No. 1904.10.10 · Dead Ball Era
Chesbro's Wild Pitch
Jack Chesbro had already won 41 games. In the ninth of the pennant game, a spitball got past his catcher, and Boston scored the run that ended it.
October 10, 1904, the first game of a doubleheader at Hilltop Park. The Highlanders trailed the Boston Americans by a game and a half and needed both games. The score was tied, 2–2, in the ninth, with two out and Lou Criger on third. Freddy Parent had two strikes. Chesbro, who would finish 41–12, threw the spitball that had carried him all year.
The pitch got past catcher Red Kleinow. It was scored a wild pitch. Criger came home, and Boston led, 3–2. Bill Dinneen, the winning pitcher, held the lead. The pennant race was over. Clark Griffith, the Highlanders' manager, said Kleinow had simply let the ball get away, which would have made it a passed ball. The official record did not agree with him.
Chesbro's season remains the modern record for wins. The last of them was not this game. The retelling sometimes treats the pitch as the only thing that separated New York from a pennant. They were already behind in the standings when they took the field.
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