July 17, 1904 – by Ronald Schmidt
On July 9, the impossible happened: the Richmond Rifles caught up to Philadelphia. It resulted from a mediocre June in which the Brewers only won half of their games while the Rifles won 18 out of 28. Richmond continued the good run and won seven out of their first eight games in July. The opposite happened to Troy Bujak’s team. Even worse, Richmond swept the Brewers. Both teams maintained an equal record for two more days before playing their final two series in the regular season. Winning as many games as possible would be crucial.
George Singleton returned to the reserves, and John Paulsen took his spot. “Mr. Singleton did a decent job on the field, but he became a liability at the plate,” said Bujak, who counted on Dibb to produce the hits that Singleton didn’t. “I wouldn’t publicly criticize a player like that, but he earns $16,000 and delivers less than players who earn just a fraction.”
Sending the Brooklyn Whales home with two losses motivated the Brewers and reminded them that they could beat anyone. Before the series’ first game against the New York Bakers, Leo McKenzie stated that the team was shooting for seven wins.
Danny Edgerton, Stephen Millington, and Lampert Holmes collected wins against the Bakers. The offense supported Millington when he allowed five runs, but Edgerton and Holmes kept the Bakers’ offense down.
Back in Boeselager Stadium, the Brewers welcomed the Providence Angels. Although Philadelphia only lost two games to Providence this season, 1895 is still in the minds of Brewers’ players, staff, and supporters. Back then, the Angels swept the Brewers – three times.
Something changed, though. In the previous three games for the Angels, they won two games against the Rifles and granted the Brewers a two-game lead. It was up to Troy Bujak’s team to stay ahead of Richmond.
Edgerton had another great start, not allowing any runs. McKenzie hit his fourth triple in the two series and brought in two runs for the 4-0 victory. July 16, 1904, was when the Brewers could become the division champions. Stephen Millington, Philadelphia’s best pitcher this season, stepped on the mound and had a good game. On the other hand, the offense had a cold start: mere four hits in the first six innings.
When John Walshaw stepped on the plate in the seventh inning, the Brewers were behind 1-0. Providence’s Jim Sutton walked Walshaw before Robert Dibb advanced him to third with a single. Brewer’s catcher Charles Ayscue brought the tying run in with a line drive, and Millington’s bunt down the first base line helped Ayscue to second base. Sutton then walked McKenzie intentionally to load the bases. Mose Rylance flew out, but veteran hitter Moriarty Stapleton stepped up. His groundball into left field brought in two runs. Enrique Johnson’s swing at the first pitch loaded the bases once again. Then, with three runs just scored, no balls, two strikes, and two outs, one of the most beloved players stepped up and succeeded, much to Sir Downing’s demise. Alfred Gilling hit the ball perfectly. The Angels’ Isadore Dumphy and Loyal Wright didn’t even bother to dive for the ball. His single brought McKenzie and Stapleton home for the final score: 5-1.
In the final game of the season, in front of 7,000 people, the Brewers wanted to put up one last show before facing the Brooklyn Whales in the postseason. After two innings, the Brewers were up 7-0 and later won 8-3. Lambert Holmes collected his 19th win and proved his critics wrong.
Later, Bujak expressed his thoughts on the last week. “Richmond had an incredible run, but we woke up in time. It was a close finish, but we deserved to enter the postseason. We had the best rotation, the most hits, the most stolen bases, and ultimately the most runs scored. Now we must forget the past 98 games, the statistics, and individual records and concentrate on the next series.”