The leading hitting in 1919, only played in games pitched by opposing pitcher Eddie Cicotte. Cincinnati Reds' catcher Ivey Wingo made the most of his limited duty, though. Ivey, it should be noted, has variations of his first name. But one way or the other, as I said in my publication, 114 World Series In 1 Book, the Reds' catcher was "Poison Ivey" to Chicago. It is a shame that regardless of if you call him "Ivey" or "Ivy", you'd think he should have been used more!
The reason for this, is Cincinnati used Bill Rariden, behind the plate in 52 games against left-handers in the '19 season. Rariden hit just .210 against portsiders that year. So it's an odd choice. Ivey Wingo, by comparison, was used in just four games against lefties. Wingo hit .000 (0-7) against portsiders, but .281 against righties.
There was little to choose between the two defensively. Wingo caught 48 percent of stolen base attempts, Rariden 46. The other catcher used by Cincinnati was Nick Allen. He played in just a dozen contests, nabbing 40 percent of theft attempts. Though Allen was on the Reds' postseason roster in 1919, he did not see any action.
But Wingo had caught seven runners leaning off the bases after a pitch. Rariden had just four pickoffs. Rariden had bit of an upper hand in range factor per game, 5.00 to Wingo's 4.96. Perhaps where the edge lies is in the team's earned run average: When Ivey caught, it was 2.41, which was more than Rariden! Rariden caught pitchers to a tune of a 2.14 ERA.
But since game one of the 1919 World Series was started by Eddie Cicotte, the right-hander of Chicago, it was Ivey Wingo catching. The Reds would be at home. Opposing Cicotte was Dutch Reuther, who'd won 19 games and posted a 1.82 earned run average.
It seemed like Reuther was the wrong man to be on the hill early, and it took Dutch a while to settle down. Reuther, who's given name was actually Walter, would form one excellent battery with Wingo.
He pitched. Wingo caught. He hit. So did Wingo. Key hits, both.
Well, it seemed that the Reds' lefty-handed starter needed some consoling. Shano Collins batted first for the Pale Hose. He greeted the Cincinnati starter with a single. This was not a good start at all, for the next batter was Eddie Collins. Eddie, not related to Shano, was one of the all-time greats, who had a reputation for raising his game come October. Three times before, Collins had hit .400 in the World Series.
So here, Reuther got him to hit into a force. The next batter was third basemen Buck Weaver. Buck was an excellent fielder, who hit .296 in 1919. But on a hit-and-run play, Weaver (for reasons unknown) took a pitch from Reuther, enabling Ivey Wingo to nail Eddie Collins at second.
Buck Weaver is a bit of a mystery as far as the 1919 World Series goes. Was he involved? He was thrown out of baseball after the 1920 for his part in throwing this Fall Classic. There is little to no evidence that he took any money. There is, however, evidence Buck sat in meetings with the conspirators. It seems perhaps here, not swinging raised some eyebrows. According to Chick Gandil in a 1956 Sports Illustrated article, Weaver came up with the idea for the conspirators to get their money before the Fall Classic went down. Gandil was adamant that the eight players who were thrown out of baseball on the Chicago White Sox had given it their all.
And if Buck was really involved, why did he smack the next one real good? Weaver gave it a ride to left, for what appeared to be two, maybe three bases. That's where a great catch by Edd Roush in centre. finally got Dutch Reuther out a tough inning. His catcher and centre fielder deserve at least a bit of credit.
But what is known is that Eddie Cicotte hit leadoff hitter Morrie Rath in the bottom of the inning. This was supposedly the signal to the gamblers that "it" was "on". Jake Daubert's single and Heinie Groh fly to left cashed in the first run of the 1919 Fall Classic. Ivey Wingo would contribute, but later.
The fielding had been good for Cincinnati in the first. In the second, it was bad. Joe Jackson led off the inning by reaching second on an error. Jackson, like Buck Weaver, is linked to the fix. But, Jackson hit ..375 and Weaver hit .327. They were held to just one hit combined in the first contest, but would get better as the series moved on.
So, Happy Felsch bunted Jackson to third. Ringleader Chick Gandil plated Jackson with a hit just out of the reach of the star centre fielder. Well, Gandil seemed to be trying, as he'd add a single later in the contest. However, if Chick thought that he could just get into scoring position for Swede Risberg (Still another fixer, along with Felsch), then think again! Wingo made it 2-2 in runners caught stealing.
