by Scott Fennessy
The Cubs start their next road trip to Cincinnati and the presently struggling Reds. This brings them to the “Palace of the Fans” Ballpark. This had stalls for the carriages to be parked at the stadium. They were located directly under the grandstands making them basically the first luxury boxes as the wealthy fans could go directly to their seats from this area. From what I have read this was pretty upscale for 1905 American sports culture and the photos show some concrete as opposed to just the normal all wooden stadiums of the day. These were the only parts to survive the fire that eventually burnt the place basically to the ground. You may want to check this out on your own. The pictures are pretty impressive.
May 29, 1905
Palace of the fans, Cincinnati OH
Jake Weimer for the Cubs Bob Ewing for Cincinnati
The Cubs missed a big opportunity in the first with runners on the corners and nobody out, but Ewing who has been pitching very well lately retires the next three hitters with no runs scored. The Reds then put runners on the corners themselves, but the inning ends 0-0. This sets the tone early as both pitchers struggled in the first inning but worked out of their jams.
From this point on little in the way of offense is seen the rest of the way. Over the next 8 innings Ewing allows just one hit, a double by Frank Chance in the 6th to put runners on second and third with only one out but Tinker hits into a double play to end the threat. Ewing finishes the ninth with just 2 hits 1 walk and 4 strikeouts. He needed to be sharp as the Reds defense commits 4 errors that the Cubs don’t capitalize on. “Tornado Jake” who despite being in a rotation with 3 finger Brown and Ed Reulbach is every bit as good. He finishes the ninth with just 4 hits, 4 walks and 7 strikeouts and we finish regulation with no score.
Both pitchers continue to dominate and there is still no score until the top of the 12th. Tinker strikes out to start the inning, and Wildfire Schulte hits a slow roller to Steinfeldt at third who flat out boots it. This is the fifth on the day, and proves to be the fatal mistake. Schulte steals second and scores on a Johnny Kling single. The Cubs threaten for more, but Ewing grinds it out and holds them to just the one run. Weimer goes 1-2-3 in the 12th to complete the longest shutout in Fen League history. Both teams are worn out and I suspect more of the same tomorrow.
Defense, pitching and speed were the keys this whole game. The Reds had fielding 3 and proved it with 5 errors. The Cubs had fielding 1 and it saved them twice early. The Cubs are stealing like crazy this season and threatening to set a new record for team steals. While Schulte did score on his steal they had 4 more as a team and SHOULD have broken this game open. Kudos to “Long Bob” Ewing of the Reds the toughest luck loser of the season so far. 1 run on 5 hits over 12 innings and nothing to show for it. This was only the 3rd time ever and the 2nd time this season that I have had a game go scoreless through nine. Both of the other games ended in the 11th 0-1.
I always like it when defense matters in a game. :)
Very interesting about the stalls for the carriages at the park. Fancy, indeed! Where did you find this info?
Tom
I had heard about this from some baseball trivia I had read, but wikipedia has some decent info, and if you do a google search for palace of the fans you can get some decent images.