The 1919 Fall Classic almost ended a lot sooner than game eight. It almost ended 5-1 for the Cincinnati Reds. The Chicago White Sox, or "Black Sox" had been shutout in games four and five, and were hopelessly behind early in game six.
The game, that saw the Reds at home, started with Cincy up 4-0 after four innings. Dutch Ruether was the Reds' starter. 19-6 for a National League-leading .750 winning percentage in 1919. Just the guy to have on the hill to wrap it all up and put these guys who weren't trying out of their misery. With a 1.82 ERA to go with those 19 wins, Chicago would score no more than two runs for sure.
Reuther had also won the opener of this tainted affair, 9-1. The run that scored against him was unearned. And, of course, it was Shoeless Joe Jackson, who reached on an error and scored. However, Reuther gave up just six hits that game. The very man that started it looked poised to finish it in the last Fall Classic in the 10s.
Joe Jackson couldn't even get the ball out of the infield in the top of the first, leaving Buck Weaver stranded. After a pair of hitless innings (And two runs scored by the Reds), he got Weaver out on a fly to left to start the fourth. Jackson popped to the catcher. Oscar "Happy" Felsch, another conspirator, singled to the inning alive. A meaningless hit, however. Chick Gandil, the ring leader of this who fix, was retired to end the inning. Cincinnati tacked on two runs, and were up 4-0. Cincinnati looked for more. Swede Risberg had made an error (Deliberate?) to allow the fourth run to score. It also allowed Morrie Rath to made it all the way to second on his grounder. Rath stole third. When Jake Daubert flied out to left, the speedy Rath tested Shoeless Joe's arm and lost. Jackson gunned him out of the dish. But did it matter? This game seems to over before it started!
Kerr had the White Sox win in this World Series in game three, and the way things were going, it looked like it would be the only win. Here, he wasn't as sharp as he'd been in the third contest.
Risberg, yet another fixer, walked to start the top of the fifth for the Black Sox. Another walk, and Kerr was at the dish. He singled...But it only loaded the bases. The Collins were due up next. Shano flied out to short centre for the first out. Eddie Collins also hit it to centre, but it was deep enough to score Risberg. Kerr, however, then made a blunder as bad as eight of his teammates were doing. He tried for second on the fly. It did not nullify the run, but a potentially big inning was over. But Chicago had their first run in a while, and were coming alive. Amazingly enough, it was Weaver, Jackson and Felsch.
But just to remind you that they weren't really trying, Felsch made an error in centre in the bottom of the frame. The Reds didn't score. The White Sox, though, did score in the top of the sixth. Weaver started it with a double. A Jackson single for his first hit of the game made it 4-2. Then Felsch got his biggest hit of the series with a double to score Joe. 4-3. Ruether was out of the game.
Jimmy Ring came on to pitch for Cincinnati. He'd won game four on a fine three-hitter. Control, however, was always his big problem, and he never quite overcame it. He'd walked three batters in game four. Here, in only five innings, he'd walk three more. The next two batters though, were fixers as well. Gandil and Risberg, made outs. Riseberg's grounder moved Felsch to third, fortunately. Ray Schalk, the catcher and not in on the scandal, singled to tie the game at four.
Greasy Neale singled for the Reds in the bottom of the frame. With two down, he tried to steal third and Schalk, having a fine game, nailed him. The White Sox, though, seemed to lose steam and momentum in the next few innings. They went down 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh. Kerr needed a double play in the bottom of the inning to escape a two on, only one out situation. Jackson walked to start the eighth, and Gandil did too with one out. Risberg, though, probably didn't want the Sox to win, and grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Kerr gave up two hits in the bottom of the frame, as the Reds looked for the go-ahead run. It did not come. The White Sox got a man on in the top of the ninth as Nemo Leibold, the leadoff hitter now in Chicago's lineup, walked. Nemo swiped second. Eddie Collins flied out to centre, alas.
Cincinnati tried to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. Walk-off fashion, of course. With one down, Daubert singled. But he was forced at second by Heinie Groth. Groth, blowing the brains out on himself twice this inning, then tried to steal second and get the winning run into scoring position. He was thrown out by mile. To extras!
Buck Weaver started the tenth with a double that was just out of the reach of left fielder Pat Duncan. Jackson tried to bunt. He got it down in front of the plate...And then somehow beat the throw. Felsch fanned. Gandil sent a chopper that resulted in an infield hit, Weaver scoring and Jackson moving into scoring position. However, that was all the White Sox got, as Risberg lined to second, and Jackson was a dead duck and doubled up.
But Chicago was up 5-4 and needed just three more outs.
Edd Roush grounded out to Eddie Collins at second. Pat Duncan popped up foul to Schalk. Larry Koft was the game's last batter and also grounded to Collins. While each team had double digits in hits, plus there had been eight walks and three errors (All by Chicago, of course), it had taken just 126 minutes to play this out.
The White Sox may not have been trying, but they had shown a lot of heart this game, especially Dickie Kerr (Who'd finish the World Series 2-0). This carried over to game seven, which Chicago won 4-1 behind Eddie Cicotte, another fixer. The Cincinnati Reds though, won game eight, giving it their best effort all the way. The same could not be said of the Chicago White Sox throughout the 1919 Fall Classic!
References
Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.
Frommer, Harvey. Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball. Dallas, TX: Taylor Pub., 1992. Print.
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.
Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. (1 Dec. 2015)
Retrosheet <www.retrosheet.org>. Web. (1 Dec. 2015).
