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Dual Pitchers' Duels
2006-07-20 19:14
by Mike Carminati

The Red Sox won their second consecutive game by a score of 1-0 yesterday at Fenway. The difference was Manny Ramirez's 460th career home run.

Winner Josh Beckett ran his record to 12-5 while lowering his ERA to 4.78. Oddly, Beckett has allowed just 112 hits in 122.1 innings and has 40 walks to 102 strikeouts, but has somehow allowed 65 earned runs this year. I guess that's what happens when one loses to the Indians 15-3 (April 27), 13-5 to the Yankees (June 5), and 15-3 to the A's (July 14, his previous start) in little over one half season.

Beckett put that behind him in blanking the lowly Royals. I guess it didn't hurt that the club was ready to announce a $30 M, 3-year contract for Beckett, which became official after the game.

You've probably heard that it is the first time since 1916, when Fenway was a substantial different stadium, that the Red Sox have won back-to-back 1-0 games at home. The 1916 pair were won by Ernie Shore and Babe Ruth. It is, however, the third time that the home team has won two straight 1-0 games at Fenway: the Braves did it earlier in 1916.

But don't get the impression that even though Fenway had been known as a hitter's park for years, it's any easier to record two straight 1-0 home games in another stadium. It's only been done 45 times in major-league history. The only active stadiums that have witnessed the feat besides Fenway are Dodgers Stadium, Angel Stadium, Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium, and Wrigley Field.

The first time it was done was by the then New York Highlanders (now Yankees) at Hilltop Park on June 16 and 17, 1903, both against the White Sox. The last time before the Red Sox accomplished the feat yesterday was 2000 when the Dodgers took two straight 1-0 games from the D-Backs on September 19 and 20.

The last consecutive 1-0 games at Fenway were actually in 1961. On May 17, 1961, the Sox lost 1-0 to the Indians and then beat Tigers the next day, 1-0. Consecutive 1-0 games in a team's home park in which they lost one game and won the other have been accomplished just 57 times in major-league history. The last time was at the BOB in 2003 when the D-Backs beat the Dodgers, 1-0, on July 26 but lost to them the next day, 1-0.

The first year it was done was 1888 by the Pittsburg Alleghenys (now Pirates, oh, and the city has had the "H" to the end of its name) twice. At Recreation Park, they beat the Phils (then known as the Quakers) 1-0 in the first game of a double-header on September 10 only to lose to them 1-0 in the second game. Five days later, they beat the Giants and then lost to New York two days later in their next ballgame. By the way, that doubleheader on September 10 was one of only eleven split 1-0 doubleheaders in major-league history (and was the first one), the last one coming on July 11, 1971 at old Comiskey when the Sox and Brewers split 1-0 games. At this point I am legally required to intone, "Well, how about that!"

If the Red Sox win 1-0 tonight (Note: before I finished this the Sox won 6-4 tonight, oh well), they will be just the second team in major-league history to win three consecutive 1-0 games at home. The White Sox did it at South Side Park (III) from April 25 to 27, 1909.

By the way, the Red Sox and Boston Braves used to share Fenway, so I checked to make sure that there were never two consecutive games at that park won 1-0 by each team. The closest 17 days: The Red Sox won 1-0 at Fenway on July 7, 1915, and then the Braves did it on July 24. They recorded two home 1-0 wins within 12 days when they briefly shared Braves Field. On August 2, 1931, the Sox won a game 1-0 and then the Braves won 1-0 on August 14. The only other parks to have two different home teams win 1-0 in the same season were Dodger Stadium (the Dodgers and Angels), the Polo Grounds V (Yankees and Giants), Connie Mack Stadium (Phils and A's) and Busch Stadium I (the renamed Sportsman's Park III, Cardinals and Browns). The closest that two teams ever came was two days apart by the Cards and Browns in 1953.

