Beating the New York Yankees

A century ago on May 4, the Doherty Silk Sox trailed by a run in the ninth inning to the New York Yankees, defending 1923 World Series champions.

Milt Gaston

On the mound for New York was Milt Gaston – the former Silk Sox ace and still beloved at the Doherty Oval. Big Milt was now a major league rookie, signed off the Silk Sox roster and having made the Yankees club in spring training … without playing a game in the minors.

Now, Gaston was looking to close out the 5-4 game before the packed ballpark in Clifton, N.J. 

The Silk Sox’s Fred Schneider walked to start the inning and took a short lead off first. The big first baseman was not a threat to steal. Gaston coolly struck-out the next two batters, Bobby Crowell and Paddy Smith. All he had to do was retire Harry Harper – the Doherty pitcher who replaced him as the team’s ace – to earn the win.

Ironically, Harper was a former Yankee. In nearly 500 at bats in the majors and minors, “Handsome Harry” hit .151, striking out 120 times. He’d hit only eight doubles in his career, never getting as far as third on a hit.

A stiff wind blew across the diamond and whipped through the grandstand. Playing first base, the great Babe Ruth let out a loud, hacking cough. The Bambino was suffering from a bad cold, but had played the entire game as promised. 

Babe Ruth

This marked the Bambino’s fourth appearance at the Doherty Oval – twice with the Yankees and twice with the Boston Red Sox. Unlike at the new Yankee Stadium, Ruth’s home runs here earned an instant $5 – awarded by silk mill owner Harry Doherty to any slugger who conquered his ballpark’s fence. Doherty also gave today’s gate profit to the Red Cross, as he did for every game.

Babe homered for the Red Sox in 1918, but his blast ending the 1923 game was the one Doherty fans remembered. That day, with the Yankees leading the Silk Sox, 9-6, in the ninth, Babe’s shot traveled majestically over the right field fence and small buildings beyond it, then over a second fence before bouncing onto the Erie Railroad tracks – nearly 500 feet from home plate. 

The homer caused a joyous riot as fans ran from their seats to personally congratulate Ruth. He had to be rescued by his teammates, the Silk Sox and police before he was injured by the crush.

But during today’s 1924 rematch, all Babe managed were two batting practice homers. For the game, he was 0-3, walking, whiffing, and grounding and flying out. With his former teammate and friend Harper about to bat, Ruth figured the game was over.

Harry Harper pitching for the Yankees in 1921

Harper was dismal as a hitter, but as a pitcher he was sometimes brilliant. Signed off the nearby Bergen County sandlots by Clark Griffith, he was pitching for the Washington Senators by 1913. The 6’2” lefthander played seven seasons in Washington before being traded to Boston in 1920. He moved to the Yankees in 1921 and pitched a game with Brooklyn in 1923. 

“That Harper had more stuff than he was entitled to,” Ruth later said in a 1927 Bergen Evening Record story. “Why, if he could have broken it up and handed it around he could have supplied a half dozen pitchers.”

For his major league career, Harper was 57-76 with a 2.87 ERA.

Away from baseball, Harper was a bigger star. Born poor, he became his family’s breadwinner after his father died. With his 1913 baseball salary, he bought his first truck. Six years later, Harper’s fleet had grown to 92 vehicles, and his major league salary of $7,500 became pocket change. 

Silk Sox player-manager Jimmy “Jimbo” Eschen was happy to sign Harper to replace Gaston after Milt left for the Yankees.

In the first inning, Harper was greeted rudely by his old teammates who razzed him from the dugout. Whitey Witt beat out a slow roller, Joe Dugan singled, and Ruth walked. Harper got the next two outs, but next batter Aaron Ward unloaded on one of his pitches, sending the ball over the center field wall for a grand slam. 

The Silk Sox came back with a run in their half of the first to make the score, 4-1.

Both pitchers settled down after their rocky starts with Harper allowing one hit and Gaston scattering four. But in the seventh, the Silk Sox struck for three runs, tying the game. The Yankees answered with a home run by Witt in the eighth to regain the lead, 5-4.

With Harper coming up, Eschen considered his pinch-hitting options. Before he could decide, Harper cursed, grabbed his bat and stomped to the plate. Some fans headed toward the exits as he stepped into the batter’s box.

On the mound, Big Milt Gaston waited. 

It had been a gratifying afternoon for Gaston. The Teaneck native was beating his old team while impressing his new squad. Before the game, in recognition of his fine pitching for the Silk Sox from 1920 to 1923, Passaic Mayor John H. McGuire presented him with a gold watch, a gift from his former Doherty teammates.

Gaston stared in for the sign. He delivered ball one to Harper, high and outside. His next pitch was high and inside for ball two.

While Harper, also aptly nicknamed “Moxie,” wasn’t a great hitter, he knew pitching. Gaston’s next ball would likely be a strike. As described by the Paterson Press-Guardian, Harper “dug his toes into the turf as Gaston bore down and shot the pill like a rifle bullet.”

Harper swung hard at the ball cutting over the heart of the plate.

The Paterson Press-Guardian wrote, “… the crash split the din and away soared the ball high over Milt’s head, over the domes of the fans parked behind the rope barrier near the fence and then with a graceful arch it faded from view.”

In the Passaic Daily News, George H. Greenfield wrote, “For a spell the crowd … couldn’t exactly comprehend what happened. Could this be possible?”

Harry Harper

It was. Harper’s improbable shot flew long and far, landing some 50 feet beyond the outfield barrier.

The Doherty Silk Sox had beaten the New York Yankees, 6-5.

With Schneider scoring ahead of him, Harper danced happily around the bases. The crowd – at first not believing what they had seen – vaulted over the railings, rushing onto the field to greet Harry. They met him at third base and carried him the rest of the way to home plate.

The Babe – last year’s hero and probably the biggest celebrity on the planet – was ignored by the crowd and disappeared into the clubhouse.

Harper called the winning home run against the Yankees his “greatest moment in baseball.”  After injuring his leg later that season, he retired and turned to a full-time business career. By the late 1940s, he’d become the richest ex-ballplayer in the country, next to Ty Cobb.

But on that day, in a perfect little ballpark built by Harry Doherty, located in a bucolic city bordering gritty Paterson and Passaic, a semipro team representing a great silk mill had done something few would have believed was possible.

The semipro Doherty Silk Sox had beaten the major league world champions, the New York Yankees.

There was joy in Clifton. For one day, everything was perfect.