1918 World Series

The 1918 World Series featured the Boston Red Sox, who defeated the Chicago Cubs four games to two. The Series victory for the Red Sox was their fifth in five tries, going back to 1903.

The 1918 Series was played early in September due to the World War I "Work or Fight order." It was marred by players threatening to strike due to low gate receipts. There were also rumors of a "fix", but there was no solid evidence and, with the war dominating the news, nothing came of it.

The Chicago home games in the series were played at Comiskey Park, which had a greater seating capacity than Weeghman Park, the prior home of the Federal League Chicago Whales that the Cubs were now using and which would be rechristened Wrigley Field in 1925. The Red Sox had played their home games in the 1915 and 1916 World Series in the more expansive Braves Field, but they returned to Fenway Park for the 1918 series.

This was the last Red Sox Championship until 2004. The subsequent drought of eighty-six years was often attributed to the Curse of the Bambino. The alleged curse came to be when the Red Sox traded the superbly talented but troublesome Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for cash after the 1919 season.

Managers: Ed Barrow (Boston), Fred Mitchell (Chicago)

Umpires: Hank O'Day (NL), George Hildebrand (AL), Bill Klem (NL), Brick Owens (AL)

For the first time in the Series, all four umpires worked in the infield on a rotating basis. In previous Series from 1909 through 1917, two of the four umpires had been positioned in the outfield for each game, in addition to the standard plate umpire and base umpire.

Summary


Game 1, September 5
Game 1 of the Series, played in Chicago on September 5, 1918, went to the Red Sox, 1-0, with Babe Ruth pitching the shutout before 19,274 fans. Stuffy McInnis knocked in the game's only run, driving in Dave Shean with a fourth-inning single off Hippo Vaughn.

Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois

Game 2, September 6
The Cubs rebounded to knot the Series with a 3-1 victory in Game 2 the next day, behind Lefty Tyler's six-hit pitching. Tyler himself had a two-run single in the second inning to make the score 3-0, and he carried a shutout into the ninth inning.

Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois

Game 3, September 7
The series remained in Chicago for Game 3 due to wartime restrictions on travel. On September 7, the Red Sox emerged victorious, 2-1, as Carl Mays scattered seven hits. Wally Schang and Everett Scott had back-to-back RBI singles in the fourth inning. Vaughn lost his second game of the series.

Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois

Game 4, September 9
Sunday the 8th was a travel day. The teams arrived in Boston on September 9, and the Cubs tied Game 4 in the eighth inning, breaking Ruth's World Series scoreless inning streak (going back to 1916) at 29 2/3 on hits by Charlie Hollocher and Les Mann. But the Red Sox won it in the home half of the inning on a passed ball by Killefer and a wild throw by relief pitcher Phil Douglas scoring Schang for a 3-2 victory and a 3-1 series lead.

Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts

Game 5, September 10
Vaughn finally earned a Series victory on Tuesday in Game 5, tossing a five-hit shutout as the Cubs rallied back for a 3-0 victory. Dode Paskert's two-run double in the eighth sealed the matter for the Chicagoans, after Mann had knocked in a first-inning run.

Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts

Game 6, September 11
Attendance for Game 6 at Fenway on Wednesday, September 11, was down from over 24,000 on Tuesday to a mere 15,238, but the Red Sox went home happy. Max Flack committed a third-inning error that allowed two Sox runs to score, and the Red Sox held on for a 2-1 victory and the World's Championship of 1918, as Carl Mays won his second game of the series.

Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts

As of 2005, the Cubs are still waiting to win their next World Series. The Cubs, who last won in 1908, won the National League but lost the Series in 1929, 1932, 1935, 1938, and 1945. The Red Sox, who had won the American League but lost the Series in 1946, 1967, 1975, and 1986, finally won the World Series in 2004.

Players

 * The 1918 Boston Red Sox team included Sam Agnew, Stuffy McInnis, Dave Shean, Fred Thomas, Everett Scott, Harry Hooper, Amos Strunk, George Whiteman, Babe Ruth, Wally Schang, Dick Hoblitzel, George Cochran, Wally Mayer, John Stansbury, John Coffey, Frank Truesdale, Walter Barbare, Hack Miller, Heinie Wagner, Eusebio Gonzalez, Red Bluhm, Carl Mays, Joe Bush, Sam Jones, Dutch Leonard, Lore Bader, Jean Dubuc, Walt Kinney, Dick McCabe, Vince Molyneaux, Bill Pertica, and Weldon Wyckoff.


 * The 1918 Chicago Cubs team included Bill Killefer, Fred Merkle, Rollie Zeider, Charlie Deal Charlie Hollocher, Les Mann, Max Flack, Dode Paskert, Turner Barber, Bob O'Farrell, Pete Kilduff, Charlie Pick, Bill McCabe, Chuck Wortman, Rowdy Elliott, Tom Daly, Fred Lear, Tommy Clarke, Lefty Tyler, Hippo Vaughn, Claude Hendrix, Phil Douglas, Paul Carter, Speed Martin, Roy Walker, Pete Alexander, Harry Weaver, Vic Aldridge, and Buddy Napier.