Risberg coaxed a bases on balls from Dutch Reuther, who was struggling. It was not all his fault. Dutch got Ray Schalk to fly out to Roush in centre.
Reuther appeared to settle down after this. But what about his catcher? When did he finally do something with the stick? All he could do is hit a high fly to centre. Happy Felsch put the squeeze on it.
In the bottom of the fourth, the battery for the Reds put the game out of reach. Oddly enough, the inning started out bad for Cincinnati. Edd Roush decided to see if Happy Felsch had as good a range as he did in centre. The Reds centre fielder hit one deep to centre on the first offering from Eddie Cicotte. But Felsch turned on the jets to haul it in.
Felsch may have gotten to that one, but Pat Duncan (Who flanked Roush on the left side of the outfield) wasn't about to be denied. He sent one to right, collecting a one-out single.
The Reds continued to hit the ball well, but with mixed results. Larry Kopf hit a hot one back to the mound. Eddie Cicotte fielded it, and got it to Swede Risberg for the force at second. The play had taken a tad longer than it should have, because Cicotte seemed a little slow getting it to Risberg. It seemed like a double play ball, but Risberg added to the issue, as he was also a little slow. The throw didn't have the muscle behind it, so Chicago had the settle for the force at second. Had Cicotte and Risberg both deliberately screwed up that play?
There were two outs, keep in mind. And just Koft on. Greasy Neale hit a ball to short, that Swede Risberg managed to knock down, but didn't have anywhere to make a play. This was probably not an intentional misplay, but the important thing is the Reds had two on, with two out.
Ivey Wingo was next. His clutch hit to right (On the very first offering from Cicotte) cashed in Larry Koft, sent Neale to third, and put Cincinnati ahead for good, 2-1. Shano Collins, the Chicago right fielder, got to the ball, making it merely a long single. However, Neale made it to third, and Wingo took second on Collins' throw home.
A Reds' scribe noted this the next day in The Cincinnati Enquirer.
"Wingo drove a liner into right field scoring Koft from second and advancing Greasy to third, while Ivy [Or Ivey] took second on the foolish throat of the plate."
The Reds kept the onslaught going.
Dutch Ruether then put the next one into the crowd. On a hop that is. Under todays' ruling, it would be a ground-rule double. But back in 1919, it was a ground-rule triple. The battery of Cincinnati had three RBIs and a run scored so far in the fourth inning alone. And the Reds were up, 4-1.
Before Cicotte could get another out, the White Sox pitcher was done. Actually, it Roy Wilkinson who got Chicago out of the inning. But two more runs scored. But the Reds had scored five runs on six hits, all off Eddie Cicotte. And it was the battery that did most of the work.
Well, Dutch Reuther was having himself quite a game, and now it was up to him to make a five-run lead stand up. He didn't need any more offence. But it's not like the Reds put their big bats away. They hit Wilkinson hard in the fifth, but didn't score. Pat Duncan was caught stealing, so Cincinnati was 0-2 on theft attempts.
It hadn't been a total lackluster effort from Chicago, but the longer the contest went on in this October afternoon, it seemed the better Cincinnati got. You had the battery clicking, and then you had the opposition, understandably discouraged.
"They [Chicago] stood up this well under the terrific bombardment administered to their pitchers, and stuck it out to the finish," noted Jack Ryder, "though towards the end, they were hopelessly beaten and looked the part."
So Greasy Neale was determined to make Roy Wilkinson look like Eddie Cicotte. He singled to centre to start the sixth. A potential uprising. Maybe our boy took Wilkinson too lightly. All Ivey Wingo could do was strikeout. This probably hurt a potentially big inning. Wingo's batterymate, Duth Reuther was back up, but the odds of him driving in a run went down when Wingo couldn't as much as advance Neale.
Reuther, 1-1 with a walk, make it 2-2 with a single. All this was for naught at Morrie Rath lined into an inning-ending double play.
The Reds eventually added two more runs in the eighth, and might have gotten more if the rally died as a result of Larry Kopf grounded into a double play. Two straight innings for Cincinnati ended on twin killing!
