A Little Touch of Damon Runyon

While researching Don Newcombe's 1950 attempt to pitch two games in one night, I was struck by the brevity of the newspaper accounts for such an unusual occurrence especially in the heat of a pennant race.  There are a number of explanations for this, but the most important one is that Dodger fans were not dependent upon the Eagle, Daily News, or any other New York area newspaper for the details of the doubleheader in Philadelphia.  While it doesn't appear the games were televised back to Brooklyn, Dodger loyalists could, and probably did, listen to Red Barber, Connie Desmond and a young Vin Scully describe all the action on WMGM radio.  It was a far cry from the Deadball Era where unless a fan was fortunate enough to see the game in person, he or she had to rely on newspapers for all the details.  Fortunately, there was no shortages of papers, willing for a few cents, to do just that.  While most people are familiar with the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, it was only one of four daily Brooklyn papers following the Dodgers in the 1916 pennant race.  Nor was that all, across the East River in Manhattan, there were almost 20 daily newspapers covering the fortunes of the three New York teams.

Damon Runyon at work 

Considering baseball fans had so many different choices, newspapers of the time had to find a way to make their paper the one fans relied on to keep track of their favorite team.  There was no shortage of different approaches, but out of all the possibilities one stands out - the style of the legendary Damon Runyon writing for William Randolph Hearst's New York American.  Better known for his stories, newspaper and otherwise, about Broadway that became the basis for the hit musical Guys and Dolls, Runyon first broke into the New York newspaper business in 1911.  Just one example of Runyon's unique style is his coverage of a September 7, 1916 match up between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds.  At this point in the pennant race, Brooklyn was just percentage points beyond first place Philadelphia.  New York, although in the first division, was three games below .500 in what thus far had been a very disappointing season.   The pitching match up was between two left handers, Napoleon Rucker for Brooklyn and Ferdinand Schupp for the Giants, both of whom had pitched sparingly all season.

Napoleon Rucker

Rucker was a hard luck veteran at the end of a 10 year career with subpar Brooklyn teams.   Although his overall record was barely over .500, Brooklyn was clearly a better team when Rucker pitched since the team's record in games he didn't pitch was 175 games under .500, a .430 winning percentage.  Although Schupp had been with the Giants since 1913, he had not yet broken into the regular rotation.  Even though it was September, neither pitcher could claim to be tired, since they both were making only their fourth start of the season.   The story line of the game was fairly straightforward.  Brooklyn took a 1-0 lead in the second on Zach Wheat's home run which Rucker held until the sixth when the Giants scored four times and held on for a 4-1 win.   Once again Rucker was the victim of hard luck as all the Giant runs were unearned due to an error by Brooklyn shortstop Ivy Olson on a routine ground ball that would have ended the inning without a run scoring.

Ferdinand Schupp

Most of the sportswriters focused on the pitching match up between a relative youngster and a grizzled veteran, giving both high marks for their pitching.  William Hanna of the New York Herald also expressed concern about what he felt was a sense of "hopelessness" exhibited by the Brooklyn players which he said needed to end soon or their quest for the pennant would fall short.  Writing in the New York Tribune, Frank O'Neil praised the play of new Giant first baseman Walter Holke who O'Neil thought would make Giant fans forget Fred Merkle (now in a Brooklyn uniform).  While O'Neil's point is understandable, it's hard to believe Giant fans of that generation could ever forget Merkle even if they wanted to.  Other writers like Fred Lieb in The Sun focused on Olson's untimely error which the scribe said brought tears to Charles Ebbets not because such blunders were unique, but because this one came while Ebbets was planning/hoping for the financial rewards of the World Series.  While Runyon gave his readers the basic details, he took an entirely different point of view as seen in the following excerpts:

          Brooklyn's most historic ruin, old Napoleon Rucker was taken from the archives of

          the borough yesterday afternoon, unwrapped, dusted off and brought with tender

          care to the Polo Grounds, where he was set to pitch his biennial game of baseball.

          The removal of Napoleon from Brooklyn was attended by all the usual ceremony.

          The Flatbush Society for the Preservation of the N. Rucker Soupbone, and all the

          borough officials were present. Charles H. Ebbets, the Squeer of Crow Hill made

          a short address.

  

          There was the customary reading of the affidavit by George Washington, Aaron 

          Burr, Pop Anson and John Hummel which are on file with Nap, authenticating the

          claim that Rucker had a fastball early in the seventeenth century, and then the old

          boy was carried across the Brooklyn Bridge in a rubber-tired hack to avoid jolting.

           In the sixth inning, with two out, the score tied and the satchels packed, Nap 

           threw his next to slowest ball at Walter [Holke], who waited patiently for several

           minutes until it got to a station outside the place and stopped there for 

           passengers.  Then Holke reached out and tapped the ball with his bat to make it

           move on,or do something, and lo and behold, he hit it into left field scoring two

           runners.

           A movement was launched in Brooklyn last night, after Napoleon had been taken 

           back to his sarcophagus and the key returned to the official antiquarian of the

           borough, to prevent any future junketing of the great relic.  I am in favor of legislation
           that will prohibit Napoleon Rucker from pitching anywhere except in Brooklyn
           hereafter, and then only on state occasions, such as say "Pancake Tuesday," declared
           Charles H. Ebbets.

Any such concerns on Ebbets part were unnecessary.  A few weeks later, anticipating Rucker 's retirement, the Dodgers held a day to honor their veteran pitcher.  When the Dodgers did prevail in the National League race, manager Wilbert Robinson made sure Rucker got a chance to pitch in the the World Series against Boston.  Even though his appearance in game 4 was effectively mop up duty, Rucker made the most of the opportunity striking out three without allowing a base runner.  The September loss to the Giants was the 134th of his long career against an equal number of wins, but Rucker's 2.42 career ERA gives a better sense of his pitching ability.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle - September 8, 1916

No one could have known it at the time, but the game also marked a turning point for the Giants and Ferdinand Schupp.  Still two games under .500 after their win over the Dodgers, the Giants won their next 25 games (with one tie) setting a record that still stands today.  While it was too late for the Giants to win the pennant, they closed to within 5 games.  Reflecting on the Giants streak, Fred Lieb  commented that while he didn't know who would come out on top in 1916, he had a pretty good idea about 1917 which proved prophetic when the rebuilt Giants took the flag.  The Giants success in late 1916 and in 1917 was in no short measure due to young Mr. Schupp who won six games in the 1916 streak while allowing just two unearned runs, a feat that has been managed only three other times in baseball history.  In his 140 innings of work in 1916, Schupp compiled an ERA of .90.  A year later, the young pitcher went 21-7 with a 1.95 ERA and also won a game in the World Series.  One can only imagine what Runyon might have written on that September day had his view of the future been as clear as his friend and colleague, Mr. Lieb.