On October 4, the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox played Game 4 of the 1919 World Series at Comiskey Park in front of 34,363 fans.
Eddie Cicotte, the Game 4 White Sox starter, was determined not to look as bad as he had in Game 1. For the first four innings, he and Reds pitcher Jimmy Ring matched zeroes. With one out in the fifth, Cicotte fielded a slow roller by Pat Duncan but threw wildly to first for a two-base error. The next man up, Larry Kopf, singled to left; Cicotte cut off the throw from Jackson and fumbled the ball, allowing Duncan to score.
The home crowd was stunned by the veteran pitcher’s obvious mistake, and those who were wondering if the series was crooked now had more evidence.
Next, Cicotte gave up a double to Greasy Neale. This scored Kopf to make it 2–0. The Reds had scored 2 runs in the inning off 2 errors by Cicotte. That was enough of a lead for Ring, who threw a three-hit shutout of his own to match Kerr’s gem in Game 3. The Reds now led the Series 3–1.
Chicago manager Kid Gleason was stunned by his team’s loss. “Itwas nothing but hard luck that beat the White Sox,” he said. “I don’t believe that all of the luck in the Series can be on one side.”
Later that evening, gambler “Sport” Sullivan came through with $20,000 for the Black Sox players, which Gandil split equally among Risberg, Felsch, and Williams, who was due to start Game 5 the next day.
Pat Duncan is credited with hitting the first home run to go out of the park at Redland Field, but John Beckwith of the Negro National League’s Chicago Giants hit one out a month earlier.
Ring & Neale were both traded to the Phillies after the 1920 season in the deal that brought Eppa Rixey to the Reds.
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