1918 World Series
| 1918 World Series | |||||||||||||
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| Dates | September 5–11 | ||||||||||||
| Umpires | Hank O'Day (NL), George Hildebrand (AL), Bill Klem (NL), Brick Owens (AL)† | ||||||||||||
| Hall of Famers |
Umpires: Bill Klem, Hank O'Day. Boston Red Sox: Harry Hooper, Babe Ruth. Cubs: Grover Cleveland Alexander (dnp). |
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| Team (Wins) | Manager | Season | |
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| Boston Red Sox (4) | Ed Barrow | 75–51, .595, GA: 2 1⁄2 | |
| Chicago Cubs (2) | Fred Mitchell | 84–45, .651, GA: 10 1⁄2 |
The 1918 World Series featured the Boston Red Sox, who defeated the Chicago Cubs four games to two. The Series victory for the Red Sox was their fifth in five tries, going back to 1903. The Red Sox scored only nine runs in the entire Series, the fewest runs by the winning team in World Series history. Along with the 1906 and 1907 World Series (both of which the Cubs also played in), the 1918 World Series is one of only three Fall Classics where neither team hit a home run.
The 1918 Series was played under several metaphorical dark clouds. The Series was held early in September because of the World War I "Work or Fight" order that forced the premature end of the regular season on September 1, and remains the only World Series to be played entirely in September. The Series was marred by players threatening to strike due to low gate receipts.
The Chicago home games in the series were played at Comiskey Park, which had a greater seating capacity than Weeghman Park, the prior home of the Federal League Chicago Whales that the Cubs were then using and which would be rechristened Wrigley Field in 1925. The Red Sox had played their home games in the 1915 and 1916 World Series in the more expansive Braves Field, but they returned to Fenway Park for the 1918 series.
Game 1 of the 1918 World Series marked the first time "The Star Spangled Banner" was performed at a major league game. During the seventh-inning stretch, the band began playing the song because the country was involved in World War I. The song would be named the national anthem of the United States in 1931, and during World War II its playing would become a regular pre-game feature of baseball games and other sporting events. The winning pitcher of Game 1 was Babe Ruth, who pitched a shutout.
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