Many years before a New York-Boston doubleheader would have been regarded as an eight-hour holy war, the two teams could play a pair of games that wouldn't draw much more attention than any other game in the American League. Instead the fans at Hilltop Park in New York saw the Highlanders and Red Sox split a twinbill, with New York winning the opener 3-2 and Boston winning the nightcap 5-3.

The Red Sox were managed by Patsy Donovan, who was unsurprisingly born in Ireland. He started Eddie Cicotte in the first game and Frank Arellanes in the second game. New York was managed by George Stallings, who didn't wear a uniform. He started Jack Quinn and Tom Hughes.

Quinn had celebrated his 27th birthday the day before. 1910 was just his second season in the bigs, but he would pitch in the majors until he was 50. His last game was on July 7, 1933. Cicotte had had a cup of coffee with Detroit in 1905, but didn't come up for good until 1908 with Boston. Cicotte would be sold to the White Sox in the 1912 season where he would achieve his greatest fame and infamy for his role in the 1919 World Series.

Both pitchers started the game with seven shutout innings. In the top of the eighth, right fielder Harry Hooper singled and third baseman Clyde Engle tripled him home for the first run of the game. New York answered in a similar fashion in the bottom of the eighth. Third baseman Bert Daniels singled and scored on a triple by right fielder Harry Wolter. First baseman Hal Chase singled home Wolter to give New York a 2-1 lead.

In the ninth, Boston first baseman Jake Stahl tripled and scored on a single by second baseman Larry Gardner. Left fielder Duffy Lewis sacrificed and shortstop Heinie Wagner singled to send Gardner to third. Donovan tried a squeeze play with catcher Bill Carrigan up, but the bunt didn't go down and Gardner was out at the plate to end the threat.

Center fielder Birdie Cree led off the ninth for New York with a walk from Cicotte and shortstop John Knight doubled Cree to third. Catcher Jeff Sweeney walked to load the bases for the pitcher Quinn, who hit a fly ball deep enough to score with the winning run.

In the second game, Hughes got off to a rocky start, giving up four runs in the first. Three runs came on a bases-loaded triple Gardner and Lewis hit a fly ball deep enough to score Gardner.

Arellanes lasted just three innings and change for Boston however. He gave up six hits in three innings and left with the bases loaded as Charlie Smith relieved. New York would score just one run.

Boston scored a fifth run in the fifth when Engle singled and stole second and came home on a single by center fielder Tris Speaker. New York got RBI singles from left fielder Frank LaPorte (normally the second baseman) in the fifth and another by Cree in the eighth.

The Highlanders would finish second in the AL a distant 14 1/2 games behind the Philadelphia A's. Boston finished in fourth, 22 1/2 games out. Stallings managed New York until September 20 before he was fired/quit as he lost a power struggle with Chase for control of the team. It is believed that Chase threw games to make Stallings look bad although there isn't any specific evidence. Stallings did want to suspend Chase at times during the season for his suspicious play. New York would play .500 ball during Chase's one year in charge and the next year Chase went back to being just a first baseman in 1912. That year, Boston won its second AL pennant and its second World Series. Donovan would manage Boston in 1911, but would be replaced in 1912 by Stahl. Stahl led the AL in homers in 1910 with 10.

Sources: Retrosheet, Baseball-reference.com, New York Times