- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Boston
- Team: Braves
- League: National League
George Tweedy Stallings (1867-1929) got two hits in his 20 major league at bats. He managed the Phillies to 74 wins and 104 defeats in his first two years as pilot of a big league team. He did a bit better with Detroit and NY when he joined the American League but would end his career as field general with a mediocre sub-.500 record. So why is this fellow known as the “Miracle Man?” He left the Highlanders for Boston in 1913 and brought signs of life to Beantown’s beleaguered Braves. They rose to a fifth place finish after bottoming out each of the previous four years. But, oh what joy 1914 would bring. That season started as dismally as usual for a Stallings-led squad. On July 15 the Braves trailed the Giants by 11 ½. Suddenly the stars aligned. Boston would end that regular season by gaining 22 games on NY. They rode their 10 ½ game lead into the Series with the Athletics and swept them in four. The team would forevermore be the “Miracle Braves” and George earned the nickname he carried the rest of his life.
- Bill James credits Stallings with being the first to deploy platooning as an offensive tool rather than a cover for weakness
- The Georgia native went on to reestablish baseball in Montreal and, with his partners, built the stadium where Jackie Robinson prepped for his historic debut in Brooklyn in ‘47
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Boston
- Team: Braves
- League: National League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Walter James Vincent Maranville (1891-1954) played 23 ML seasons as a madcap shortstop, catching pop-ups like a circus performer and hitting in the clutch often enough to make the Hall of Fame with a .258 lifetime average. Along the way, “Rabbit” became the smallest 20th Century inductee and the only one to be demoted to the minors mid-career. His endurance and eventual recognition among the pantheon of the sport are tributes to his effervescent spirit and dogged work habits. He partied as hard as he worked, witnessed by his pivotal HR on 8/6/14 that sparked the Boston Braves’ “miracle” comeback to take the pennant and Series — he never saw Babe Adams’ pitch. He was way too hung over. A broken ankle in an exhibition game with the Yankees effectively ended his long career in 1934.
- In retirement, Rabbit mentored many young players in NY, including Whitey Ford & Billy Loes
- His record of most MLB seasons wasn’t eclipsed until Pete Rose in 1986
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1954
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Boston
- Team: Braves
- League: National League
William Lawrence James (1892-1971) had a season for the ages in 1914. His woeful Boston Braves hadn’t seen a winning campaign in over a decade and for years had been trapped in the all-too-public hell reserved for teams that can’t get within 50 games of the leaders. No one could have imagined the year that followed James’ rookie season where he had gone 6-10. No one to this day can completely fathom the wonder that became the “Miracle Braves.” The lowliest of teams won it all, pennant and Series. And Seattle Bill James eclipsed his fellow ace Dick Rudolph. His sophomore year produced a 26-7 record, .788 winning percentage, 1.90 ERA with 156 strikeouts in 332 innings. He won two Fall Classic games in three days. He was on fire. Yet, he lacked the fire in the belly that might have led to a great career. He tired of the travel rigors, complaining of it as “hard and disagreeable work.” After winning 32 games in two years, he and his brilliant arm were done. He soon returned to the west coast for minor league assignments, a stint in the wartime infantry and retirement.
- James was stunning with the Seattle Giants in 1912, winning 29 and a ticket to Beantown
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Boston
- Team: Braves
- League: National League
Henry Morgan Gowdy (1889-1966) made his name on the ball field and his fame on the battlefield. A catcher and first baseman, Gowdy debuted with the Giants in 1910, getting into a few games over his first four seasons before claiming the starting catcher’s job with the Boston Braves in 1914. He became a key contributor to that “miracle” season as his team achieved a first: winning it all following their last-place finish in ‘13. This was far from the only “first” in Gowdy’s distinguished life and career. He would go on to become the first major leaguer to enlist in World War I, return a hero and tour the country relating his wartime experiences and then return to Boston. After a playing career spanning three decades, Gowdy would then sign up as a captain in WWII, the only player to serve in both conflicts. Again, Hank returned to the game he loved as a coach with Cincinnati, finally retiring in 1948.
- Having starred in the ‘14 Series, Gowdy played the goat when his error led to the Giants’ heartbreak loss to the Senators in 1924
- Another “record” for this great American player/warrior: received votes for induction to the HOF 17 times without success, exceeded only by Edd Roush who finally made it in
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Boston
- Team: Braves
- League: National League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
John Joseph Evers (1881-1947) was immortalized as the pivot man with Joe Tinker and Frank Chance in the most famous double-play combo of all time. Evers was a good-hitting, slick-fielding 2nd baseman, winning World Series with the Cubs and Braves. A fiery-tempered man, Evers was said to have had more impact on a team than any at his position.
- The quintessential “small ball” player, Evers excelled in bunts, steals and heads-up play
- Saved a pennant race for Chicago by calling ump’s attention to Fred Merkle’s “Boner”
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1946
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