Greatest games of the pre-war era?

[wolterse]

I recently read about the Brooklyn atlantics defeat of the Cincinnati red stockings on June 14,1870, snapping the red stockings 80 game winning streak in extra innings. The game had six lead changes and has to be one of the best games of the pre-war era..especially when you consider most of the previous 80 victories for the red stockings had been blowouts.

Another one that comes to mind is the 20-inning game between rube Waddell and cy young on July 4, 1905. Both future HOFs pitched all 20 innings with the athletics finally getting to young in the top of the 20th. "For my part, I think it was the greatest game of ball I ever took part in,” Young wrote a week later.

Other opinions?

[sayhey24]

Smoky Joe Wood vs. Walter Johnson at Fenway Park in September of 1912. Wood won 34 games that year, Johnson I think won 16 in a row. Wood won the game 1-0. Great account in the book "The Glory Of Their Times".


Greg

[PolarBear]

Cubs-Giants, Oct 8th, 1908.

[Mark]

Pirates-Giants, July 17, 1914.

[Jason Carota]

Originally Posted by sayhey24

Smoky Joe Wood vs. Walter Johnson at Fenway Park in September of 1912. Wood won 34 games that year, Johnson I think won 16 in a row. Wood won the game 1-0. Great account in the book "The Glory Of Their Times".

Greg

Another vote for the "War of 1912."

[bgar3]

the 1870 game and the 1912 would get my votes. it might be of interest concerning the 1870 game to note that Spalding in his 1911 book America's National Game (pg 148) states that the loss broke the record of Cincinnati club and the "hearts of its players as well..." in his copy of the book, George Wright has written "not the hearts of the players but of clubs officers and admirers. G.W."

[Hankphenom]

1924 World Series game 7. Never anything like it before or since for drama, significance, setting, etc. Washington's Davids (first world series) against New York's Goliaths (fourth in a row) in front of President Coolidge and all of official Washington. Nats down 3-1 in the bottom of the eighth, tie it 3-3. Walter Johnson, in his 18th season, having lost a complete-game blowout two days earlier, (his second loss of the series) comes in to pitch. Johnson in trouble with runners on base in all four innings, strikes out major league RBI leader George Kelly TWICE with two runners in scoring position. In the bottom of the twelfth, rookie Earl McNeeley's grounder hits a pebble and bounds over third baseman Fred Lindstrom's head to score Muddy Ruel, and the Nats win their one and only World Series championship.

[Sean]

I would vote for both the 1912 Wood vs. Johnson game and the 1908 Merkle game.
I also vote for game "8" of the 1912 World Series. Joe Wood Beat Mathewson 3-2 in 10 innings when the "Snodgrass muff" allows the Red Sox to score two runs in the bottom of the tenth.