Elias Says ...

A daily glance inside the numbers from the world of sports.

Updated: August 28, 2005, 2:04 AM ET
By Elias Sports Bureau, Inc. | Special to ESPN Insider
A daily glance inside the numbers from the world of sports:

Major League Baseball

• The Tigers had lost their last 11 games at Fenway Park and found themselves trailing 6-0 going into the fourth inning Saturday night, but Detroit responded with a furious 17-hit attack to overcome the Red Sox 12-8 and end the streak.

Get a load of this: The Tigers' victory marked the first time in more than 100 years that a team had overcome a deficit of six or more runs to end a losing streak of 11-or-more games at a particular stadium!

And the last time it happened -- during the Benjamin Harrison administration -- it also happened in Boston. On June 7, 1892, the Pittsburg (no 'h') Pirates, losers of their last 19 decisions at Boston's South End Grounds, fell behind to the home team 7-0. But the Pirates then took advantage of four Boston errors to tie the score 7-7 as they came to bat in the bottom of the ninth. Yes, the bottom of the ninth: This was so long ago that the home team had what was called "the choice of innings" -- the option to bat first or last -- and Boston chose to bat first in this game. So Pittsburgh had last licks, and took advantage of them.

In the last of the ninth, with two outs and future Hall of Famer Jake Beckley on second, the Pirates catcher, himself a future Hall of Famer, grounded to third baseman Billy Nash, who missed the tag on Beckley and then saw his throw muffed by first baseman Tommy Tucker. Beckley scored when Tucker's throw to the plate was wild, giving Pittsburgh the 8-7 victory.

Oh, yes, the Pirates catcher who hit the ball that started the game-winning play? That would be 29-year-old Connie Mack, who would later manage the Philadelphia Athletics for 50 years.


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