1925 World Series

vs. 1925 World Series (4-3) Pittsburgh Pirates (95-58, NL) vs. Washington Senators (96-55, AL) *BR 1925 World Series Summary

In the 1925 World Series, the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Washington Senators in seven games.

Batting practice before a game (date not given, 1925).

In a reversal of fortunes on all counts from the 1924 World Series, Washington's Walter Johnson dominated in Games 1 and 4 and lost in Game 7. The Senators built up a 3-1 Series lead. After Pittsburgh won the next two games, Johnson again took the mound for Game 7, and carried a 6-4 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning. But errors by shortstop Roger Peckinpaugh in both the seventh and eighth inning led to four unearned runs, and the Pirates become the first team in a best-of-seven Series to overcome a 3-1 Series deficit to win the championship.

During the eighth inning of Game 3, the Nats' Sam Rice ran after an Earl Smith line drive hit into right center field. Rice made a diving "catch" into the temporary stands, but did not emerge with the ball for approximately fifteen seconds. The Pirates contested the play, saying a fan probably stuffed the ball into Rice's glove. The call stood and Rice parried questions about the incident for the rest of his life—-never saying if he did or did not really make the catch. His typical answer (including to Commissioner Landis, who said it was a good answer) was always "The umpire said I caught it." He left a sealed letter at the Hall of Fame to be opened after his death. In it, he had written: "At no time did I lose possession of the ball." That was insufficient to some, but the Senators had lost the Series, so his play did not affect the final outcome.

Roger Peckinpaugh

The Senators' regular shortstop and the 1925 American League Most Valuable Player, Roger Peckinpaugh, had a tough Series, committing a record eight (8) errors in the seven (7) game series.

Records: Pittsburgh Pirates (W: 95, L: 58, Pct: .621, GA: 8 ½) - Washington Senators (W: 96, L: 55, Pct: .636, GA: 8 ½)

Managers: Bill McKechnie (Pittsburgh), Bucky Harris (Washington)

Umpires: Cy Rigler (NL), Brick Owens (AL), Barry McCormick (NL), George Moriarty (AL)

Summary

NL Pittsburgh Pirates (4) vs. AL Washington Senators (3)

Game	Score	Date	Location	Attendance
1	Senators – 4, Pirates – 1	October 7	Forbes Field	41,723
2	Senators – 2, Pirates – 3	October 8	Forbes Field	43,364
3	Pirates – 3, Senators – 4	October 10	Griffith Stadium	36,495
4	Pirates – 0, Senators – 4	October 11	Griffith Stadium	38,701
5	Pirates – 6, Senators – 3	October 12	Griffith Stadium	35,899
6	Senators – 2, Pirates – 3	October 13	Forbes Field	43,810
7	Senators – 7, Pirates – 9	October 15	Forbes Field	42,856

Matchups

Game 1

October 7, 1925 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Washington	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	4	8	1
Pittsburgh	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	5	0
W: Walter Johnson (1-0)  L: Lee Meadows (0-1)
HR: WAS – Joe Harris (1), PIT – Pie Traynor (1)

Game 2

October 8, 1925 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Washington	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	8	2
Pittsburgh	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	x	3	7	0
W: Vic Aldridge (1-0)  L: Stan Coveleski (0-1)
HR: WAS – Joe Judge (1), PIT – Glenn Wright (1), Kiki Cuyler (1)

Game 3

October 10, 1925 at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburgh	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	3	8	2
Washington	0	0	1	0	0	1	2	0	x	4	10	1
W: Alex Ferguson (1-0)   L: Ray Kremer (0-1)   S: Firpo Marberry (1)
HR: WAS – Goose Goslin (1)

Game 4

October 11, 1925 at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburgh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	1
Washington	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	x	4	12	0
W: Walter Johnson (2-0)   L: Emil Yde (0-1)
HR: WAS – Goose Goslin (2), Joe Harris (2)

Game 5

October 12, 1925 at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburgh	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	1	1	6	13	0
Washington	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	3	8	1
W: Vic Aldridge (2-0)   L: Stan Coveleski (0-2)
HR: WAS – Joe Harris (3)

Game 6

October 13, 1925 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Washington	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	6	2
Pittsburgh	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	2	x	3	7	1
W: Ray Kremer (1-1)  L: Alex Ferguson (1-1)
HR: WAS – Goose Goslin (3), PIT – Eddie Moore (1)

Game 7

October 15, 1925 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Washington	4	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	7	7	2
Pittsburgh	0	0	3	0	1	0	2	3	x	9	15	3
W: Ray Kremer (2-1)  L: Walter Johnson (2-1),   S: Red Oldham (1)
HR: WAS – Roger Peckinpaugh (1)

Composite box

1925 World Series (4-3): Pittsburgh Pirates (N.L.) over Washington Senators (A.L.)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburgh Pirates	0	1	7	2	3	1	4	6	1	25	61	7
Washington Senators	6	3	5	3	2	1	3	1	2	26	59	9
Total Attendance: 282,848   Average Attendance: 40,407
Winning Player’s Share: – $5,333   Losing Player’s Share – $3,735

Further Reading

• David S. Neft and Richard M. Cohen: The World Series, 1st ed., St Martins Press, New York, NY, 1990 pp. 108-113.
• Gary Sarnoff: "A Dark, Rainy Game 7: The Pirates Defeat the Big Train in the 1925 World Series", in Cecilia M. Tan, ed.: Steel City Stories, The National Pastime, SABR, 2018, pp. 30-32.
• Ronald T. Waldo: The Battling Bucs of 1925: How the Pittsburgh Pirates Pulled Off the Greatest Comeback in World Series History, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, 2012. ISBN 978-0-7864-6459-3

External links

• 1925 World Series at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)
• 1925 World Series at Baseball-Almanac.com
• 1925 World Series box scores and play-by-play at Retrosheet.org

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Pirates over Senators (4-3)