June 23- Babe Ruth, ejected after One Batter, and Ernie Shore Throw a Combined No-Hitter
1917- On this day in Sports History, Babe Ruth was the starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox against the Washington Senators. However, four pitches into his start, he was ejected from the game. Clarence Owens, the home plate umpire, called all four pitches balls to give the lead off batter a walk. Babe Ruth did not agree with the pitches being called balls. He started to argue with Owens from the pitching mound forcing the umpire to eject him from the game. Ruth then charged home plate to attack Owens. He managed to be able to land a punch on the umpire before his teammates and police officers dragged him away.
Once Babe Ruth was ejected, Ernie Shore came into the game as a relief pitcher for the Red Sox. Shore had a career record of 65-43 and started Game 1 of the 1915 and 1916 World Series. He retired the next two batters to get out of the first inning. The runner on first got thrown out trying to steal second base. Shore would go on to retire the next 24 batters without giving up a hit. He only struck out two batters, but the defense was excellent to help him not give up a hit. Ernie Shore finished the game without allowing a hit against the 26 batters he faced.
The Red Sox won the game 4-0. They had nine hits including three from Sam Agnew who also had two RBI’s. Harry Hooper also had a double which scored the other two runs. Babe Ruth was suspended for 10 days for punching the umpire.
This game on June 22, 1917 would go down in history as a combined no-hitter between Babe Ruth and Ernie Shore. Babe Ruth faced just one batter before he attacked and punched the umpire. Ernie Shore then came into the game and finished it with a no-hitter. This was the first ever combined no-hitter in MLB history. To date, there have been 14 combined no-hitters, but this one is definitely stands out as unique. Even though Shore did pretty much all of the work in the game, they both get credit for the combined no-hitter.
Make sure to subscribe to receive a story in your email each morning.
Check out our Social Media accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Find more awesome previous blog posts at https://www.sportsaday.com/blog1
Sources:
“Washington Senators at Boston Red Sox Box Score, June 23, 1917.” Baseball Reference
Martin, Edward F. “Ernie Shore Relives Babe Ruth, Throws Perfect Game - The Boston
Globe.” BostonGlobe.com, The Boston Globe, 24 June 1917
Burkett, Samantha. “Babe Ruth Made History with Help from Ernie Shore.” Baseball Hall of
Fame