Lousy day for a ball game as Game 2 begins in Pittsburgh’s Exposition Park – overcast and damp. Frank Kitson looks to give the Superbas a commanding two game lead in the best-of-five series while Deacon Phillippe takes the hill in a must-win game for the Pirates.
Pittsburgh leadoff hitter opens the bottom of the first with a bang, tripling off the left field wall. For a bit, it looked like Kitson might wiggle out of the jam as he retired Claude Ritchey on a ground ball and struck out Hall of Famer Honus Wagner. But then, Pittsburgh manager Fred Clarke brought in the run with a double.
And there things stayed, with both pitchers sailing along, until the bottom of the sixth. With the Pirates up, Kitty Bransfield doubled and then stole third. Wid Conroy brought in the run with a sacrifice fly.
So the pitcher’s duel entered the top of the ninth with the Pirates up 2-0 and Phillippe looking to close things out. After a quick out, Tom McCreery reached on yet another error by Pirates’ shortstop Wid Conroy – this time costing the Pirates two bases. Pinch hitter Pat Diesel then scored the Superbas’ first run with a base hit. Ned Hanlon sent Joe Wall up to pinch hit and Lew Ritter to first to run for Diesel. But Wall hit an easy ground ball and pinch hitter Hughie Hearne wound things up with a game-ending strikeout.
So after two games in our best-of-five series for a berth in the 1902 World Series that never happened, it’s all tied up – Pittsburgh one, Brooklyn one. The action now shifts to Brooklyn for Games Three, Four and if necessary, Five.
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