Zimmerman Chases Collins Home

The White Sox led the 1917 World Series three games to two when they came to the Polo Grounds on October 15. In the fourth inning Eddie Collins was on third and Joe Jackson on first. Happy Felsch bounced back to pitcher Rube Benton. Catcher Bill Rariden had come up the line to start a rundown. Neither Benton nor first baseman Walter Holke covered the plate.

Zimmerman, the third baseman, had the ball and an empty home plate in front of him. He chased Collins, one of the quickest men in the league, all the way across it. The inning was already messy — Zimmerman had thrown a ball away, and right fielder Dave Robertson had dropped a fly — but the foot race is what the papers kept. New York added Zimmerman to the list of Giants scapegoats that already included Fred Merkle and Fred Snodgrass.

John McGraw did not. He put the blame on Benton and Holke for leaving the plate uncovered. Chicago won the game, 4–2, and the series with it.