The Miracle Braves of 1914: Boston's Original Worst-to-First World Series Champions (The SABR Digital Library Book 18)

Long before the Red Sox "Impossible Dream" season, Boston’s now nearly forgotten “other” team, the 1914 Boston Braves, performed a baseball “miracle” that resounds to this very day. The "Miracle Braves" were Boston's first "worst-to-first" winners of the World Series.

Shortly after the turn of the previous century, the once mighty Braves had become a perennial member of the National League’s second division. Preseason pundits didn't believe the 1914 team posed a meaningful threat to John McGraw’s powerful New York Giants. During the first half of that campaign, Boston lived down to such expectations, taking up residence in the league’s basement.

Refusing to throw in the towel at the midseason mark, their leader, the pugnacious George Stallings, deftly manipulated his daily lineup and pitching staff to engineer a remarkable second-half climb in the standings all the way to first place. The team’s winning momentum carried into the postseason, where the Braves swept Connie Mack's heralded Athletics and claimed the only World Championship ever won by Boston’s National League entry. And for 100 years, the management, players, and fans of underperforming ball clubs have turned to the Miracle Braves to catch a glimmer of hope that such a midseason turnaround could be repeated.

Through the collaborative efforts of a band of dedicated members of the Society for American Baseball Research, this benchmark accomplishment is richly revealed to the reader in The Miracle Braves of 1914: Boston's Original Worst-to-First World Series Champions. The essence of the “miracle” is captured through a comprehensive compendium of incisive biographies of the players and other figures associated with the team, with additional relevant research pieces on the season. After a journey through the pages of this book, the die-hard baseball fan will better understand why the call to “Wait Until Next Year” should never be voiced prematurely.

Includes:
FOREWORD by Bob Brady
THE BRAVES
Ted Cather by Jack V. Morris
Gene Cocreham by Thomas Ayers
Wilson Collins by Charlie Weatherby
Joe Connolly by Dennis Auger
Ensign Cottrell by Peter Cottrell
Dick Crutcher by Jerrod Cotosman
George Davis by Rory Costello
Charlie Deal by Charles F. Faber
Josh Devore by Peter Gordon
Oscar Dugey by Charlie Weatherby
Johnny Evers by David Shiner
The 1914 Evers-Zimmerman Incident 
and How the Tale Grew Taller Over 
the Years by Bob Brady
The Evers Ejection Record by 
Mark Sternman
Larry Gilbert by Jack V. Morris
Hank Gowdy by Carol McMains and Frank Ceresi
Tommy Griffith by Chip Greene
Otto Hess by Gary Hess
Tom Hughes by Greg Erion
Bill James by David Jones
Clarence Kraft by Jon Dunkle
Dolf Luque by Peter Bjarkman
Les Mann by Maurice Bouchard
Rabbit Maranville by Dick Leyden
Billy Martin by Bob Joel
Jack Martin by Charles F. Faber
Herbie Moran by Charles F. Faber
Jim Murray by Jim Elfers
Hub Perdue by John Simpson
Dick Rudolph by Dick Leyden
Butch Schmidt by Chip Greene
Red Smith by Charles F. Faber
Paul Strand by Jack V. Morris
Fred Tyler by John Shannahan
Lefty Tyler by Wayne McElreavy
Bert Whaling by Charles F. Faber
George “Possum” Whitted by Craig Hardee
MANAGER
George Stallings by Martin Kohout
COACH
Fred Mitchell by Bill Nowlin
OWNER
Jim Gaffney by Rory Costello
The Braves’ A.B.C. by Ring Lardner
1914 Boston Braves Timeline by Mike Lynch
A Stallings Anecdote
1914 World Series by Mark Sternman
“I Told You So” by O.R.C.
The Rest of 1914 by Mike Lynch
How An Exhibition Game Contributed To A Miracle by Bob Brady
The National League Pennant Race of 1914 by Frank Vaccaro
The Press, The Fans, and the 1914 Boston Braves by Donna L. Halper
Return of the Miracle Braves by Bob Brady
Miracle Teams by A Comparison of the 1914 Miracle Braves and 1969 Miracle Mets by Tom Nahigian
An Unexpected Farewell by The South End Grounds, August 1914 by Bob Ruzzo
The Time(s) the Braves Played Home Games at Fenway Park by Bill Nowlin