1919 World Series Preview

By Mike Lynch

" ... Any man who knows anything about base ball and base ball players knows that both the game and its exemplars are absolutely honest so far as its public presentation is concerned, and any man who insinuates that the 1919 World's Series was not honorably played by every participant therein not only does not know what he is talking about, but is a menace to the game quite as much as the gamblers would be if they had a ghost of a chance of getting in their nefarious work."

-Francis C. Richter, Editor, 1920 Reach Base Ball Guide 

The esteemed Mr. Richter was obviously unwavering in his faith that no baseball contest was tainted and that no ballplayer was dishonorable. As the 1920 season unfolded, his gushing expressions became laughable and his faith would prove to be totally unfounded. Eight key members of the White Sox were implicated in a year-old gambling scandal and confessed that they threw the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. Despite being acquitted in a court trial, the infamous eight were banned from baseball for life by The Game's first commissioner, Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis. This shameful episode would forever be known in baseball lore as the Black Sox Scandal.

Were it not for the scandal, the 1919 World Series would have been as uneventful as most. We would have looked back on it and used would-be Hall of Famer Joe Jackson's .375 average as an affirmation of his greatness, wondered how Red Faber's presence may have affected the outcome and marveled at Eddie Cicotte's mastery in the wake of a 29-win season. We would have allowed that the leadership of second baseman Eddie Collins and catcher Ray Schalk led the White Sox to an easy victory over the upstart Cincinnati Reds, or perhaps would still be amazed by the Reds' upset of the powerful team from Chicago. It is more than likely that it would have been all but forgotten. Why? Because, come October, our minds prefer enchanting pictures painted by Carlton Fisk, Bill Mazeroski and Brooks Robinson instead of Dickie Kerr, Ivey Wingo and Morrie Rath.

Heading into the Series of 1919, the White Sox were considered the best team of the 20th century. The Sox boasted a lineup that included three eventual Hall of Famers-Collins, Schalk and Faber-and three others-Jackson, Cicotte and pitcher Lefty Williams-who were forging Hall of Fame careers. The Cincinnati Reds, on the other hand, had its share of stars, including third baseman Heinie Groh, but boasted only one eventual Hall of Famer-Edd Roush. Still, the Reds dominated the National League, winning a then-franchise-record 96 games against only 44 losses on the strength of a league-leading 2.23 team ERA, which was more than three-quarters of a run lower than Chicago's.

The Reds had come out of nowhere to win the pennant, having won only 68 of 128 contests the year before, finishing 15 ½ games behind the pennant-winning Cubs and five games behind the second-place Giants. Needless to say, the Reds were given virtually no chance to beat a White Sox team, which only two seasons before defeated the Giants in six games to capture the 1917 crown. But beat them they did, winning their first-ever World Series championship in an eight-game affair that saw the Reds take four of the first five games, before finishing off the White Sox in game eight. (The World Series had been expanded to a best-of-nine format prior to the season, in order to boost revenues lost by the truncated 1918 season that ended in early September due to World War I.)

Shortly before the end of the 1920 season, while fighting for their third pennant in four years, eight members of the White Sox were implicated in a gambling scandal and thrown out of baseball forever by baseball's first commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis.

So here we are, heading toward another Fall Classic and our insatiable appetites for tabloid fodder forces this series into the forefront of our consciousness as we struggle to answer the one question that has haunted many of us for 81 years. Had the Chicago White Sox not purposely thrown the Series, could the Cincinnati Reds have beaten them? We don't pretend to know the answer to this, but with the help of a computer and a baseball simulation program, we have replayed the 1919 World Series to see if Cincinnati could repeat its victory over a White Sox team, which was actually trying to win this time.

Edd Roush declared ". We could have beat them no matter what the circumstances!"

We're about to find out.

Tale of the Tape

*- Did not appear in World Series

Phil Rogers, Chicago Tribune