1918...Cubs and Sox, and war time issues that lasted...

1918, Wartime issues and a calculated risk

                In 1918, the war in Europe was still going on, although it was beginning to wane. It would end in November with Armistice. But it had a far more reaching effect in the seemingly insignificant baseball world.

                Many players were pressed into service, most of those through the draft. Several more enlisted. The White Sox appeared to be the team that was most severely depleted.  Joe Jackson, who was married and deferred from the draft by his draft board (a decision that was later overturned) left the White Sox and joined a ship making firm in Delaware. He was later joined there buy Sox teammate Lefty Williams.   

                White Sox owner Charles Comiskey was irate that these players opted to contribute to the war effort by working in the shipyards in lieu of signing up for military service and vowed that these men would never play for him again. And by that, he apparently meant in the 1918 season. For Williams and Jackson were key players for the Sox in 1919.

                While a few of the Chicago players opted to work in the factories instead of enlisting, the newspaper writers were especially hard on Joe Jackson. Through the 1918 season and on into the 1919 season, the writers were unrelenting in their criticism of Jackson. It is not a stretch to see Comiskey’s influence in that behavior, nor is it a stretch to see how and why Jackson may have chosen to rebel in some way in 1919.

Many more players (over seven hundred) saw some sort of action. Including Ty Cobb, Jimmie Dykes, Pete Alexander, Tony Lazzeri, Rube Benton, Kiki Cuyler, Ray Chapman, Wild Bill Donovan, Benny Kauff, Burleigh Grimes, Swede Risberg, Rube Marquard, George Sisler and Eppa Rixey, just to name a few.

                The impact of those lost players, combined with the public perception of ‘playing a game’ while American soldiers were laying their lives on the line, seemed superfluous. And baseball was not deemed a necessity, which hit the establishment hard. Right in the owner’s wallets.

                Many minor leagues suspended play in the wake of the war, but both major leagues were steadfast in keeping their one hundred-fifty-four game schedule intact. That then became a one hundred twenty-five game schedule. One of the concessions that was made by the owners was to shorten Spring Training time by half, to conserve resources and save money. In the end, both major leagues settled on a one hundred-forty game season. That was then shortened even further. The season ended on Labor Day weekend, with teams playing 125-130 games each. The lowest single season game totals until the strike shortened 1981 season.

                Attendance was drastically down in both leagues. Only Pittsburgh and Washington showed an increase.

                Boston Braves catcher Hank Gowdy was the first player drafted into the war. Eddie Grant was the first baseball fatality. Bun Troy, Alex Burr, Larry Chappell and Ralph Sharman would also give the ultimate sacrifice in the “War to end Wars”.

                Many more players were injured or damaged. Christy Mathewson was exposed to mustard gas and died a short while later due to complications. Pete Alexander was ‘shell-shocked’ which triggered epilepsy episodes, which was a stigma at the time. Some of his symptoms were blamed on alcoholism.      

                Back to the baseball management. To recoup their losses, the owners did something that was little remembered, but should be, considering what would happen the following season. At the end of the 1918 season, they essentially released all the players, making then all free agents. Then, in a bit of collusion (setting the groundwork for incidents seventy years later) they set about to re-sign all of their own players, sometimes at less than they had been paid or promised.

                Estimates are that the owners saved upwards of $250,000 between them with this scheme. With the 1919 an unsure venture, the owners may have seen this as an easy way to prepare for the possibility of another shortened season, or even the possibility of a cancellation. But without knowing for sure, I would believe that they had some insurance for themselves if the season was altered. Even if the players themselves didn’t.

                Some players did take the initiative to sue for the pay promised. Most notably was Brooklyn first-baseman Jake Daubert, who won his case. He was awarded back pay, as well as a small damages claim as well, and was promptly traded to Cincinnati.

                The bitterness felt by the players lingered for a while, and most definitely boiled over into the 1919 season. But that is a story for another day, or another page.

                In late August of 1918, the Reds were playing a game, against either the Cubs or Dodgers, that part is hard to track down. Reds first baseman Hal Chase saddled over to Reds pitcher Jimmy Ring during the game and is alleged to have said that he had money riding on the outcome of the game, and if he helped the Reds no win, there would “be a little something in it for you”.

                The pitcher ignored the statement, and the request, but wound up losing the game anyway. The next day, Chase was alleged to have handed Ring $25. Ring told his manager, Christy Mathewson, what had transpired, and a furious Matty immediately suspended Chase for the rest of the season.

                Chase denied all charges, claiming the money given to Ring was merely a gift. He sued Matthewson and the Reds team for the salary that was lost due to the suspension. There was a hearing held on this matter in January of 1919 at the National League office. Chase arrived with three lawyers and a clerk, with arm loads of papers. Mathewson was serving in Europe in the Army was unable to attend.

                National League President John Heydler is alleged to have believed Chase was guilty but had no evidence to support the claim. He was acquitted and allowed to rejoin the Reds.

                Upon his return from the war, Mathewson traded Chase to the New York Giants, where he played for John McGraw, a well-known horse player. Oblivious to the watchful eye of the National League officials, or feeling somewhat invincible, Chase persuaded Giants teammate Heinie Zimmerman to help bribe other Giants players to throw Giants games.

