Today In Baseball: 1914 Boston Braves

The 1914 Boston Braves had now, on September 8 1914, had almost completed one of the biggest comebacks in baseball history. After being 11 games out of first place on July 18th, it took only 37 days to go from bad to best. By today, September 8, they were sailing, now in first place for good. Over the 37 days, they were 24-5, and tied the New York Giants at 59-48. Ironically, they finished 10.5 games ahead of the Giants, whom they had trailed before. The Giants, who had 3 future Hall of Famers- Manager John McGraw, and pitchers Christy Mathewson and Rube Marquad. The Braves had Hall of Fame duo Johnny Evers and Rabbit Maranville. The duo lead the league in double plays, killing many offensive threats, leading to their teams success. This success lead to a World Series ring, sweeping the heavily favored Phildelphia A's, who featured 5 Hall of Fame players, and a Hall of Fame manager, Connie Mack. After the defeat, Mack soon traded or released almost all of his star players, and they did not again win a pennant until 1929. The following season, the Braves finished in second, 7 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies.