The 1917 White Sox: Their World Championship Season (review)

Even though the Red Sox Nation has been relieved of its angst over the curse of the Bambino, Chicago baseball fans, both American League and National League, remain the longest-existing original franchises to have not tasted the fruits of World Series victories. The Cubs of 1908 and the White Sox of 1917 remain as the symbols of long-standing "high anxiety" among the baseball nation.

The 1917 Chicago White Sox and the 1919 variation of this squad were the second iteration of Comiskey-owned teams to win the American League banner. They had dominated the first years of the American League and had been in eclipse from 1906 through 1917. With strong pitching, solid hitting, and great defense, this squad was able to win the American League by 9 games over the Red Sox. They then dominated the Giants in the World Series in what has to be the high point of the Comiskey regime in Chicago.

Wilbert and Hageman do a fine job of re-creating the 1917 season, focusing on the nuances of the process of the pennant fight. They show clearly and without reservation the cliques and controversies that surrounded this team and use the unraveling of the 1917 season to give their views on the ill-fated 1919 Black Sox team as well. They use the 1917 championship season to reach conclusions as to why the 1919 Chisox elected to become involved with gamblers and the throwing of the Series. There are no startling insights or revelations that other scholars have not revealed about how this championship team became involved in the scandal.

Spryly written and thoroughly pleasant to read, The 1917 White Sox is a good addition to the literature on baseball in the early twentieth century. White Sox fans will be glad to see how a championship team is put together, something that obviously has been lacking in Chicago for nearly a century.