                Heydler finally found what he was looking for, when he got ahold of a photograph of a check from a Boston gambler that was made out to Chase. The check was for $500 and was payment for Chase’s assistance in throwing games. Both he and Zimmerman were barred for life in 1919.

                Some believe that Chase was instrumental in the World Series fix of 1919, where the heavily favored White Sox lost the Series to the Reds (his former team). While his involvement was never proven, in my research, he seemed to be more of an opportunist, finding out after the ‘fix was in’. What is known is that he did make some good money on his wagers on the Reds that October.

                The 1918 Series between the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs was noteworthy for several reasons. For many years, it was highlighted as the last Series for both teams before a long drought. It would be the last World Series victory for Boston until 2004. Called the “Curse of the Bambino”, the Red Sox appeared in a handful of Series’ in-between those years but wound up on the losing end. The Cubs would only appear in five World Series between 1929 and 1945, losing all of those. They next played in the Series in 2016, winning it and ending the longest championship drought in professional sports, going back to 1908.

                (A streak that started before the first World War)

                In the first game, during the seventh-inning stretch, a marching band came onto the field and performed “The Star-Spangled Banner”, to further appeal to American Patriotism. The song, which was not yet our National Anthem, would become a tradition at professional baseball games during World War II, and when speakers were more advanced for the crowds in attendance to hear and join in.

                Just prior to Game Five of the Series, players on both teams voted to strike in protest of the rumors that the players would not be paid their share for the post-season play. Unable to dispel the rumor, the vote was taken, and the decision made. No more baseball in 1918.

                However…

                With 25,000 or so fans in the stands in Boston, Mayor Fitzgerald played upon the patriotism of the players to continue (Boston had a three-games to one lead) and he negotiated a deal where the all proceeds from the Series were donated to a war charity. The game was played and the Cubs shutout the Sox 3-0. Boston then won the next game, and the Series. It was Boston’s fifth World Series championship in fifteen years…and the last for eighty-six years.   

                Statistically speaking, the top offensive teams were:

National League	American League
Reds	Indians
Cubs	Yankees
Giants	Tigers

                And the top pitching teams were:

Giants	Red Sox
Cubs	Senators
Pirates	Indians

                Overall, the top teams by power rankings were:

Cubs	National League Champions
Giants	2nd Place in NL
Red Sox	World Series Champions
Senators	3rd place in AL
Indians	2nd Place in AL

                Other tidbits from that 1918 season…

                For the first and only time in major league history, there was no Grand Slam home runs hit in the American League.

                Chicago Cubs pitcher Hippo Vaughn and Washington Senators pitcher Walter Johnson, each won the pitching Triple Crown. It was the first time that it happened in the same season.

                Speaking of Walter Johnson, he pitched fifteen extra-inning complete games, including an eighteen inning win over the White Sox in May.

                Cardinals hitter Cliff Heatchcote became the first Cardinal to hit for the cycle in the twentieth century.

                Brooklyn Robins outfielder Zack Wheat became the second player to lead the league in batting without hitting a single home run. It would be fifty-four years until Rod Carew would be the next to do so.

                And Lieutenant Leon Cadore, on furlough from the Army, pitched a four-hit shutout for the Robins over the Cardinals. Cadore would appear in just four games in 1918.

                Phillies slugger Gavvy Cravath established the record for the lowest batting average for a home run champion (.232) which would be broken in 1982 by Dave Kingman (.204).

                Babe Ruth would split his time between the pitcher’s mound and the outfield (save for a handful of appearances at first base) would tie for the American League lead in home runs with eleven. It would be the first Home Run crown of Ruth’s career.

                Philadelphia Athletics pitcher Scott Perry went 20-19 on the season, becoming the first American League pitcher to win 20 games for a last place team.

                Yankees catcher Truck Hannah would be the first major leaguer with a palindromic last name (spelled the same backwards and forwards).

                On to the analysis.

                We’ll look at the National League hitting first, which was 1.3% below the American League hitters, and 22.7% below the NL Pitcher performances. We get this initial top ten list:

Hitter	Team	Runs	RBI	AVG	RC/G
Edd Roush	Reds	61	62	.333	1.04
George J Burns	Giants	80	51	.290	1.07
Sherry Magee	Reds	46	76	.298	1.04
Heinie Groh	Reds	86	37	.320	0.97
Red Smith	Braves	55	65	.298	0.99
Dode Paskert	Cubs	69	59	.286	0.98
Les Mann	Cubs	69	55	.288	0.98
George Cutshaw	Pirates	56	68	.285	0.94
Rogers Hornsby	Cardinals	51	60	.281	0.92
Jake Daubert	Brooklyn	50	47	.308	0.88

                And then as compared to their teams, our top ten list looks like this:

Jake Daubert	Above
Zack Wheat	Brooklyn	39	51	.355	0.86
Red Smith	Above
Rogers Hornsby	Above
Al Wickland	Braves	55	32	.262	0.87
Fred Luderus	Braves	54	67	.288	0.93
George J Burns	Above
Edd Roush	Above
Cy Williams	Phillies	49	39	.276	0.87
Jim Johnston	Brooklyn	54	27	.281	0.66

