SEPTEMBER 8, 1914 | BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – Yogi Berra hadn’t even been born yet to utter those famous words. But the notion was epitomized by the stunning turnaround of the Boston Braves (today’s Altanta Braves) of 1914. On July 18th of that year the Braves were in last place, 11 games out. By September 8th, the Braves found themselves in first place for good – from worst to first.
It took the Braves only 37 days to go from worst to first on August 22nd. They went 24-5 over that span to tie the New York Giants at 59-48. The Braves had leapfrogged six teams.
The Braves, Giants and St. Louis Cardinals changed places a few times for the next couple of weeks. By September 8th the Braves had passed all seven (there were only 8 teams in each league back then, no divisions), and were in sole possession of first place. Not only did the Braves pass the entire National League in a matter of weeks, they went on to win the pennant by 10.5 games.
The Boston Braves went on to sweep the heavily favored Philadelphia A’s four straight in the 1914 World Series.
CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
Koppett’s Concise History of Major League Baseball, 2004, pg 122, by Leonard Koppett
1914 National League pennant race
World Series winners
