Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
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F ront Runners The crowd pours onto the field at Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston following the opening game of the 1903 World Series between the Americans (eventually named the Red Sox) and the Pittsburgh Pirates. It Began in Boston VICTORY BELONGED TO BOSTON IN THE FIRST WORLD SERIES IN THE HISTORY OF BASEBALL. T he first official World Series kicked off 110 years ago at Boston's Huntington Avenue Field with the Boston Americans (renamed the Red Sox five years later) taking the title over the National League pennant-winning Pittsburgh Pirates. The rest is baseball history. Formed in 1901, baseball's American League was made up of eight charter teams, including Boston. In order to promote healthy competition between the fledgling American and the more established National League, Boston Americans owner Henry Killilea and Pittsburgh Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss decided to pit their 1903 pennantwinning players against one another in a best of nine game series that would decide who would be world champion. The Pirates won the first game 7–3 with their pitcher, Deacon Phillippe, throwing a six-hitter and right fielder, and Jimmy Sebring hitting the first-ever home run in the World Series. Boston evened the score in game two when the team's pitcher, Bill Dinneen, threw a three-hitter for a 3 – 0 win. The Pirates came back to take games three and four. Game five saw the Americans turn the series around when veteran player Cy Young gave up only six hits and drove in three runs to trounce the Pirates 11–2. Boston took game six with a 6 –3 victory to bring the series to three all, and then won game seven with a score of 7–3, allowing the American League to take the lead. Phillippe and Dinneen battled it out from the pitcher's mound at Huntington Field in game eight, which remained scoreless at the end of the third inning. Then Boston pulled ahead, getting on the board twice in the fourth inning and once in the sixth. Despite Phillippe's best efforts, it was a shutout that gave the series to the Americans. Go Boston! BC 14 PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARK RUCKER/TRANSCENDENTAL GRAPHICS/GETTY IMAGES BY MATT STEWART BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM 014_BC_FOB_FR_NEW_LateFall_13.indd 14 9/16/13 5:56 PM