                Combining and analyzing the numbers, our overall top ten offensive players were:

Edd Roush

Jake Daubert

Red Smith

George J Burns

Sherry Magee

Zack Wheat

Rogers Hornsby

Heinie Groh

George Cutshaw

Dode Paskert

                Switching to the American League, we get this list, which includes a part time player who managed to get enough qualifying plate appearances:

Ty Cobb	Tigers	81	62	.382	1.26
Babe Ruth	Red Sox	50	61	.300	1.05
Tris Speaker	Indians	73	61	.318	1.06
Bobby Veach	Tigers	63	84	.273	1.13
Braggo Roth	Indians	53	59	.283	1.05
Tioga George Burns	A’s	61	70	.352	0.96
George Sisler	Browns	69	41	.341	0.95
Harry Hooper	Red Sox	81	44	.289	0.98
Frank Baker	Yankees	65	62	.306	0.96
Ray Chapman	Indians	84	32	.267	0.90

                Against their teams, we get this list:

Ty Cobb	Above
Tioga George Burns	Above
Babe Ruth	Above
George Sisler	Above
Tillie Walker	A’s	56	48	295	0.82
Bobby Veach	Above
Harry Hooper	Above
Tis Speaker	Above
Larry Gardner	A’s	50	52	.285	0.80
Braggo Roth

                And that makes our top ten offensive American League players as such:

Ty Cobb

Babe Ruth

Tioga Gorge Burns

Tris Speaker

Bobby Veach

George Sisler

Braggo Roth

Harry Hooper

Frank Baker

Tillie Walker

                During this time, there was no official post season awards, so no voting results to list…

                To the National League pitchers, our initial rankings, which include Runs Allowed, were:

Pitcher	Team	W-L	ERA	RA
Hippo Vaughn	Cubs	22-10	1.74	2.33
Lefty Tyler	Cubs	19-8	2.01	2.41
Erskine Mayer	Pirates/Phillies	16-7	2.26	2.92
Wilbur Cooper	Pirates	19-14	2.11	2.83
Elmer Jacobs	Phillies/Pirates	9-6	2.41	2.85
Claude Hendrix	Cubs	20-7	2.78	3.36
Slim Sallee	Giants	8-8	2.25	3.00
Pol Perritt	Giants	18-13	2.74	3.17
Burleigh Grimes	Brooklyn	9-9	2.13	3.13
Frank Miller	Pirates	11-8	2.38	3.17

                And then as compared to their team averages, we gat this list of top ten:

Elmer Jacobs	Above
Brad Hogg	Phillies	13-13	2.53	3.28
Burleigh Grimes	Above
Red Ames	Cardinals	9-14	2.31	3.27
Erskine Mayer	Above
Wilbur Cooper	Above
Hod Eller	Reds	16-12	2.36	3.06
Hippo Vaughn	Above
Bill Doak	Cardinals	9-15	2.43	3.24
Rube Bressler	Reds	8-5	2.46	3.38

                This gets us to this top ten National League pitchers overall list:

Hippo Vaughn

Lefty Tyler

Elmer Jacobs

Erskine Mayer

Wilbur Cooper

Burleigh Grimes

Claude Hendrix

Brad Hogg

Slim Sallee

Hod Eller

                Over to the American League side, whose pitchers fared just a shade behind the NL hurlers, .001% lower in fact, we het this top ten initial list:

Walter Johnson	Senators	23-13	1.27	1.96
Babe Ruth	Red Sox	13-7	2.22	2.76
Carl Mays	Red Sox	21-13	2.21	2.88
Stan Coveleski	Cleveland	22-13	1.82	2.60
Sad Sam Jones	Red Sox	16-5	2.25	3.23
Scott Perry	A’s	20-19	1.98	2.63
Allan Sothoron	Browns	12-12	1.94	2.76
Bernie Boland	Tigers	14-10	2.65	3.04
Bullet Joe Bush	Red Sox	15-15	2.11	2.90
George Mogridge	Yankees	16-13	2.18	2.93

                Then, against their team averages, we get this list:

Scott Perry	Above
Bernie Boland	Above
Walter Johnson	Above
Stan Coveleski	Above
Allan Sothoron	Above
Babe Ruth	Above
Hooks Dauss	Tigers	12-16	2.99	3.78
George Mogridge	Above
Carl Mays	Above
Sam Jones	Above

                And that helps populate this top ten AL pitcher overall list:

Walter Johnson

Babe Ruth

Stan Coveleski

Scott Perry

Carl Mays

Sam Jones

Bernie Boland

Allan Sothoron

George Mogridge

Joe Bush

                Again, with no post season awards voting, I am taking free reign to list my top five players in each league for the 1918 season. My vote would be as follows:

National League

Hippo Vaughn

Player of the Year

Lefty Tyler

Elmer Jacobs

Erskine Mayer

Edd Roush

Offensive Player of the Year

American League

Ty Cobb

Player of the Year

Walter Johnson

Pitcher of the Year

Babe Ruth

Stan Coveleski

Scott Perry