The 1909 World Series featured a three-peating Tiger team trying to finally win...
... its first World's Championship. The 1909 World Series brought a dominant Pittsburgh Pirate team led by the legendary Honus Wagner up against his AL counterpart, Ty Cobb into brand spanking new Forbes Field, on the University of Pitt Campus!
World Series Preview:
The 1909 World Series was a difficult one to call... the Pirates ransacked the NL winning an unconscious 110 games, while the Tigers had a ton of World Series experience, but not much success. Wagner was the only Bucco to bat over .300, but the Pirates, much like the Cubs before them, relied on very good pitching. Detroit's attack was stronger... and its pitching was sound, paced by George Mullin who won 29 games. This one looks too close to call!
 Game 1 at Pittsburgh- Pittsburgh 4 Detroit 1- Pirate rookie Babe Adams, started on a hunch by manager Fred Clarke stifles the Bengals on 6 hits. Pittsburgh leads series 1-0. Game 2 at Pittsburgh- Detroit 7 Pittsburgh 2- Catcher Boss Schmidt drives in 4 runs to pace the Tiger attack... Cobb steals home! Series tied 1-1. Game 3 at Detroit- Pittsburgh 8 Detroit 6- Ed Summers can't get out of the first as Pittsburgh hangs 5 on him... but they're all unearned due to errors. 4 runs in the 7th aren't enough to overcome the sloppiness. Pittsburgh leads series 2-1.
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"Wabash" George Mullin
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Game 4 at Detroit- Detroit 5 Pittsburgh 0- Mullin strikes out 10 and fires a shutout as Detroit evens the series. Series tied 2-2.Game 5 at Pittsburgh- Pittsburgh 8 Detroit 4- 4 Pirate runs in the 7th inning break a 3-3 tie as rookie Adams wins his 2nd series game. Pittsburgh leads series 3-2. Game 6 at Detroit- Detroit 5 Pittsburgh 4- Mullin gives up 3 in the first then holds the Pirates down to win his 2nd series game and force game 7! Series tied 3-3. Game 7 at Detroit- Pittsburgh 8 Detroit 0- Donovan and Mullin get torched as the Pirates lead all the way behind... who else?... rookie Babe Adams who wins his 3rd series game. Pittsburgh wins 1909 World Series 4-3.
World Series Wrapup:
The Tigers matched up well with the Pirates and played them toe-to-toe except for that doggone rookie Babe Adams... and it was no fluke- he went on to pitch for 20 years and win almost 200 games. Cobb and Crawford's bats were held in check and that pretty much made the difference... at least it wasn't an embarrassment like '07 and '08, but it'd be a long time before a World Championship flag would be hoisted over Bennett Park... er Navin Field.
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