June 18, 1915: Doak Wins a 12 Inning Duel; The RedBirds Outfield Does Not Record a Putout

     On June 18, 1915, a pitching duel for the ages happened in St. Louis, as Boston Braves starter Pat Ragan and Cardinals starter Bill Doak went into the twelfth inning deadlocked 1-1, before Doak finally wavered in the tenth by giving up a run. The Birds bounced back in the bottom of the frame with a run, that meant more free baseball for the fans at Robison Field. Doak held the visitors in check before the wheels came off of Ragan's bus in the bottom of the twelfth. He started things off by walking left fielder Bob Bescher, followed that up by beaning second baseman Dots Miller, then he walked right fielder Cozy Dolan.  First baseman Ham Hyatt then rewarded Doak with a win by ripping a single that brought Bescher into score. When the Cardinals outfielders ran to the locker room that day they had accomplished a rare feat by doing a lot of nothing in the outfield. What I mean by that is the trio had not recorded one putout during the 12 inning affair. A rare feat to say the least. The only outfielder to even figure into the defensive efforts was Cozy Dolan who recorded an assist.

     Doak won 144 games for the Cardinals over  the course of 13 seasons. Those 144 wins rank fifth in franchise history. He also recorded 30 shutouts as a member of the club, which is the second most in franchise history; Bob Gibson recorded 56 shutouts. One of the last legal spitballers to take to a mound in the major leagues, Doak made a name for himself on the bump and off, as he also helped revolutionize the pitcher's mitt in 1919.

     I literally stumbled across the fact that the outfielders did not record a put out, while I was looking for a more detailed description of the contest. While I could find a few instances of it happening, I could not find a definitive number of times that it has occurred. With that said, I am going to try to find out, and if I do I will pass it on to you. Doak struck out six men in that contest, and besides the ball that got to Dolan every other ball that a Braves batter put wood on was snagged by one of the Cardinals infielders. Doak was dealin'. What a day at the ole ballgame.

Check out the box score here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN191506180.shtml

You can read Doak's SABR bio here: http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/1359e4e2