There was one last chance for Ivey Wingo to flourish. Against new pitcher Grover Lowdermilk in the bottom of the eighth, Greasy Neale again got Cincinnati off on the right foot. His single, like it had in the sixth, opened the bottom of the frame. Neale had three hits, joining teammate Jake Daubert for game high. They'd have some company soon.
Ivey Wingo didn't strike out this time. His bunt moved Neale into scoring position. And it set up pitcher Dutch Reuther for another big wallop. The hurler continued to help out his own cause with a long triple to the fence in centre. 9-1, Cincinnati. Nothing like having a pitcher go 3-3 with a walk at the dish in a game. This, however, wasn't a regular season contest. It was game one of the World Series.
The Reds appeared poised to make it double digits when they loaded the bases with two outs on a hit by pitch and a walk. But Edd Roush forced Heinie Groh at second.
So Ivey Wingo finished the game 1-3 with a run scored and another knocked in. One sacrifice hit. Two base runners nailed trying to steal. Ivey way overshadowed by the man on a mound, who allowed not a single earner run and just six hits. Plus, Dutch Reuther had the big bat. Without these two men, the opening tilt might have been a lot closer.
From there, the 1919 World Series was close. Cincinnati took a close second game, 4-2. This time, Chicago collected ten hits. In the third game, in Chicago, the Pale Hose regrouped. Dickie Kerr hurled the first shutout of the postseason, and the White Sox won, 3-0. The home team had held serve through three contests.
Eddie Cicotte was back on the hill for the pivotal fourth contest. It would be either a 2-2 series or 3-1. Cicotte pitched much better.
The game was scoreless through four innings. In the third, Ivey Wingo helped the Reds, then hurt them. He singled with one away. But Jimmy Ring, who was having some difficulties on the hill with the White Sox, struck out. Wingo then tried to steal second, and was himself caught.
Ring had survived a tough bottom of the second as Chicago did everything but score. A double. A bunt. A walk. A steal of second. And another walk that filled the bases with two away. It was a good thing Jimmy Ring had only Eddie Cicotte to deal with. Even there, Cicotte hit the ball well. And only a tremendous fielding play by second basemen Morrie Rath put an end to that.
In the third, Ring hit Eddie Collins. There was one out. A grounder moved Collins to second. Joe Jackson reached first on an error, putting runners on the corners with two out. Happy Felsch grounded out to third to end the danger.
Two errors and two hits broke the ice on the ballgame. It all happened in the fifth. Cincinnati went up two runs, and Ivey Wingo had a chance to widen the gap. Greasy Neale had delivered a clutch double, and was in scoring position with just one away. This gave Ivey Wingo a chance. Wingo grounded out. Neale made it to third, but remained there as Jimmy Ring grounded out.
Ring might not have been able to help with the lumber, but appeared to settle down. Chicago got a man to second in the bottom of the frame, but Nemo Leibold was erased on a fielder's choice. By the time the top of the seventh had concluded, it appeared as though Eddie Cicotte had things in order: He'd retired eight men in a row!
We can't overlook how good the fielding was in this game. Ironically, it was Cicotte that had hurt his own cause with two errors in that fateful fifth. The Reds made two errors of their own. One play that was not an error was a catch by Pat Duncan, just shy of the wall in left. That happened in the sixth, as Happy Felsch got a hold of one and sent it to left. Buck Weaver had made a good play to end the top of the sixth. The next inning, Weaver again flashed the hot glove. The White Sox weren't going to be making things easy for the Reds' bats.
So, someone had to get into the act of hitting if Cincinnati was to tack on another run. In the eighth, Greasy Neale led off. Eddie Cicotte made it nine in a row retired when he took Neale's grounder and had no trouble going to first. 1-3. One away.
But Ivey Wingo broke up any thoughts of an easy inning with a single. Jimmy Ring, Cicotte's mound adversary, came back up. Cicotte was fielding a lot better than he had in the fifth. He took Ring's grounder. To second for one. Swede Risberg to Chick Gandil at first...Double play!
Wingo didn't get to bat again, but led all players with a game-high two hits. Which is impressive when you consider Cincinnati had five hits, total. Chicago managed just three themselves. Cincinnati won 2-0, and were up 3-1 in this best-of-nine affair.
