Between 1917 and 1920, there is no city series. That’s because both the Cubs and White Sox have built pennant winners. But with the country on the brink of war, controversy surrounds the 1918 and 1919 seasons. Sean Deveney breaks down a potential fix in the 1918 World Series and Jacob Pomrenke and Richard Lindberg try to make sense of the confirmed fix of 1919.
Extra Notes
- In addition to Red Faber, Cubs’ shortstop Charlie Hollocher also was struck by the Spanish Flu. So was Babe Ruth. Umpire Silk O’Loughlin, who was the arbiter for many city series games, was killed by the flu.
- Many current and former baseball players served during World War I. Eight of them were killed in their service, either in combat or illness, including former White Sock Larry Chappell.
- This has been a downer notes section, so a positive one: The 1919 season finished off a 20-year stretch in which the two Chicago teams won a combined ten pennants.
- This is most definitely going to be the last episode in this series in which the Cubs and Sox don’t play each other.
Sources and generally good reading*
The Betrayal: The 1919 World Series and the Birth of Modern Baseball by Charles Fountain
Turning the Black Sox White: The Misunderstood Legacy of Charles A. Comiskey by Tim Hornbaker
Scandal on the South Side: The 1919 Chicago White Sox Edited by Jacob Pomrenke
The 1917 White Sox: Their World Championship Season by Warren N. Wilbert and William C. Hageman
*Many books were used to research features of several episodes of this podcast. Each book will be listed only once.
Featured Songs
“Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning” by Al Sterling
“Royal Garden Blues” by Bix Biederbecke
“Over There” by George Cohan/Bob Crosby
“The Star Spangled Banner” written by Francis Scott Key
“For Your Country and My Country” by George Gershwin
“Alexander’s Ragtime Band” by Irving Berlin
“Song of India” by Paul Whiteman
“April Showers” by Louis SIlvers
Photos
All photos come from the George Grantham Bain Collection at the Library of Congress
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