, had helped him lead the National League in wins in 1902, when he went 28-6 with a 2.17 ERA. Just two seasons later, he’d win 41 games for the New York Highlanders (now called the Yankees), baseball’s modern-era record for pitching wins in a single season. Chesbro held the Bisons’ bats in check in a 5-1 Pittsburgh win, only allowing six hits and two walks, while striking out eight. The Buffalo Enquirer reported that Chesbro “put the curves over the plate with such celerity and accuracy that the fans only wished he was a Bison instead of a Pittsburger.”[2]
As they’d done behind Chesbro in 1902, the World Series bound 1903 Pirates played their regular lineup against Buffalo. The Buffalo Courier noted, “All of the stars will accompany the team and will play against the Bisons. It will not be a case of using experiments to try them out, but the tried and true articles will be on the counter.”[3] However, two key players didn’t take the field for the Bucs due to nagging injuries – player-manager Fred Clarke and star third baseman Tommy Leach. Clarke was nursing a leg injury, while Leach had a more serious finger injury, causing the Pirates to worry if he’d be able to play in the World Series. The Pittsburgh Post reported that “(Leach) exhibited an ugly-looking finger, carefully tied up. He said a Cleveland doctor told him he had blood poison and must be careful. Secretary (William) Locke, who has charge of the champions here, at once called in one of Buffalo’s best doctors, who lanced the swollen finger, much to the ease of Tommy.”[4]
The Bisons were coming off a strong season in which they finished 79-43, good for second place in the Eastern League. However, they also had some key injured players, including third baseman Fred Hartman, who started the game, but had to be replaced after he reinjured his finger. Second baseman Frank La Porte, right fielder Jake Gettman, and catcher Al Shaw were also nursing injuries. Gettman, who entered the game when Hartman exited, La Porte, and Shaw were able to finish the game, but were clearly not one-hundred percent physically. The Buffalo News wrote “…the powerful attempts yesterday to play ball by some of the Herd who fancied they had recovered from injuries, but discovered that they had not when they came to trying.”[5] The Buffalo Enquirer agreed, noting that “Gettman, La Porte and Shaw took part in the battle, but they limped and were not in condition for a good fight.”[6]
Pittsburgh featured two former Bisons in their lineup, second baseman Claude Ritchey and third baseman Harry Smith. Ritchey, who played for Buffalo in 1896, was the Pirates' regular second baseman and batted .287 during the season. Smith, a native of Yorkshire, England, played for Buffalo in 1896 and 1897. Normally a catcher, Smith filled in at third base for the injured Leach for the game against Buffalo.
Bisons manager George Stallings chose 26-year-old southpaw Alex Hardy, a native of Toronto, to take the mound against the Bucs. Hardy may not seem like a likely choice to face a big-league opponent, as he was just 1-2 in the regular season for Buffalo. However, he’d also made three starts for Chicago’s N.L. franchise (now called the Cubs) during the season and had also pitched briefly for Chicago the prior season. Pittsburgh countered with 22-year-old right-hander Bucky Veil. Veil, who was in his rookie season, had a 3.82 ERA in 12 games (six starts).
Buffalo scored in their first at-bat against Veil. Matty McIntyre, the Bisons’ leading hitter during the regular season with a .342 batting average, got things started when he tripled with one out in the first inning. He came home on Charlie Atherton’s single. Unfortunately for the Herd, that run would be all they could muster against Pittsburgh's young hurler.
Bisons outfielder Matty McIntyre played in 10 big-league seasons, seven with the Detroit Tigers.
Bisons first baseman George “Scoops” Carey helped prevent the Pirates from scoring with a pretty play to end the second inning. The Courier-Express wrote “Veil hit a short foul back of first base. With a wild yell, Carey threw up the black mitt and scooped in the ball. It was the third out and prevented a man from scoring by ending the inning.”[7]
Singles by Ginger Beaumont, Honus Wagner, and Kitty Bransfield, as well as a throwing error by Bisons third baseman Fred Hartman led to a pair of runs scoring for the Pirates in the third inning.
Pittsburgh tacked on two more runs in the fifth inning with the help of a big hit from Wagner. After Harry Smith walked, the Buffalo Courier reported that “Wagner smashed the ball to left field and it took a bound over McIntyre’s head, giving Honus three bases.”[8] Wagner then came home on a double by Bransfield. After Beaumont beat out a bunt single in the sixth inning, Harry Smith’s double brought him home to make the score 5-1 – although Smith was gunned down trying to stretch the hit into a triple.
McIntyre, who’d later go on to star in the Detroit Tigers outfield alongside Ty Cobb, hit his second triple of the game in the sixth inning, but the Bisons failed to bring him home.
