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1917 White Sox Photo Gallery Photo Gallery
Click on any image below to view entire gallery:
Spotlight on the World Series: White Sox vs. Giants, 1917
“Who the hell was I supposed to throw to, Bill Klem?” –Heine Zimmerman, commenting on one of the most controversial plays in World Series history (Read on to see what it was!)
Our on-going tour through the World Series stops today in 1917. In the first photo below, we see a beautiful colorized restoration of the White Sox outfield in the 1917 World Series. L-R: “Clean” Eddie Murphy, John “Shano” Collins, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, Hap Felsch, and Nemo Leibold (from ManCave Pictures). I’ve posted this one before, but it’s worth another look!
Click on this link to see a nice 25-photo gallery of the 1917 World Series Champion White Sox:
In the 1917 World Series, the White Sox beat the Giants four games to two. The Series was played against the backdrop of World War I, which dominated American newspapers that year and the next. The White Sox were managed by Pants Rowland, making his only post-season appearance; while the Giants were managed by John McGraw, who had recently won pennants in 1911, ‘12, and ‘13, but lost all three World Series.
A strong White Sox team had finished the 1917 season with a 100–54 record (.649), a club record for wins that still stands; while the Giants went 98-56 (.636) in the regular season. The Series featured a total of six Hall-of-Famers: umpires Bill Klem and Billy Evans; White Sox Eddie Collins, Red Faber, and Ray Schalk; and Giants John McGraw.
Eddie Collins was the hitting star, batting .409 over the six games; while Eddie Cicotte and Red Faber combined to pitch 50 out of a total 52 innings for the White Sox. The great athlete Jim Thorpe made his only World Series “appearance” during Game Five, where he was listed in the lineup as starting in right field, but for his turn at bat in the top of the first inning he was replaced by Dave Robertson.
The first two games were played at Chicago’s Comiskey Park. The Sox won Game One 2–1 behind a complete game by Eddie Cicotte. Happy Felsch hit a homerun in the fourth inning that provided to be the winning run. The Sox beat the Giants in Game Two 7–2 behind another complete game effort, this time by Red Faber and took a 2-0 Series lead.
In New York for Game Three, Cicotte again threw a complete game, but the Sox were shut out by Giants’ starter Rube Benton and lost 2–0. In Game Four, the Sox were again shut out 5–0 by Ferdie Schupp. Faber threw another complete game, but the Series was even at 2–2 going back to Chicago.
Reb Russell started Game Five in Chicago, but only faced three batters before being lifted for Cicotte. Going into the bottom of the seventh, the Sox were down 5–2, but they rallied to score three in the seventh and three in the eighth to win 8–5. Faber pitched the final two innings for the win. In Game Six, the Sox took an early 3–0 lead and on the strength of another complete game victory from Faber (his third of the Series) won 4–2 and clinched the World Championship.
The Famous 1917 World Series Play: Heinie Zimmerman Chases Eddie Collins Across the Plate!
The decisive game featured a controversial rundown in which Giants’ third baseman Heinie Zimmerman futilely chased the speedy Eddie Collins toward home plate with what was the Series-winning run. Catcher Bill Rariden had run up the third base line to start a rundown, expecting pitcher Rube Benton or first baseman Walter Holke to cover the plate. However, neither of them budged, forcing Zimmerman to chase Collins while pawing helplessly in the air with the ball in an attempt to tag him. Two years before the “Black Sox” scandal, Zimmerman found himself having to publicly deny purposely allowing the run to score, and that he had “thrown” the game. A famous quote often attributed to Zimmerman, but actually invented by writer Ring Lardner some years later, was that when asked about the incident, Zimmerman replied, “Who the hell was I supposed to throw to, Bill Klem?” Zimmerman was eventually banned for life from baseball due to various accusations of corruption.
-Gary Livacari
Photo Colorization and Editing – Chris Whitehouse https://www.facebook.com/mancavepictures?fref=photo
Photo Credits: All from public domain
Information: Excerpts edited from the 1917 World Series Wikipedia page. Read more at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1917_Chicago_White_Sox_season
Statistics from Baseball Reference.com
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