The place was abuzz but the score still stood at 2-1 when the Senators came up in the bottom of the ninth. After Judge struck out, Ossie Bluege, the regular third baseman since June who'd batted .281 for the year, singled to left. Roger Peckinpaugh followed him with a resounding double into left field to score Bluege. The ovation lasted several minutes, and hundreds of hats and cushions had to be cleared away from the field. President Coolidge was smoking cigars, constantly jumping out of his seat, and giving every indication that he was having the time of his life. When play resumed, Art Nehf got the last batters in the order, Muddy Ruel and Walter Johnson. Johnson had at this point pitched five scoreless innings, and Harris wanted to keep him in.
In the last of the tenth, with one out, Harris and Rice connected for consecutive singles. After Goose Goslin popped to short, Joe Judge hit the ball a ton, but it was caught in deep right by Ross Youngs. Johnson, who'd given up a single to Frank Frisch in the tenth, set the Giants down 1-2-3 in the 11th frame. Nehf similarly disposed of the Nats in the bottom of the inning.
The Big Train started the 12th by yielding a free pass to catcher Hank Gowdy. Then pitcher Nehf sent a low liner into center. Earl McNeely hesitated and then decided to come charging in. He got hold of the ball all right, but his knee hit the ground abruptly and the ball was knocked loose. When he tried to recover, he saw that Gowdy had stopped halfway between first and second. In his haste, McNeely threw wildly and the ball nearly ended up in the Giants' dugout. Gowdy took third and Nehf second. John McGraw then summoned pitcher Jack Bentley to hit. With a 16-5 ledger during the season, achieved almost exclusively as a starter, Bentley had also hit a respectable .265 in 98 at-bats. In 1923, he had hit .427, a major-league record for pitchers. Although his acquired middle name was "Needles," Jack Bentley was a big man. At one time, he amassed a record of 41-5 in three seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, the team Babe Ruth had played for in the minors. In 1922, Bentley also had hit .349, earning widespread acclaim as the "next Babe Ruth." A Maryland native, he had broken into the majors with the Senators as an 18-year-old back in 1913, but had only a 6-9 record to show for four seasons. He then played in the minors for six years before resurfacing with the New York Giants in 1923.
With no one out, Walter Johnson decided to walk Bentley intentionally. Next, Frankie Frisch, one of the best second baseman ever, grounded to Harris, who relayed accurately to Ruel to force Gowdy out at the plate. The next batter was outfielder Ross Youngs, a hitter of note. Youngs singled sharply to score Nehf. George Kelly then drove a long fly to left, bringing in a second run. The nightmare inning finally ended when Johnson got rookie Lewis Wilson to fly to left. (This was "Hack" Wilson, who in 1930 would set a still-standing major-league record of 190 RBIs in a single season.)
The bottom of the 12th, if anything, would prove even more electrifying. Bucky Harris had decided Walter Johnson had had enough. If this game was any indication, the Series could go long and Harris wanted to make sure his main guy would be in good form later on. The first Washington batter, reserve first baseman Mule Shirley, pinch hitting for Johnson, wound up on second base after Giant shortstop Travis Jackson muffed his fly ball. After McNeely flied out, manager Harris singled home Shirley. Sam Rice then also singled, sending Harris all the way to third. Unfortunately, Rice, hoping to avoid a double play which might have ended the inning, and in keeping with the baseball axiom that you don't make the first or third out on the basepaths, decided to try to stretch his hit into a double. He didn't make it. Two men out -- with Harris on third.
Goose Goslin, the man who'd come through all year, did not do so on this occasion. He hit a slow roller and George Kelly, now playing second, came up with it bare-handed. Harris had crossed home plate when umpire Bill Klem called the Goose out, and the Nats were going to contend that Harris's run had beaten the relay to first. Goslin, Harris, Nick Altrock and Joe Judge screamed blue murder and followed Klem off the field. President Coolidge walked right by Judge and Klem, who were still arguing, and went totally unobserved by the pair.
The frustrated Goslin, who had left men in scoring position three times in this game, called Klem "Catfish," a nickname everyone knew Klem couldn't stand. In fact, Klem would never forgive Goslin, even years later when the Goose tried to apologize. The bottom line, though, was that Walter Johnson had thrown 165 pitches in his very first World Series game, but all for naught. As things turned out, however, this enthralling game would not be as crucial as another 12-inning 4-3 ballgame that was still six days in the future.
Ossie Bluege homers and scores the tying run it the ninth inning of Game 1:
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