1911 World Series on the West Coast). With the sixth and final game being played on October 26, this was also the latest-ending World Series by calendar date until the 1981 Series. With a perfect top of the first, Christy Mathewson set the record with 28 straight shutout innings in World Series play, a record that would be broken by Boston Red Sox Babe Ruth with 29 2/3 innings in the 1918 World Series. Mathewson's postseason record for consecutive scoreless innings against one team would not be broken until 2013 when the Detroit Tigers' Justin Verlander shut out the Athletics (now playing in
1972 World Series Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Hank Bauer. He also had nine RBI in the Series—no other Oakland player had more than one. Tenace was voted World Series MVP. By contrast, the stellar Oakland pitching kept the middle of the Reds lineup quiet for most of the series. Johnny Bench (.270 avg., 40 HR, 125 RBI, NL MVP), Tony Pérez (.283 avg., 21 HR, 90 RBI), and Denis Menke (9 HR, 50 RBI), combined for only two homers and five RBI the entire Series. It didn't help that the Reds' "table-setters," Pete Rose and Joe Morgan were a combined 1 for