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1919 Project – Game 7

Despite the rumors already circulating about Cicotte’s erratic performances in Games 1 and 4, White Sox manager Kid Gleason showed faith in his ace for Game 7. This time, the knuckleballer did not let him down.

Chicago scored early and, for once, it was Cincinnati that committed the errors. The Reds threatened only briefly in the sixth before losing 4–1, and suddenly the Series was relatively close again. This did not go unnoticed by gamblers Sullivan and Rothstein, who were suddenly very worried about their investments.

Before the Series started, the Sox had been strong favorites and few doubted they could win two games in a row—presuming that they were trying to win. Rothstein had been too smart to bet on individual games, but had about $270,000 riding on Cincinnati to win the Series.

The night before Game 8, Lefty Williams—the scheduled starter—was supposedly visited by an associate of Sullivan’s known only as “Harry.” Harry left no doubt that if Williams failed to blow the game in the first inning, he and his wife would be in serious danger.

The 1919 Project (preview)

In 1919, the Cincinnati Reds won the World Series. For some reason, though, that series is best remembered as the series the White Sox lost. (You can Google “1919 World Series” if you don’t already know why.)

People seem to forget that the Reds had a better record than the Sox in 1919. The Reds were 96-44 that year, while the Sox were just 88-52. The White Sox were favored in the series because the American League was viewed as the stronger league, having won 8 of the 9 previous championships.

But I don’t think it’s fair to say that the Reds couldn’t have won it without the whole Black Sox affair.

So…to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Reds’ 1919 World Series victory, I’m creating a card for each member of the team (plus one for manager Pat Moran).

I’ll be writing up the cards with a few details about the players and 1919 Series, which is going to take a while, but I’m posting a few of the cards here as a sneak preview.