By Woodrow Carroll
Earlier this year there was considerable concern for Major League Baseball’s (MLB) getting off the ground this season. It was in jeopardy with the COVID-19 scare making life miserable.
The MLB played this season, albeit in truncated form. For those of us used to a 162-game season, a 60-game schedule lacked substance. Still, a shortened season is better than no season.
Sixteen teams qualified for a shot at the World Series under this year’s expanded playoff format.
The two teams with the best regular-season records ended up in the World Series. The Los Angeles Dodgers, 43-17, with the best record is playing the Tampa Bay Rays, 40-20, the team with the best record in the American League
Every World Series produces a bit of the unusual and exotic. With that thought in mind, we take a glance at the 1918 World Series.
It was not COVID-19 or the Spanish Flu that caused trouble in the 1918 World Series. World War I was the culprit.
Teams were told to suspend operations by Labor Day. The two league winners, Boston Red Sox in the American League and Chicago Cubs in the National League, played in the World Series.
Frame of reference: The Red Sox were 90-62, in 152 games, in 1917. In 1918 with wartime restrictions they played 126 games.
In name recognition, the most recognizable figure to emerge from the 1918 World Series was be Babe Ruth. Ruth played 1914-1935 and was best known early as a pitcher for the Red Sox.
The Red Sox defeated the Chicago Cubs, four games to two in the 1918 World Series. Ruth was the winning pitcher in two games for Boston. The most unusual feature was the lack of scoring.
The scores of the six games in the Series were 1-0, 3-1, 2-1, 3-2, 3-0, and 2-1. Ruth won the opener and picked up the victory in relief in game four.
Despite on-field success, the Red Sox were struggling financially, a situation that caused them to trade Ruth to the New York Yankees after the 1919 season.
Aided by the acquisition of Ruth, the Yankees became a baseball power. The Red Sox declined.
Even when the Red Sox made it to the World Series in later years, the they fell short. In 1946 they lost in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals who prevailed over Boston in seven games in 1967. Cincinnati edged Boston in seven games in 1975. The New York Mets won in seven games in 1986.
The Red Sox ended an 86-year World Series drought in 2004 by mastering the Cardinals, four games to zero. The success spigot was turned on and Boston was in no hurry to shut it off. The Red Sox repeated as World Series champions in 2007, 2013, and 2018. In fact, over the past 20 seasons, Boston has laid claim to more championships than any Major League Baseball side.
The Chicago White Sox took their cue from Boston in 2005 and bounced the Houston Astros in four straight games to end an 88-year fallow time.
We must not forget the 2016 Chicago Cubs who ended 108 years of frustration by beating the Cleveland Indians. The Cubs’ success moved the Indians into the franchise with the longest World Series wait. Cleveland last won the World Series in 1948, 72 years in arrears.