Hod Eller followed up Jimmy Ring's three-hit shutout with one of his own in the fifth contest. Ivey Wingo watched from the sidelines. This really should have taken the starch out of Chicago. But as the teams returned to Redland Field, it seemed like the White Sox were a reborn team. Their bats came alive. The Pale Hose overcame an early 4-0 deficit, winning 5-4 in extras.
So the Reds still could clinch with a win in the sixth contest. What Cincinnati didn't want to do was lose and go back to Chicago for game eight.
Eddie Cicotte (0-2) started again. While he'd lost two starts, his earned run average had been 0.00 in his complete game gem tossed in the fourth contest. Here though, he'd have to face a Cincinnati team that was bound and determined to end this nonsense. And catching for the Reds? Ivey Wingo. There was not MVPs given out back then, but had there been, Ivey would surely have been in the running after his performance in the sixth game.
Perhaps a mistake by Cincinnati manager Pat Moran was starting Slim Sallee, who Chicago had gotten ten hits off in the second contest. Worse still, the White Sox had experience against him, having seen Sallee in the World Series two years earlier (And having great success). It didn't take the Pale Hose very long to get to Slim.
After giving up a single in the top of the first, Sallee appeared to be ready to get out of this jam. He got Eddie Collins to bunt for the first out. Buck Weaver flied to second, and Shano Collins did not make it to third.
But Joe Jackson singled to left to make it 1-0. The comedy show started for Cincinnati. Pat Duncan got to the ball, tossed it to Heinie Groh at third. Jackson had rounded first...A little bit too much. Groh tossed to Jake Daubert at first, and the runner was caught in a rundown. However, second basemen Morrie Rath's toss to Daubert was dropped by the first basemen, and the inning was still alive. Happy Felsch beat out a bunt. Chick Gandil killed the rally by hitting into a force.
In the second inning, it was Larry Kopf with a one out single. Greasy Neale sent one to Buck Weaver's right, the third basemen making the catch in foul territory. Ivey Wingo came to the plate, but Koft was caught stealing to end the inning.
Things didn't get any better for Slim Sallee or the Reds in the top of the third. Shano Collins and Eddie Collins opened it with singles. Buck Weaver hit into a double play, on which Eddie Collins was called for interference, meaning Shano had to go back to second. No matter. Joe Jackson, as he had in the first, cashed in Collins with a single to left. Slim Sallee got out of further trouble when Happy Felsch forced Jackson at second.
Ivey Wingo was hitting .500. He led off the third by drawing a bases on balls. That didn't improve the batting average, but Wingo's on-base percentage was now .667. Slim Sallee needed to help out a mess he'd created. He sent one to right, where Happy Felsch was now playing. Felsch made the catch right on the foul line. Morrie Rath then hit into a force for the second out. Jake Daubert got all of it and sent a hard one to the mound. Cicotte made the play with one hand to first.
Two singles and two errors finished off both Slim Sallee and the Reds in the top of the fifth. 4 1/3 innings pitched, 9 hits, four runs. In the bottom of the the frame, Cincinnati tried all they could to make a game of it again.
With one away Greasy Neale singled. Our boy was back up at the plate. 0-0, 1 BB. He coaxed another walk from the Chicago pitcher, and maybe the Reds had something going?
Dutch Ruether, in a play that would not happen today, batted for the pitcher. That's right. The hot-hitting pitcher was being used to bat for reliever Ray Fisher, who'd gotten the last two outs of that disaster Sallee an his infield had created in the top of the frame. Remarkably, Ruether had followed up his 3-3 game one performance with a 1-2 day at the dish in game six. But the pitcher failed to deliver the World Championship to Cincinnati. Here, Dutch failed again. He popped it up to Buck Weaver, who put the squeeze on the ball in foul territory. The Reds had one last chance, and turned to leadoff hitter Morrie Rath to get at least one man home. All Rath succeeded in doing is shattering his bat in two. The sweet spot and beyond were wooden comebackers to Cicotte, but the ball went to Weaver. Buck got his man at first.
Dolf Luque took over, and he and Ivey Wingo kept the game somewhat interesting from here on in. The Reds broke the shutout bid in the sixth, and Luque went four strong innings, holding Chicago scoreless. With that, it began to look like a game again.