For the record, here are the 45 teams that have won two straight 1-0 games at home:

YrTeamDate 1Date 2Park Name
2006Boston Red Sox2006071820060719Fenway Park II
2000Los Angeles Dodgers2000091920000920Dodger Stadium
1991California Angels1991090719910908Anaheim Stadium (Angel Stadium)
1984Los Angeles Dodgers1984072819840729Dodger Stadium
1981Houston Astros1981052619810527Astrodome
1980Toronto Blue Jays1980051519800516Exhibition Stadium
1976Pittsburgh Pirates1976100319761003Three Rivers Stadium
1974Baltimore Orioles1974090219740902Memorial Stadium
1974Houston Astros1974082319740824Astrodome
1971Atlanta Braves1971072119710722Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
1970Los Angeles Dodgers1970042419700425Dodger Stadium
1968New York Yankees1968052419680525Yankee Stadium I
1967Chicago White Sox1967051219670513Comiskey Park
1966Chicago White Sox1966090919660910Comiskey Park
1966Los Angeles Dodgers1966070519660706Dodger Stadium
1966New York Mets1966092819660930Shea Stadium
1965Detroit Tigers1965052819650529Tiger Stadium
1961Chicago Cubs1961051919610520Wrigley Field
1960San Francisco Giants1960051119600512Candlestick Park
1957Kansas City Athletics1957081919570820Municipal Stadium
1954Chicago White Sox1954081119540813Comiskey Park
1943Cincinnati Reds1943042119430422Crosley Field
1940Chicago White Sox1940061919400620Comiskey Park
1937Boston Bees1937062919370630Braves Field
1933New York Giants1933070219330702Polo Grounds V
1926St. Louis Browns1926091219260916Sportsman's Park III
1925New York Yankees1925070319250704Yankee Stadium I
1918Boston Braves1918060819180610Braves Field
1916Boston Red Sox1916062219160623Fenway Park I
1915Boston Braves1915072419150726Fenway Park I
1915Boston Braves1915100619151006Braves Field
1915Chicago Cubs1915091519150916West Side Grounds
1915Pittsburgh Pirates1915053119150531Forbes Field
1915Washington Senators1915080319150804Griffith Stadium I
1914Boston Braves1914080319140804South End Grounds III
1914Chicago Chi-Feds1914053019140531Weeghman Park (Wrigley Field)
1909Chicago White Sox1909042519090426South Side Park III
1909Chicago White Sox1909042619090427South Side Park III
1909Brooklyn Superbas1909072419090724Washington Park III
1909Philadelphia Athletics1909050719090508Shibe Park (Connie Mack Stadium)
1908Philadelphia Athletics1908051419080516Columbia Park
1908Pittsburgh Pirates1908082819080829Exposition Park III
1907Chicago Cubs1907081119070811West Side Grounds
1907Brooklyn Superbas1907070319070704Washington Park III
1903New York Highlanders1903061619030617Hilltop Park

Here are the closest 1-0 wins at the same park by two different teams. (By the way, the last time this occurred was in 1965 when the Angels won 1-0 on August 31 and Dodgers won 1-0 on September 9):

YrBall Park NameTeam1Date1Team2Date2Diff
1915Fenway Park IBoston Red Sox19150707Boston Braves1915072417
1931Braves FieldBoston Red Sox19310802Boston Braves1931081412
1963Dodger StadiumLos Angeles Angels19630413Los Angeles Dodgers196304174
1916Polo Grounds VNew York Yankees19160722New York Giants1916080311
1953Connie Mack StadiumPhiladelphia Athletics19530813Philadelphia Phillies195308185
1953Busch Stadium I (Sportsman's Park III)St. Louis Browns19530905St. Louis Cardinals195309072
Comments
2006-07-20 19:26:12
1.   Bob Timmermann
And September 9, 1965 was the date of Koufax's perfect game.
2006-07-21 05:38:14
2.   Murray
You sure about the location of those 1903 Yankee games? The Yankees played in Washington Heights at Hilltop Park; Washington Park was the South Brookln home of the Dodgers until 1913.
2006-07-21 17:41:40
3.   Mike Carminati
Murray,

You are correct: They played in Hilltop Park from 1903/04/30 to 1912/10/05. Except for one game on 1904/07/17 in Wiedenmeyer's Park in Newark, this was their only ballpark for the first nine years of their existence.

I accidentally overlaid the park name when I was formatting the Excel file.

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