Tommy Leach - 1903 World Series

1903 World Series

Following two years of infighting, and a subsequent peace pact signed by the presidents of the National and American leagues, Barney Dreyfuss, owner of the Pirates, saw an opportunity to bring fans back to the game and so proposed a 'World Series' between the top teams in the two leagues, Boston and Pittsburgh.

With stars Wagner, Leach and player–manager Fred Clarke, Pittsburgh appeared the more formidable of the two. And indeed the Pirates jumped to a three to one series lead. Leach had the first World Series hit, a triple off Cy Young, and scored the first ever World Series run in game one with Honus Wagner batting him in. Leach finished the game with two singles and two triples as the Pirates won, seven to three. In game four, Leach again starred, getting two hits, including a two-run triple and knocking in three runs, with the Pirates winning a close game five to four.

Pittsburgh, at this point, had a seemingly insurmountable three games to one lead, but would not win again, losing the series to Boston five games to three. Despite the loss, Pittsburgh owner Barney Dreyfuss could feel his vision of a World Series had been a success, since the public had come out in large numbers to watch the games with over 100,000 paying spectators, the games had been hard fought with the players on both teams giving it their all, and the Pirates had proven to be a mighty foe with stars such as Tommy Leach proving their worth on the field. Leach led both teams in RBIs in the series with seven and finished second on the Pirates in batting average for the series. A commonly cited anecdote, one which Leach recanted to Lawrence Ritter, is the Boston Royal Rooters constant chanting of the popular song "Tessie" threw Honus Wagner off his game, though it is more likely that Wagner played hurt during the series.