Cicotte fanned Greasy Neale to start the bottom of the seventh, but he still couldn't solve Wingo. Wingo was officially 0-0, but had walked twice. Eddie perhaps being a little too careful with the Reds' catcher, walked him again. Ivey Wingo was a "perfect" 0-0, but had reached base three times.
Dolph Luque, pitching one awesome outing in relief, was allowed to hit for himself. Cicotte fanned his mound adversary. But then Morrie Rath kept the inning alive by stroking a base hit to centre.
Remarkably, the home team had the tying run on board. Jake Daubert, the Cincinnati first basemen, got the meat o the bat on it, but Eddie Collins made the play, and tossed to first for the third out.
Cicotte raced through the eighth, no problem. Meanwhile, Dolph Luque was holding Chicago in check, keeping Cincinnati within striking distance. He got the Pale Hose 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth. Ivey Wingo and the Reds would have one last crack at Eddie Cicotte.
Larry Koft popped out. Greasy Neale sent one to Joe Jackson in left. Eddie Cicotte had now pitched 8 2/3 innings, allowing just five hits and one (earned) run. So basically on par with his game four outing. Only this time, Eddie had four runs to work with.
All that stood between Cicotte and victory was his personal tormentor all series long: Ivey Wingo!
Pat Moran, the Cincinnati manager, probably uttered some prayers.
Wingo...Single! Finally, he'd gotten a hit. But it sent his batting average to an astonishing .571, and on-base percentage to an amazing .700. Now, with four hits and three walks, Ivey met the minimum requirements for leading a World Series in batting average and on-base percentage.
Dolph Luque was the next scheduled batter. But there was no way he'd hit for himself. Sherry Magee grabbed a bat. Sherry stroked a base hit of his own. The Reds had the tying run at the plate!
Sherry Magee was not staying in the game, but Ivey Wingo was. Jimmy Smith came in to run for Magee, while Wingo took it all in at second. Morrie Rath sent one to the gap in right. But Happy Felsch got there, ending the contest 4-1 in favour of Chicago.
Ivey Wingo had appeared for the last time in the Fall Classic. Bill Rariden took over behind the plate in game eight, going 2-5 as Cincinnati won a slugfest, 10-5.
Rariden contributed two RBI in a wild game that saw the teams combine for 26 hits (16 by the Reds). Because of the impressive all-around performances by a number of the Cincy players and Wingo absence, the contributions of Ivey are somewhat forgotten. But, the fact remains whether you like it or not: Ivey Wingo led all players in batting average and on-base-percentage in the 1919 World Series!
Well, maybe not everyone forgot. A humourous scribe wrote in the Fresno Morning Republican not long after the Fall Classic ended, this passage:
"The Rath of Cincinnati fell upon the White Sox. More and more did it Groh upon them each time the Reds did Sallee forth. They heard their death-knell Ring. Luque and see. It was a dump Koft who pulled a Rariden a bone, but errors were not so bad in fact Rariden in other Series. Moran and more the White Sox worried until finally they were made to see Red when Ivey let his Wingo."
References
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Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005.
Fountain, Charles. Betrayal: The 1919 World Series and the Birth of Modern Baseball. OXFORD University Press, 2017.
Morissey, Scott C. 114 World Series in 1 Book. Updated ed., Pandamonium Publishing House, 2020.
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----------------“Cicotte Keeps Socks in Series, Trimming Cincinnati 4 to 1.” The Cincinnati Enquirer, 19 Oct. 1919. (Reprinted in 1919 Cincinnati Reds, Sewell, J. Scott)
Sanborn, I E. “Sox Humbled In Fourth Game, 2-0.” Chicago Sunday Tribute, 5 Oct. 1919. (Reprinted in 1919 Cincinnati Reds, Sewell, J. Scott)
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Society For American Baseball Research, SABR, https://sabr.org/. 28 Mar. 2023.
Shoeless Joe Jackson Virtual Hall of Fame, https://www.blackbetsy.com/. 28 Mar. 2023.
“Sport Jottings.” The Fresno Morning Republican, 22 Oct. 1919, p. 17, https://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/607256071/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2023. (Via Newspapers.com)
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