1908 / 1919 Crosstown Classic Imagined: A Cubs vs. White Sox Simulation From Chicago Sports Stuff and Strat-O-Matic
Can Shoeless Joe Jackson and the "Eight Men Out" 1919 White Sox find historical redemption, or will Tinker, Evers, Chance, and the World Series-winning 1908 Cubs own the Windy City?
THE CITY OF CHICAGO HAS HAD it’s fair share of infamous teams. The Bartman Cubs. The Rodman Bulls. The Double Doink Bears.
But no team was more infamous than the 1919 Chicago White Sox.
As detailed in Eliot Asinof’s brilliant book Eight Men Out — and if you haven’t read it, freakin’ read it — that Sox team was dominant af, and would’ve placed among the franchise’s best had it not been for a dumbass gambling scandal that left them forever known as the Black Sox.
And that’s unfortunate, because that team was stacked.
You’ve got second baseman Eddie Collins, who hit .319 with 33 stolen bases. (Nobody stole bases in 1919.)
You’ve got starters Eddie Cicotte and Lefty Williams, who combined for 52 wins, 235 K’s, and an ERA of 2.23.
And you’ve got the majestic Shoeless Joe Jackson, one of the most heartbreaking figures in sports history.
As detailed by Asinov, Shoeless was the clueless ringleader of the whole gambling mess, a mistake that led to his career being all but dismissed…and what a career it was.
Jackson was one of the great players of his era — if not in the entirety of Major League history — but the scandal kept him out of the Hall of Fame. Dude had a .356 career batting average. That just ain’t right.
Here, Chicago Sports Stuff and Strat-O-Matic give Jackson a shot at redemption, as his Sox will battle the 1908 Cubbies in a best-of-seven clash.
And those 1908 Cubs were no joke.
Led by the sick infield of Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance, as well as a pitching staff anchored by Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown (29 wins, 1.47 ERA) and Ed Reulbach (24 wins, 2.03 ERA), the North Siders racked up 99 wins and took home a World Series title, something the franchise wouldn’t do again until 2016. Yikes.
So how would (arguably) the best-ever White Sox team fare against (arguably) the best-ever Cubs game in a best-of-seven?
Statistically speaking, it’s all but impossible to tell, as the Sox played 140 games to the Cubs 158…all of which is why this Chicago Sports Stuff / Strat-O-Matic simulated Chicago vs. Chicago series is one of the most fascinating you’ll ever see.
(Game descriptions courtesy of Strat-O-Matic.)
GAME ONE
Eddie Cicotte took a nifty three-hitter into the ninth inning and was an out away from recording the shutout win. But three straight hits, the last a run-scoring single by Harry Steinfeldt, gave the hosts the victory in the opener.
Some eyebrows were initially raised (and maybe some scorecards circled?) when the knuckleballer committed an error in the seventh inning that let the potential tying run reach second. But Cicotte struck out Steinfeldt with the go-ahead runs on base, two innings before the third baseman would get his revenge.
Final: Cubs: 2 - White Sox: 1
(Cubs lead 1-0)
GAME TWO
The White Sox put this one to bed early, blasting Ed Reulbach and Jack Pfiester for nine runs in the first four innings for the easy triumph to tie the series. Happy Felsch blasted a three-run first-inning home run and also had RBI hits in the second and fourth as part of a four-for-four day.
Buck Weaver, Joe Jackson, and winning pitcher Lefty Williams had two hits apiece, and Williams scattered seven hits, allowing one earned run in the complete game effort.
Final: White Sox: 9 - Cubs: 3
(Tie 1-1)
GAME THREE
The scene shifted from West Side Grounds to Comiskey Park, but the result was much the same as Game 2 — an early thumping of the Cubs’ starter en route to a White Sox win.
A run-scoring double by Weaver and two-run single by Felsch gave the Pale Hose the lead, and after RBI on infield grounders by Eddie Collins and Weaver made it 5-0,
Felsch kept up his power hitting with his second home run of the series, a solo shot that made it 6-1 in the third. Dickie Kerr was more than up to the challenge, going all the way for the win.
Final: White Sox: 7 - Cubs: 1
(White Sox lead 2-1)
GAME FOUR
A rematch of the Game 1 starters produced another classic pitchers’ duel, and this time Cicotte was able to finish off the shutout, spinning a three-hitter, walking none and facing just one over the minimum in the blanking.
The hosts scored in the fourth on an RBI single by Swede Risberg, plating Felsch, who had singled and stolen second.
Final: White Sox: 1 - Cubs: 0
(White Sox lead 3-1)
GAME FIVE
The pitching dominance of the South Siders kept up in what turned out to be the series finale, as Williams put plenty on his curveball, permitting just five hits to make RBI hits by Felsch and Weaver and an other run on an error stand up.
Final: White Sox 5 - Cubs: 0
(White Sox win series 4-1)
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Happy Felsch (White Sox): .579 BA, 2 HR, 9 RBI
Nemo Leibold (Cubs): .353 BA
Joe Jackson (White Sox): .353 BA, 4 R
Eddie Collins (White Sox): .333 BA
Johnny Kling (Cubs) .313 BA
Claude Williams (White Sox) 2-0 record, 0.50 ERA
Eddie Cicotte (White Sox) 1-1 record, 1.02 ERA
Dickie Kerr (White Sox) 1-0 record, 1.00 ERA
Okay, got a quick answer for you: They're doing a deadball-era set later this year, and at least one of those teams will be included.
wish they would create card sets for these 2 seasons