1916 Boston Red Sox (vs. Brooklyn Dodgers) World Series Program Game 2 - Babe Ruth Wins 2-1 in 14 Innings! - First World Series Win and Start of Record Scoreless Streak.

Sold For:

$1,320

Year:

1916

Auction:

2018 Fall

Lot #:

2138

Category:

Post-1900 Baseball Memorabilia

Boston Red Sox program issued for the 1916 World Series against the Brooklyn Robins. Although similar in appearance to Boston's 1915 World Series program, for some unknown reason the 1916 example is by far the rarer of the two. The attractive cover design features individual portrait photos of the respective owners and managers for both Boston and Brooklyn (Joseph Lanin and William Carrigan for Boston and Charles Ebbets and William Robinson for Brooklyn). The interior pages include separate team photographs of Boston and Philadelphia, while a second Red Sox team photo appears on the back cover as part of an advertisement for A. Shuman & Co. (Babe Ruth is included in each team photo.) This particular program is especially significant because it is neatly scored in pencil for Game 2, which marked not only Babe Ruth's first appearance on the mound in a World Series game, but the start of his then-record World Series scoreless-inning streak. In his only start of the Series, Ruth bested Brooklyn 2-1 in fourteen innings in Game 2. The preprinted lineups include Hooper, Gardner, Scott, and Carrigan for Boston, and Stengel, Wheat, Daubert, and C. Meyers for Brooklyn. The names of each starting pitcher, Ruth for Boston and Smith for Brooklyn, are filled in by hand. Scored in pencil to record Boston's 2-1 victory in 14 innings (the scorecard only records the game through the twelfth inning). Ruth allowed a run in the top of the first inning and then shut out the Dodgers through the rest of the game, thereby starting his then-record string of scoreless innings in World Series play that ultimately ended in 1918 at 29 2/3 innings (later broken by Whitey Ford in 1961). Boston defeated the Dodgers in five games, with the victory marking their second consecutive World Championship of the decade, a period that witnessed the club winning four World Series in the span of seven years (1912-1918). The eight-page program (7 x 10.25 inches) displays a heavy vertical fold, tape repair along the exterior and interior spine, as well as tape repair to small tears on both covers and a number of interior pages. In Good condition overall. Reserve $500. Estimate (open).