WE WUZ' ROBBED!
The Pennant Race of 1907

Connie Mack and his Philadelphia Athletics were involved in many exciting pennant races during their long tenure in the American League (AL). The A's won nine of those pennants, but of the ones they lost, the 1907 race rankled Mack most deeply. This article describes that contest but focuses primarily on one vital, nerve-racking, soul-gripping game that became a dramatic, enduring, and highly controversial moment in team history.

The Race at a Glance

The chase for the 1907 pennant was a close-run affair. The Chicago White Sox went out in front during the early part of the season with the Athletics and Detroit Tigers in close pursuit. The White Sox faded, however, and the A's took over first place on August 12th. From that point on, the race was a contest between the A's and the Tigers.

The Detroit club was a tough fighting outfit that year, and Ty Cobb, then 21, was gunning for his first title. When the Tigers made their final visit of the season to Philadelphia for a three game series starting on September 27, 1907, they were only ½ game behind the Athletics in the standings.

At this crucial juncture, the A's were having a difficult time of it with their pitching. Looking back on these events nearly four decades later, Mack recalled to author Fred Lieb in his book, Connie Mack: Grand Old Man of Baseball, "I was having a lot of trouble with my pitching. Coombs injured his arm early, but what hurt us the most was that Bender's arm went absolutely lame at a time when we needed him most. Waddell had become unreliable, and I had to depend almost entirely on Plank and young Dygert, my little spitball pitcher." Despite this discouraging situation, Mack remained optimistic. He remarked on the morning of the first game of the series with the Tigers that, "If we beat them two out of three games, that should win it (the pennant) for us."

The A's Fall in Game One

The first game pitted Eddie Plank against Detroit's George Mullin. The A's had hit Mullin sharply in the past and in this game were able to score four runs off of him. Although typically enough for Plank to win, the tired pitcher faltered on this day and Detroit came away with a 5-4 victory and a ½ game lead over the A's for first place.

While disappointed that the A's had not won, Mack remained confident that his team could win the next two games against the Tigers and still come away with a 1 ½ game lead heading into the last week of the season. Jimmy Dygert was slated to start for the A's on Saturday's scheduled game, but it rained hard all day causing a postponement. Mack wasn't upset about the delay because, with Sunday an off day, it gave his hard-pressed pitchers two days of rest. The postponement also meant a double-header against Detroit on Monday, September 30, 1907. History was about to be made.

A Game Without End

Philadelphia was in a frenzy over the A's-Tigers showdown. Trolley after trolley brought fans to Columbia Park, and long before the start of the first game, the stands and aisles were packed and a crowd stood fifteen deep behind the outfield ropes. Early on, the crowd had much to cheer. The A's slammed Detroit starter Bill Donovan and built a 7-1 lead after five innings of game one. Despite the lead, Dygert lasted only two innings for the A's. Mack later commented that, "Dygert made two errors and made a stupid play in the 2nd inning. He seemed nervous; I had to get him out of there and called in Rube."

With Rube Waddell on the mound protecting a 6-run lead and Plank scheduled to go in the second game of the twin bill, prospects appeared bright for the Athletics. However, Donovan settled down and Detroit started to get to Waddell. The Tigers scored 4 runs in the 7th inning to pull within two of the A's. The runs were not all Waddell's fault, as errors by A's infielder Simon Nichols and outfielder Rube Oldring helped Detroit tally those four times.

The A's came back with a run in their half of the 7th, giving Waddell a 3-run lead to hold for two more innings. But, the pitcher tottered, and the Tigers got a tally in the 8th and then tied the score on a 2-run home run by Ty Cobb in the 9th. As soon as Cobb's hit cleared the right-field fence, Mack was motioning Waddell to leave the mound and calling on Plank to enter the game. From then on, Plank and Donovan fought a pitching duel. Each side scored a run in the 11th inning. It was an umpire's decision on a play in the 14th inning, however, that stirred Mack more than any other ruling called against him in his long career in baseball.

Controversy and Mack's Wrath

With the A's at bat in the 14th, team captain Harry Davis hit a long drive into the overflow crowd in left center field. From all appearances, it looked to be a ground-rule double. But, as Tigers center fielder Sam Crawford went back to the edge of the crowd, a policeman sitting on a soda box along the rope line suddenly arose. According to Detroit, the officer interfered with Crawford, but the A's asserted that he was simply trying to get out of the player's way.

Home plate umpire Silk O'Loughlin did not immediately signal a decision as the two teams milled about on the filed arguing over the play and the crowd started to become unruly. According to Mack, O'Loughlin at first said to A's player Topsy Hartsel (the on-deck batter), "What are they (the Tigers) arguing about? I saw no interference." But, Tommy Connolly, the base umpire, claimed that he observed interference. After the two umpires consulted about it, O'Loughlin suddenly called Davis out.

Mack blew a fuse and furiously berated O'Loughlin. A's infielder Monte Cross began trading punches with Tigers first baseman Claude Rossman and both players were ejected. The game finally resumed, but when Danny Murphy hit a long single that would have easily scored Davis from second with the winning run, Mack became even more livid. Nevertheless, the A's were retired in the 14th without getting a run across the plate, and Plank and Donovan continued to hurl scoreless innings. The game was called after the 17th inning on account of darkness with the score still tied at 9-9. This game would never be finished and the second game of the double header never played.

After the game, Mack, still seething with anger, accosted O'Loughlin in the umpire's room-a rare move for the A's manager-and demanded to know why the umpire had told an A's player (Hartsel) that he saw no interference and then called Davis out. O'Loughlin made no reply. Oddly enough, Connolly, who claimed to have seen interference and convinced O'Loughlin to make that decision, escaped Mack's wrath.

Afterwards….

Connie Mack procured affidavits from the policeman and persons in center field that there was no interference and had them sent to AL President Ban Johnson. But, it was to no avail. Detroit was able to leave Philadelphia with a ½ game lead over the A's. Seemingly disheartened by this turn of events, the Athletics could not close the gap and wound up in second place, 1 ½ games behind the Tigers at season's end.

Mack-typically gracious in defeat-was so wroth at O'Loughlin that he never spoke to the umpire again. Reflecting on the game nearly 40 years later, Mack recounted, "We could have won (the pennant) if Silk O'Loughlin hadn't called that decision against us in that seventeen-inning game with Detroit." The infamous tie game was also the swan song for A's pitcher Rube Waddell. Mack would tolerate the eccentric Waddell's antics when he pitched effectively, but not when he cost the team a pennant. The most colorful player ever to wear an A's uniform was traded to the St. Louis Browns after the season.