May 3, 1920 saw all eight scheduled major league games played, but only fourteen teams were involved, as the Cubs and Reds played a double header in Cincinnati. The Athletics at the Senators produced the most offense of the day as Washington took the game at home 11-6. At the low end, the first of game of the Cubs at the Reds saw Chicago win 2-1, but the Braves beat the Dodgers in Boston 2-1 in 19 innings. That game set a record for the Dodgers (Robins).
Brooklyn played at Boston on Saturday, May 1, and that game went 26 innings. At the time, Sunday baseball was not allowed in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, so the Dodgers hosted the Phillies in Brooklyn on Sunday. Day baseball, frequent trains along the east coast, and quickly played games made this possible. The Phillies and Dodgers played thirteen innings on Sunday. Brooklyn then returned to Boston and played another 19 innings, for 58 innings in three games!
That set the record for most innings in three consecutive extra-inning games. It was one short of the record for most consecutive extra-innings, set by the Pirates in 1917.
Once again, both pitchers went the distance, Dana Fillingim getting the win and posting a game score of 111 to for the best pitching performance of the day. Fillingim allowed twelve hits, one unearned run, and four walks. He struck out just four batters. At this point in the season, Fillingim led the majors in ERA at 0.00, as he allowed six runs in 36 innings, all unearned.
The 1920 season would prove to be the peak of Fillingim’s career in terms of work, while 1921 would be his peak in terms of productivity. He pitched 272 innings in 1920 going 12-21 with a 3.11 ERA. In 1921 he would go 15-10 with a 3.45, but in a higher scoring league that was more valuable.
The best offensive game of the day goes to Irish Meusel of the Phillies. Close on his heels were two teammates, Cy Williams and Gene Paulette. All three went four for five against the Giants as Philadelphia won the game 9-6 at home. Meusel doubled and tripled, Williams hit two doubles, and Paulette hit one double.
Meusel played for eleven seasons, posting a good .310/.348/.464 slash line for his career. He led the NL in RBI with 125 in 1923. He was a bit of a late bloomer, getting a cup of coffee with Washington in 1914, but not returning to the majors until 1918 when the Phillies brought him along at seasonal age 25. He joined the Giants in 1921, and for three years he played against his brother Bob Meusel of the Yankees in the World Series.
“Bob’s family and my family lived in the same apartment building in New York. We’d go home after each Series game in 1921, ’22 and ’23 and we’d sit down and re-hash the games. The guy whose team had won that day would have himself a good time bragging and the loser would have to stand for some ribbing. Bob and I had some good times.”
The Sporting News, March 16, 1963. Via SABR.org
Four player owned averages over .400 at this point in the season (40 PA minimum), Rogers Hornsby leading the way at .475. Those four players combined to strike out just seven times. Putting the ball in play at a high rate allowed players of that era to hit .400 more often.
Update: I forgot to mention the Tigers won their first game of the season, beating Cleveland 5-1. Detroit stood ten games out of first place at this point with a 1-13 record. Dutch Leonard threw a complete game, allowing just four hits and one walk. No one had a particularly outstanding offensive day. The Tigers played station-to-station ball, hitting nine singles and drawing seven walks.
