The 1916

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

was the championship series in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the 1916 season. The 13th edition of the World Series, it matched the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

champion

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

against the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

champion Brooklyn Robins. The Red Sox won the Series four games to one. It was the first

meeting between the teams.

Casey Stengel Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel (; July 30, 1890 – September 29, 1975) was an American Major League Baseball right fielder and manager, best known as the manager of the championship New York Yankees of the 1950s and later, the expansion New Y ...

shone on offense for the Robins in the 1916 Series, but the Red Sox pitching corps ultimately proved too much for the denizens of Flatbush. The Sox's

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

pitched 13 shutout innings in Game 2, starting a consecutive scoreless innings streak that would reach 29 in . As with the Series, the Red Sox played their home games at the larger Braves Field, and it paid off as they drew a then-record 43,620 people for the final game. Brooklyn fielded some strong teams under their manager and namesake

Wilbert Robinson Wilbert Robinson (June 29, 1864 – August 8, 1934), nicknamed "Uncle Robbie", was an American catcher, coach and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for the Philadelphia Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, and St. Louis Cardinal ...

in the late 1910s. The Robins, also interchangeably called the Dodgers, would win the pennant again in 1920, but the American League teams were generally stronger during that interval. It would be 39 years before the Dodgers would win their first World Series title in . The two franchises met again in the postseason for the first time in 102 years in the 2018 World Series, 60 years after the Dodgers relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. The record for most innings played in a World Series game, set by Game 2 in 1916, at 14, was broken by Game 3 in 2018, at 18. Just like their first matchup in the World Series, the Red Sox would eventually go on to defeat the Dodgers in five games to win their ninth World Series championship overall and fourth World Series championship since 2004.

Summary

Matchups

Game 1

Until the ninth, Boston starter

Ernie Shore Ernest Grady Shore (March 24, 1891 – September 24, 1980) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox during some of their best years in the 1910s. He was born near East Bend, North Carolina. Shore grad ...

was in control. Holding a comfortable 6–1 lead, a walk, hit batter, error and bases-loaded walk to

Fred Merkle Carl Frederick Rudolf Merkle (also sometimes documented as Frederick Charles Merkle; December 20, 1888 – March 2, 1956), nicknamed "Bonehead", was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball from 1907 to 1926. Although he had a lengthy c ...

finally forced the Red Sox to call on

Carl Mays Carl William Mays (November 12, 1891 – April 4, 1971) was an American baseball pitcher who played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1929. During his career, he won over 200 games, 27 in 1921 alone, and was a member of four Wor ...

from the bullpen to preserve a 6–5 win.

Game 2

The Robins scored in the top of the first on an inside-the-park home run by

Hy Myers Henry Harrison "Hy" Myers (April 27, 1889 – May 1, 1965) was a professional baseball player. He was an outfielder over all or part of 14 seasons (1909–1925) with the Brooklyn Superbas/Robins, St. Louis Cardinals, and Cincinnati Reds. In ...

, and the Red Sox tied it in the bottom of the third, Ruth himself knocking in the run with a ground ball. The game remained 1–1 until the bottom of the 14th, when the Red Sox won it on a pinch-hit single by

Del Gainer Dellos Clinton Gainer (November 10, 1886 – January 29, 1947), nicknamed "Sheriff," was an American baseball player. A native of West Virginia, Gainer played professional baseball, primarily as a first baseman, for 21 years from 1909 to 1929, i ...

. The 14-inning game set a World Series record for longest game by innings. That mark was equaled in Game 3 of the 2005 World Series between the Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros, and then again in Game 1 of the 2015 World Series between the Kansas City Royals and New York Mets, before being broken in Game 3 of the 2018 World Series between the Red Sox and Dodgers.

Game 3

A seventh-inning home run by

Larry Gardner William Lawrence Gardner (May 13, 1886 – March 11, 1976) was a third baseman in Major League Baseball. From 1908 through 1924, Gardner played for the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Athletics, and Cleveland Indians. He was a four-time World Series ...

chased Brooklyn starter

Jack Coombs John Wesley Coombs (November 18, 1882 – April 15, 1957), nicknamed "Colby Jack" after his alma mater, was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics (1906–14), Broo ...

and brought Boston to within one run.

Jeff Pfeffer Edward Joseph Pfeffer (March 4, 1888 – August 15, 1972) born in Seymour, Illinois, was a pitcher for the St. Louis Browns (1911), Brooklyn Dodgers/Robins (1913–1921), St. Louis Cardinals (1921–1924) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1924). His olde ...

came through with innings of hitless relief to save the victory for Coombs.

Game 4

Brooklyn's first three batters reached safely off Dutch Leonard in a two-run first inning, but that's all the Dodgers would get.

's second home run in two days was an inside-the-park one to left-center that scored two teammates ahead of him, giving Leonard all he would need for the win.

Game 5

The final game was over in a snappy 1 hour, 43 minutes.

threw a three-hitter. Boston scratched out a run on a walk, sacrifice bunt, ground-out and passed ball. The Red Sox added more in the third, thanks to an error and a

Chick Shorten Charles Henry "Chick" Shorten (April 19, 1892 – October 23, 1965) was an American baseball player. He played professional baseball as an outfielder for 18 years from 1911 to 1928, including eight seasons in Major League Baseball with the Bosto ...

RBI single, and the fifth when

Harry Hooper Harry Bartholomew Hooper (August 24, 1887 – December 18, 1974) was an American professional baseball right fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB). Hooper batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Hooper was born in Bell Station, Ca ...

singled and scored on a

Hal Janvrin Harold Chandler Janvrin (August 27, 1892 – March 1, 1962) born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, was a utility infielder for the Boston Red Sox (1911 and 1913–17), Washington Senators (1919), St. Louis Cardinals (1919–21) and Brooklyn Robins ( ...

double.

led off the Dodger ninth with a hit, but Shore allowed no more. For the second straight series, Red Sox pitching dominated, this time holding the Robins to a team .200 batting average, contributing to an easy 5-game victory.

Composite line score

1916 World Series (4–1):

(A.L.) over Brooklyn Robins (N.L.)

Notes

References

External links

{{1916 Boston Red Sox World Series

Boston Red Sox postseason Brooklyn Dodgers postseason

1910s in Boston

Sports competitions in Boston Sports competitions in New York City 1910s in Brooklyn Flatbush, Brooklyn