BABE ADAMS

Before George Herman Ruth, The Babe of baseball was Pirate pitcher Charles Benjamin Adams. Fred Lieb noted that Babe Adams became a household word after he won three games against Detroit in the 1909 World Series, which drew extra attention because it featured the best players in both leagues in a hit-and-run duel: Honus Wagner vs. Ty Cobb. But when the dust settled, the Dutchman and The Peach were outshone by rookie Adams.

Adams developed as a pitcher by throwing on a farm, against a barn. According to Bill James' The Baseboll Book 1990, he discovered his curve ball there, and was on his way. Signed by the Cards, Adams was purchased by the Bucs in 1907, and it was on their Louisville farm the following year that Adams became "Babe". Whether it was female fans chanting "Oh, you babe," or his youthful face that earned him the nickname is not clear.

What turned out to be more significant for Adams was the similarity of his pitching style to Senator pitcher Dolly Gray. After a 12-3 rookie year‹four Pirate pitchers had won more games - Adams was selected to start Game One precisely because of a tip from NL President John Heydler about his style. Heydler had seen Gray stop the Tigers the preceding July and mentioned this to manager Fred Clarke, who had been thinking of Adams anyway, because he had been hot down the stretch.

Winning game 1, 5, and 7 and holding Cobb to 1-for-11 (throwing nothing but off-speed pitches, according to James) catapulted Babe to national hero status. He followed with several excellent seasons. On May 17, 1914, Adams and Rube Marquard hooked up in a 1-1 duel that ended 3-1, Giants‹in 21 innings! One of the best control pitchers ever, Adams walked nary a batter.

Adams career plummeted after that game, however, and it looked it was at an end after a disastrous summer in 1916, when the Pirates released him at age 34. But his arm came back, and after two successful years in the minors, Adams re-signed with the Pirates. A number of older players dotted the ML rosters during WW I, but Adams returned for more than a final cup of coffee. He won 69 games the next five years. Adams was the games' oldest player for his final seven summers. Babe wound up just short of 200 wins, but will forever be remembered for three of them in October, 1909.