1919 Cincinnati Reds: Overshadowed Winners

1919 Cincinnati Reds: Overshadowed Winners

1919 Cincinnati Reds: Overshadowed Winners

When baseball fans and historians look back on what happened in the 1919 World Series, the first topics of debate will always center around the players that were involved in the infamous “Black Sox Scandal”, 8 players representing the Chicago White Sox who took money bribes and then threw the World Series on purpose. Unfortunately what was overlooked and overshadowed in 1919 was the team that actually won that year’s World Series. The Cincinnati Reds played the game the right way, though they were never given the proper celebration that a championship team should have received.

In 1919 the Cincinnati Reds went 96-44, winning the National League pennant by 9 games over the New York Giants. The Reds went 12-8 against the Giants in head-to-head play. The Reds went 51-19 at home and 45-25 on the road.

The Reds were actually a solid team throughout the regular season, and in fact they started the season with a 7-game winning streak. This streak began on April 23 with a 6-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, and it ended on May 1 with a 6-3 win over the Cardinals. Later on in the season the Reds would go on a 10-game winning streak which began on August 19 with a 1-0 shutout win over the Brooklyn Dodgers, and it ended on August 26 with an 8-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Center fielder Ed Roush batted .321 with 71 RBI’s off 162 hits, 19 doubles, 12 triples ad 20 stolen bases. Third baseman Henry Knight “Heinie” Groh batted .310 with 63 RBI’s off 139 hits, 17 doubles, 11 triples and 21 stolen bases. Catcher Ivey Wingo batted .273 with 67 hits, 12 doubles and 6 triples in 76 games. First baseman Jake Daubert batted .276 with 148 hits, 10 doubles, 12 triples and 11 stolen bases. Shortstop Larry Kopf batted .270 with 136 hits, 18 doubles, 5 triples and 18 stolen bases. Second baseman Morrie Rath had 142 hits, 13 doubles and 17 stolen bases. Outfielder Alfred Earl “Greasy” Neale had 121 hits, 10 doubles, 12 triples and 28 stolen bases.

The pitching staff for Cincinnati was one of the most reliable in all of baseball. Starting pitcher Harry Franklin Sallee was either known as “Slim” or “Scatter”, but he painted the strike zone very well. Sallee went 21-7 with a 2.06 ERA, 22 complete games and 4 shutouts. Walter Henry “Dutch” Reuther went 19-6 with a 1.82 ERA, 20 complete games and 3 shutouts. Hod Eller went 19-9 with 137 strikeouts and a 2.39 ERA, recording 16 complete games, 7 shutouts and 2 saves. Ray Fisher went 14-5 with a 2.17 ERA, recording 12 complete games, 5 shutouts and 1 save. Jimmy Ring went 10-9 with a 2.26 ERA, recording 12 complete games, 2 shutouts and 3 saves. Relief pitcher Dolf Lugue went 10-3 in 9 games started, recording a 2.63 ERA, 6 complete games, 2 shutouts and 3 saves.

The 1919 World Series will forever be remembered as the event where 8 Chicago White Sox players intentionally misplayed grounded balls, threw bad pitches and swung at everything. However, the Cincinnati Reds stayed true to themselves and won this World Series 5 games to 3.

In Game 1 on October 1 at Redland Field the Reds pounded the White Sox 9-1. Dutch Ruether pitched a complete game, giving up 6 hits, 1 walk and 1 run while recording 1 strikeout. In the bottom of the 1st inning Heinie Groh had a sacrifice flu to score Morrie Rath. In the top of the 2nd first baseman Chick Gandill brought in the only Chicago run with an RBI single. In the bottom of the 4th Ivey Wingo had an RBI single, Ruether followed with a 2-run triple, Rath had an RBI double, and Jake Daubert topped things off with an RBI single. In the bottom of the 7th Groh had an RBI single, and then left fielder Pat Duncan grounded into a forceout at second base, scoring Groh. In the bottom of the 8th Ruether had an RBI triple.

The Reds then won Game 2 on October 2 by the score of 4-2. In the bottom of the 4th inning Ed Roush had an RBI single, and then Larry Kopf followed with a 2-run triple. In the bottom of the 6th Greasy Neale had an RBI single. In the top of the 7th catcher Ray Schalk had a single, and a combination of errors led to unearned runs scored by shortstop Swede Risberg and Schalk.

In Game 3 on October 3 at Comiskey Park I the White Sox blanked the Reds 3-0. The Reds then came back to win Game 4 on October 4 in a 2-0 shutout. Jimmy Ring pitched a complete game, giving up 3 hits and 3 walks while recording 2 strikeouts. The Reds only needed runs in the top of the 5th inning as Kopf had an RBI single and Neale had an RBI double.

The Reds then blanked the White Sox 5-0 in Game 5 on October 6. Hod Eller pitched a complete game, giving up 3 hits and 1 walk while recording 9 strikeouts. In the top of the 6th inning Rath had an RBI single, Roush had a 2-run triple and Duncan had a sacrifice fly to score Roush. In the top of the 9th Neale had an RBI groundout.

The White Sox showed flashes of what they could have been had it not been for the infamous scandal. In Game 6 on October 7 at Redland Field the White Sox won 5-4, and then the White Sox won Game 7 on October 8 by the score of 4-1.

In Game 8 the Cincinnati Reds realized that they could close out the Fall Classic, and they did just that on October 9 with a 10-5 win at Comiskey Park I. In the top of the 1st inning Roush had an RBI double, Duncan had a 2-run double, and catcher Bill Rariden followed with an RBI single. In the top of the 2nd Roush had another RBI double. In the bottom of the 3rd left fielder “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, one of the eight players who would be banned for life, hit a solo home run. In the top of the 5th Neale had an RBI single. In the top of the 6th Roush had a 2-run single and Duncan followed with an RBI single. In the top of the 8th Rariden had an RBI single. The White Sox had one last hurrah in the bottom of the 8th as Joe Jackson had a 2-run double, Chick Gandill had an RBI triple and Swede Risberg reached on an error to score Gandill. However, Chicago fell well short.

The 1919 World Series Championship was the first in franchise history for the Cincinnati Reds, but it would take the franchise another 20 years before they would appear in another World Series. Considered to be overshadowed winners because of how much the Chicago White Sox cheated, the Cincinnati Reds of 1919 are not often talked about as one of the best World Series teams in history. Looking at the talent and the statistics, it would seem that the Reds were worthy of being recognized as legitimate champions.