The game, that saw the Reds at home, started with Cincy up 4-0 after four innings. Dutch Ruether was the Reds' starter. 19-6 for a National League-leading .750 winning percentage in 1919. Just the guy to have on the hill to wrap it all up and put these guys who weren't trying out of their misery. With a 1.82 ERA to go with those 19 wins, Chicago would score no more than two runs for sure.
Reuther had also won the opener of this tainted affair, 9-1. The run that scored against him was unearned. And, of course, it was Shoeless Joe Jackson, who reached on an error and scored. However, Reuther gave up just six hits that game. The very man that started it looked poised to finish it in the last Fall Classic in the 10s.
Joe Jackson couldn't even get the ball out of the infield in the top of the first, leaving Buck Weaver stranded. After a pair of hitless innings (And two runs scored by the Reds), he got Weaver out on a fly to left to start the fourth. Jackson popped to the catcher. Oscar "Happy" Felsch, another conspirator, singled to the inning alive. A meaningless hit, however. Chick Gandil, the ring leader of this who fix, was retired to end the inning. Cincinnati tacked on two runs, and were up 4-0. Cincinnati looked for more. Swede Risberg had made an error (Deliberate?) to allow the fourth run to score. It also allowed Morrie Rath to made it all the way to second on his grounder. Rath stole third. When Jake Daubert flied out to left, the speedy Rath tested Shoeless Joe's arm and lost. Jackson gunned him out of the dish. But did it matter? This game seems to over before it started!
Kerr had the White Sox win in this World Series in game three, and the way things were going, it looked like it would be the only win. Here, he wasn't as sharp as he'd been in the third contest.
Risberg, yet another fixer, walked to start the top of the fifth for the Black Sox. Another walk, and Kerr was at the dish. He singled...But it only loaded the bases. The Collins were due up next. Shano flied out to short centre for the first out. Eddie Collins also hit it to centre, but it was deep enough to score Risberg. Kerr, however, then made a blunder as bad as eight of his teammates were doing. He tried for second on the fly. It did not nullify the run, but a potentially big inning was over. But Chicago had their first run in a while, and were coming alive. Amazingly enough, it was Weaver, Jackson and Felsch.
But just to remind you that they weren't really trying, Felsch made an error in centre in the bottom of the frame. The Reds didn't score. The White Sox, though, did score in the top of the sixth. Weaver started it with a double. A Jackson single for his first hit of the game made it 4-2. Then Felsch got his biggest hit of the series with a double to score Joe. 4-3. Ruether was out of the game.
Jimmy Ring came on to pitch for Cincinnati. He'd won game four on a fine three-hitter. Control, however, was always his big problem, and he never quite overcame it. He'd walked three batters in game four. Here, in only five innings, he'd walk three more. The next two batters though, were fixers as well. Gandil and Risberg, made outs. Riseberg's grounder moved Felsch to third, fortunately. Ray Schalk, the catcher and not in on the scandal, singled to tie the game at four.
Greasy Neale singled for the Reds in the bottom of the frame. With two down, he tried to steal third and Schalk, having a fine game, nailed him. The White Sox, though, seemed to lose steam and momentum in the next few innings. They went down 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh. Kerr needed a double play in the bottom of the inning to escape a two on, only one out situation. Jackson walked to start the eighth, and Gandil did too with one out. Risberg, though, probably didn't want the Sox to win, and grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Kerr gave up two hits in the bottom of the frame, as the Reds looked for the go-ahead run. It did not come. The White Sox got a man on in the top of the ninth as Nemo Leibold, the leadoff hitter now in Chicago's lineup, walked. Nemo swiped second. Eddie Collins flied out to centre, alas.
Cincinnati tried to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. Walk-off fashion, of course. With one down, Daubert singled. But he was forced at second by Heinie Groth. Groth, blowing the brains out on himself twice this inning, then tried to steal second and get the winning run into scoring position. He was thrown out by mile. To extras!
Buck Weaver started the tenth with a double that was just out of the reach of left fielder Pat Duncan. Jackson tried to bunt. He got it down in front of the plate...And then somehow beat the throw. Felsch fanned. Gandil sent a chopper that resulted in an infield hit, Weaver scoring and Jackson moving into scoring position. However, that was all the White Sox got, as Risberg lined to second, and Jackson was a dead duck and doubled up.
But Chicago was up 5-4 and needed just three more outs.
Edd Roush grounded out to Eddie Collins at second. Pat Duncan popped up foul to Schalk. Larry Koft was the game's last batter and also grounded to Collins. While each team had double digits in hits, plus there had been eight walks and three errors (All by Chicago, of course), it had taken just 126 minutes to play this out.
The White Sox may not have been trying, but they had shown a lot of heart this game, especially Dickie Kerr (Who'd finish the World Series 2-0). This carried over to game seven, which Chicago won 4-1 behind Eddie Cicotte, another fixer. The Cincinnati Reds though, won game eight, giving it their best effort all the way. The same could not be said of the Chicago White Sox throughout the 1919 Fall Classic!
References
Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.
Frommer, Harvey. Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball. Dallas, TX: Taylor Pub., 1992. Print.
Neft, David S., Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft. The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball, 1992. 12th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. Print.
Nemec, David et all. 20th Century Baseball Chronicle: A Year-by-year History of Major League Baseball. Collector's Edition. Lincolnwood, Ill: Publications International, 1993. Print.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. (1 Dec. 2015)
Retrosheet <www.retrosheet.org>. Web. (1 Dec. 2015).
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