Wikipedia

1918 Boston Red Sox season

The 1918 Boston Red Sox season was the 18th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished first in the American League (AL) with a record of 75 wins and 51 losses, in a season cut short due to World War I. The team then faced the National League (NL) champion Chicago Cubs in the 1918 World Series, which the Red Sox won in six games to capture the franchise's fifth World Series. This would be the last World Series championship for the Red Sox until 2004.

1918 Boston Red Sox
World Series Champions
American League Champions
1918 Boston Red Sox team photo, with Babe Ruth fourth from left in the back row
1918 Boston Red Sox team photo, with Babe Ruth fourth from left in the back row
LeagueAmerican League
BallparkFenway Park
CityBoston, Massachusetts
Record75–51 (.595)
League place1st
OwnersHarry Frazee
ManagersEd Barrow
StatsESPN.com
Baseball Reference
← 1917 Seasons 1919 →

With World War I ongoing, a "work or fight" mandate was issued by the government, requiring men with non-essential jobs to enlist or take war-related jobs by July 1, else risk being drafted.[1] Secretary of War Newton D. Baker granted an extension to MLB players through Labor Day, September 2.[2] In early August, MLB clubs decided that the regular season would end at that time.[3] As a result, AL teams played between 123 and 130 regular-season games (including ties),[4] reduced from their original 154-game schedules. Later in August, Baker granted a further extension to allow for the World Series to be contested;[2] it began on September 5 and ended on September 11.[5] World War I would end two months later, with the Armistice of 11 November 1918.

Due to the entry of the United States into World War I, several Red Sox players enlisted with the military over the winter of 1917-1918. Notable players who enlisted included Pitchers Ernie Shore and Herb Pennock, Outfielder Duffy Lewis, as well as Manager Jack Barry.[6]

The Red Sox' pitching staff, led by Carl Mays and Bullet Joe Bush, allowed the fewest runs in the league. Babe Ruth was the fourth starter and also spent significant time in the outfield, as he was the best hitter on the team, leading the AL in home runs and slugging percentage.

After this season the Red Sox would fall into mediocrity as they traded away most of their star players to other teams, most notably sending Ruth to the Yankees in 1920. The team would not have another winning record until 1935, 18 years later.

Regular season

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Season standings

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American League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Boston Red Sox 75 51 .595 — 49‍–‍21 26‍–‍30
Cleveland Indians 73 54 .575 2½ 38‍–‍22 35‍–‍32
Washington Senators 72 56 .562 4 41‍–‍32 31‍–‍24
New York Yankees 60 63 .488 13½ 37‍–‍29 23‍–‍34
St. Louis Browns 58 64 .475 15 23‍–‍30 35‍–‍34
Chicago White Sox 57 67 .460 17 30‍–‍26 27‍–‍41
Detroit Tigers 55 71 .437 20 28‍–‍29 27‍–‍42
Philadelphia Athletics 52 76 .406 24 35‍–‍32 17‍–‍44

Record vs. opponents

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1918 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS CWS CLE DET NYY PHA SLB WSH
Boston — 12–7 10–10 13–5 6–11 13–6 14–5 7–7
Chicago 7–12 — 10–11 6–10 12–6 11–10 5–5 6–13
Cleveland 10–10 11–10 — 10–3 11–7–1 13–7–1 10–6 8–11
Detroit 5–13 10–6 3–10 — 9–10–1 9–11 10–10 9–11–1
New York 11–6 6–12 7–11–1 10–9–1 — 8–4 10–10–1 8–11
Philadelphia 6–13 10–11 7–13–1 11–9 4–8 — 8–10 6–12–1
St. Louis 5–14 5–5 6–10 10–10 10–10–1 10–8 — 12–7
Washington 7–7 13–6 11–8 11–9–1 11–8 12–6–1 7–12 —


Opening Day lineup

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Harry Hooper RF
Dave Shean 2B
Amos Strunk CF
Dick Hoblitzel 1B
Stuffy McInnis 3B
George Whiteman LF
Everett Scott SS
Sam Agnew C
Babe Ruth P

