Joss Goes Yard

In this young season, the top two pitchers in the league have been veteran Mickey Welch of the Haymakers and Canaries sophomore Addie Joss. Both had pitched complete-game shutouts in their previous starts before squaring off against each other. 

The Haymakers held a slim 2-1 lead in the seventh when Joss came to the plate with two outs and a runner on first. Briefly, I considered pinch hitting for him, but yanking Joss in that scenario would have provided only a marginal chance of scoring a run while removing the Canaries' best pitcher from the game. A sacrifice bunt wasn't an option with two outs, so Joss had the green light to swing away and hope for the best. Now, Addie Joss is no John Clarkson or Al Spalding; in fact, he's one of the three or four worst-hitting pitchers in the league. Imagine my surprise when Joss belted Welch's offering into the left-field stands for a two-run homer! 

It was just the third home run ever hit by a pitcher in this league. John Clarkson of the Resolutes hit the first two back in Season 5. In an odd twist of fate, the pitcher who surrendered the first of Clarkson's bombs was none of than Mickey Welch. 

Oh, and as for the game? That home run was the difference, as the Canaries won 3-2.