Bisons fans let out one of their biggest cheers of the afternoon in the seventh inning, when Hardy struck out Wagner. According to the Pittsburgh Press, “the crowd went wild.”[9]
However, Wagner would get his revenge the next inning, when “indiscriminate throwing of the ball on the part of the Bisons” led to a four-run Pittsburgh rally.[10] The Buffalo Courier noted that the weather may have contributed to the Bisons sloppy fielding, writing, “The fielding of the Bisons was rank. Eight errors were made by them. The cold weather affected and the game became humorous in the eighth inning when half of the misplays were made.”[11] With one out, Beaumont beat out another bunt single and went to third on a bad throw. Sebring then attempted a bunt that “rolled through Hardy and Nattress’s legs to be picked up by Atherton, who threw ten feet over Carey’s head. Carey, in turn, threw to the left-field bleachers to catch Sebring and the bases were cleared.”[12] Wagner then drove his second triple of the game, this time to right field, and came home on a double by Bransfield to give the Pirates a 9-1 lead and complete the day’s scoring.
Wagner finished the game three-for-five with two triples. The Buffalo newspapers were impressed with his play. The Buffalo Courier said, “Wagner was a wonder at short. He made almost impossible throws and his stops were magnificent. He fell down on two easy chances to show that even the greats can make errors.”[13] The Courier-Express wrote that “The breadth of Hans Wagner’s shoulders were like those of Atlas and his snapping of the ball across the diamond was much admired.”[14] The Courier also noted that the fans left “satisfied inasmuch as they saw the great Honus Wagner.”[15]
The Pirates collected at least one hit in every inning, banging out 16 in the game. Besides Wagner, Bransfield and Beaumont also had big games for the Bucs. Bransfield went 4-for-5 with two doubles. Beaumont chipped in with three singles in four at-bats, as well as displaying impressive skills in center field. The Buffalo Courier reported that “Beaumont in center field was full of life and action. The auburn-haired chap corralled six hard chances with the ease and grace of a finished ball player.”[16] Meanwhile, Veil starred on the mound, holding the Bisons to just five hits, two of which were McIntyre triples.
The Bisons went on to play the American League’s Cleveland Spiders (now known as the Guardians) the next day in Buffalo, as they continued a series of games against major-league teams. Cleveland was led by future Hall of Famer Napoleon Lajoie, who was such a big star that the team was often referred to as the Cleveland Napoleons or Naps. Cleveland batters struggled against Bisons ace Cy Ferry, but eked out a 3-2 win, despite being outhit eight to four. Lajoie went 0-for-4 in the contest. After a day off, Buffalo was scheduled to play a pair of games against the National League’s New York Giants, but both games were cancelled due to wet grounds.
Two baseball legends – Napolean Lajoie and Honus Wagner.
Meanwhile, the Pirates and their “many supporters” caught the 8:30 pm train after their game in Buffalo and arrived in Boston the next morning to prepare to meet the Boston Americans to decide the world championship.[17] Somewhat ironically, Pittsburgh would be facing the team that took Buffalo’s place as members of the American League two years earlier. A.L. founder and president Ban Johnson had promised Buffalo a team in the new league, before double-crossing the Queen City and giving a team to Boston in place of Buffalo. Another Buffalo connection in the series was that Boston was led by player-manager Jimmy Collins, a lifelong Western New Yorker and South Buffalo resident.
About 48 hours after defeating the Bisons in Buffalo, the Pirates took on the Americans at Boston’s Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds in the first-ever modern World Series game. The Pirates scored seven runs (only three earned) off the great Cy Young, and won Game One by a score of 7-3. However, Boston would battle back and, despite falling behind three games to one in the best-of-nine series, took the last four games to win the series five games to three and become baseball’s first World Series Champions.
The Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Americans at the first World Series.
[1] “Pirates Meet Bisons This Afternoon,” Buffalo Courier, September 29, 1903.
[2] “Pittsburg Won Easily from Buffalo,” Buffalo Enquirer, September 23, 1902.
[3] “Pirates Meet Bisons This Afternoon.”
[4] “Pirates Infield May Be Broken,” Pittsburgh Post, September 30, 1903. Leach was able to play in the World Series, going 9-for-33 (.273) with four triples and eight RBI.
[5] “Pirates Easily Downed Bisons,” Buffalo News, September 30, 1903.
[6] “Crippled Team; Many Errors,” Buffalo Enquirer, September 30, 1903.
[7] “Pittsburgh Downs the Bisons Easily,” Buffalo Courier, September 30, 1903.
[8] “Pittsburgh Downs the Bisons Easily.”
[9] “Patched Team Beat Buffalo,” The Pittsburg Press, September 30, 1903.
[10] “Pirates Won the Game,” Buffalo Courier-Express, September 30, 1903.
[11] “Pittsburgh Downs the Bisons Easily.”
[12] “Pittsburgh Downs the Bisons Easily.”
[13] “Pittsburgh Downs the Bisons Easily.”
[14] “Pirates Won the Game.”
[15] “Pittsburgh Downs the Bisons Easily.”
[16] “Pittsburgh Downs the Bisons Easily.”
[17] “Crippled Team; Many Errors.”