Roster

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1918 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Player stats

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Batting

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Starters by position

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Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
C Sam Agnew 72 199 33 .166 0 6
1B Stuffy McInnis 117 423 115 .272 0 56
2B Dave Shean 115 425 112 .264 0 34
SS Everett Scott 126 443 98 .221 0 43
3B Fred Thomas 44 144 37 .257 1 11
OF George Whiteman 71 214 57 .266 1 28
OF Amos Strunk 114 413 106 .257 0 35
OF Harry Hooper 126 474 137 .289 1 44

Other batters

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Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Babe Ruth 90 317 95 .300 11 66
Wally Schang 88 225 55 .244 0 20
Dick Hoblitzel 25 69 11 .159 0 4
George Cochran 24 60 7 .117 0 3
Wally Mayer 26 49 11 .224 0 5
Jack Stansbury 20 47 6 .128 0 2
Jack Coffey 15 44 7 .159 1 2
Frank Truesdale 15 36 10 .278 0 2
Walter Barbare 13 29 5 .172 0 2
Hack Miller 12 29 8 .276 0 4
Heinie Wagner 3 8 1 .125 0 0
Eusebio González 3 5 2 .400 0 0
Red Bluhm 1 1 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Carl Mays 35 293.1 21 13 2.21 114
Joe Bush 36 272.2 15 15 2.11 125
Sam Jones 24 184.0 16 5 2.25 44
Babe Ruth 20 166.1 13 7 2.22 40
Dutch Leonard 16 125.2 8 6 2.72 47
Lore Bader 5 27.0 1 3 3.33 10

Other pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Jean Dubuc 2 10.2 0 1 4.22 1
Dick McCabe 3 9.2 0 1 2.79 3

Relief pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Vince Molyneaux 6 1 0 0 3.38 1
Walt Kinney 5 0 0 0 1.80 4
Bill Pertica 1 0 0 0 3.00 1
Weldon Wyckoff 1 0 0 0 0.00 2

Awards and honors

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League top ten finishers

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Bullet Joe Bush

  • #3 strikeouts (125)
  • #5 earned run average (2.11)

Harry Hooper

  • #3 runs scored (81)

Carl Mays

  • #3 wins (21)
  • #5 strikeouts (114)

Babe Ruth

  • #1 home runs (11)
  • #1 slugging percentage (.555)
  • #2 on-base percentage (.411)
  • #3 runs batted in (66)

1918 World Series

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Main article: 1918 World Series

AL Boston Red Sox (4) vs. NL Chicago Cubs (2)

Game Score Date Location Attendance
1 Red Sox – 1, Cubs – 0 September 5 Comiskey Park 19,274
2 Red Sox – 1, Cubs – 3 September 6 Comiskey Park 20,040
3 Red Sox – 2, Cubs – 1 September 7 Comiskey Park 27,054
4 Cubs – 2, Red Sox – 3 September 9 Fenway Park 22,183
5 Cubs – 3, Red Sox – 0 September 10 Fenway Park 24,694
6 Cubs – 1, Red Sox – 2 September 11 Fenway Park 15,238

References

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  1. ^ Baker, Kendall; Tracy, Jeff (April 6, 2020). "Special report: War, fever and baseball in 1918". axios.com. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Verducci, Tom (June 22, 2020). "Love, Loss and Baseball: Letters From the Hub, Chapters VI - IX". SI.com. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  3. ^ "Cutting Down Baseball Season Favors Present Club Leaders for Final Honors". Star-Gazette. Elmira, New York. August 5, 1918. p. 8. Retrieved October 8, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "The 1918 Season". Retrosheet. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  5. ^ "The 1918 Post-Season Games". Retrosheet. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  6. ^ Golenbock, Peter (2015). Red Sox Nation: The Rich and Colorful History of the Boston Red Sox (4th ed.). Chicago, Illinois: Triumph Books. p. 54. ISBN 9781629370507.
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