Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-29
IN THE DAYS
Of MANY SCORES
Wonderful Pitching Feat Per-
formed by Radbourne
of Providence.

The statement recently made by promf-
neEt member Of the New York Nationals
TO the effect that the Giants would In The
coming season smash TO atoms the record
for games consecutively won has been Jhe
cause of much talk here. and has recalled
20 the veteran fans the great perform
ance of Radbourne and the Providence
team. This player performed the greatest
feat known in base ball 1t was in ISL
the latter part Of the 5aason-when the
Providence team. then In the National
League. found itself deserted by one Of its
sabmen Sweeney. Its other pitchers. with
the exception Of one. had gone wofully 20
the bad. and there were atlll more than
twenty games to be played. As the Provi-
dence team wanted the peunant, and
wanted # bad. II made all kinds Of over
lures to Sweeney to return. but he WAS
deaf to entreaties. as he had a Crouch.
and a man's-sIze one at that. against the
club
No member Of the team was more anX-
ious to win the pennant than ''Old Hoss''
Radbourne Although far from having the
strength or the speed possessed by Ches-
bro, McGinnity and other men Of bulk on
the diamond today. yet he had everything ,
else and, what is more, knew how to use
his knowledge to the greatest advantage.
So when Sweeney refused to play. and II
was found impossible to secure a pitcher 10
fill his place. although a score or more
were tried out Radtourne stepped to the
front and volunteered to pitch the remain
ing games that were necessary 20 finish
the seasons schedule.
His proposition was heard with amaze
ment throughout the base ball world. it
necesstated his working I'm the box every
day In the week Sundays included. But
Radbourne had the sand" and the nerve
and he eighteen straight games. And
the teams he defeated were about as swift
aggregations as ever played the game. Be
fore he had pitched ten games mas arm be-
came sore and it was found necessary to
bind ii In indicated linen cloths after every
contest. A high-priced masseur was en-.
gagged to look after RAIDS arm. In the
morning he would be unable TO raise that
member above his head. and his room
mate had to comb and brush his hair
Throughout the day his pitching wing would
be dead" even up to the moment, when he
would take his position on the firing line.
Yet, after he had thrown a few balls. the
soreness would suddenly disappear, and
from then on his opponents would be com
pletely at his mercy. Strange to relate. the
more games he pitched the better he be-
came. Although IT was in the days when
heavy batting was the rule, six Of Gis sue
cessive wins were shutouts, in five he al
lowed his opponents but one run, and In
three games the other side made but two
runs in each contest. In the rest of the
eighteen games he allowed not more than
three scores a game. except in the match
with Detroit here. with poor support he
still held the smuggling Wolverines down to
five runs, and helped TO bat out a victory
himself
This is the record for successive wins by
any pitcher and twenty games taken all
In a row, such as the Providence club took
In 1884, Is the still unequaled record for q
professional ball team 10 hold. The nearest
any club ever came to equaling this record
was in 1894, when the Baltimore National
League champions won Is consecutive
games but lost the 18th to Cincinnati; yet
took the next seven games In succession,
making % games won out Of 2j played.
which gave them percentage OF 961-an-
other record which Will stand for some time y.
TO come
The nearest competitors to the 1894 ORR
oles were the 1903 Pittsburg team which
scored fifteen successive victories before
they were headed off by the iowly and de-
spised Philadelphians, who, with a young
unknown in the box named Mitchell,
smeared defeat over the husky lads from
Carnegie's bailiw!ck. In 1904 McGraw's
New York club came pretty close to ap-
preaching the Providence Grays envisble
record, when they ran up eighteen success
slve victories, and then had to bite the dust
at the hands of the raiI-end Quaker team.
who put ii over them with Chick Frazer
and Dugglesby. against McGinnity and
Taylor. :
REVERE RODGERS