DEVENEYThe Original Curse: Did the Cubs Throw the 1918 World Series to Babe Ruth's Red Sox and Incite the Black Sox Scandal?

Did the Cubs "throw" the 1918 World Series? The author reviews the season and explains the pressures that the players were under throughout that as a build-up to the series. He presents some very interesting scenarios and allows the reader decide if there was a "fix" perpetrated by some of the players. I do not believe in "curses" on ball teams, so the book's title was a bit off-putting. However, if you've read about the Black Sox scandal the following year, you will find this worth reading.

Author Sean Deveney raises some interesting questions about whether the 1918 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs was played on the up-and-up.Although the circumstances were right for crookedness in baseball and some regular season games were definitely fixed in 1918, according to Deveney, he admits that it's debatable if the World Series was fixed.Given the circumstances, however, no one should be shocked if the World Series was fixed. Gambling was one of baseball's greatest negatives and rumors persisted about players throwing games. Gamblers were active and open at the ballparks. But baseball refused to confront the problem, choosing instead to sweep it under the rug. If a player was suspected of throwing games, he most likely was quietly traded.The Cubs had a number of players with shady pasts, including Lee Magee, Claude Hendrix, Fred Merkle and Phil Douglass.Uncertainty dominated baseball and the World Series in 1918. The advent of World War I siphoned the talent from many teams. Secretary of War Newton Baker declared the season would end on Sept. 1. The World Series was scheduled to begin Sept. 5, yet no one was quite sure if it would be allowed to be played.The 1918 World Series suffered from reduced fan interest and limited projected revenues, based on lower ticket prices and 10 percent of the gate receipts slated to go to charity. For the first time, players in the World Series were to split 60 percent of the revenue from the first four games (with a $2,000 per man cap for the winners and $1,400 per man for the losers), while the remainder was to be split among the teams that finished second, third and fourth in the two leagues. When the players were informed that the winners would receive $1,200 per man and the losers would receive $800, they were understandably angry.The first three games were poorly attended in Chicago and the quality of play slipped afterwards when the players found out they would be receiving considerably less money. The players threatened to strike before Game 5, demanding more money.In addition to the players named above, Deveney points fingers at infielder Charlie Hollocher and outfielder Max Flack for their suspicious play.Although there's no smoking gun of evidence, Deveney raises enough questions to make one doubt that the Series was played on the level.

This book is very well written, an enjoyable read, and a must read for avid baseball fans and in particular, Cubs and Red Sox fans. I would also recommend this book for those readers interested in American History. Most of the sports books I've read over the years tend to cover their subject matter in a vacuum, often ignoring contemporary events and the "texture of the times" which in my opinion, are relevant in any discussion. The impact of World War 1 on the Homefront was not only apparent in Major League Baseball, but in all aspects of American life, including (but not limited to) the economy, politics, and the military draft. The author never loses sight of this, and painstakingly addresses the 1918 baseball season within the context of America during World War 1. I highly recommend this book, which is as much a treatment of American History as it is a story of one season in Major League Baseball.

“The Original Curse” is a sometimes fascinating, sometimes flawed examination of the 1918 World Series. The author gives us a window into the world surrounding baseball in 1918, including how World War I impacted the season. I was especially fascinated by the information about the “Spanish” flu pandemic, as I read this book in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. The book also gives some interesting tidbits about personalities, like Billy Sunday, Hal Chase and Babe Ruth. However, the author relies too much on conjecture in trying to prove his thesis, which he ultimately fails to do. For example, he gives some helpful, interesting details about former ballplayer-turned-preacher Billy Sunday, but then divines for us what Sunday’s “primary aim” was. Also, his use of the word, “Puritan”, and his descriptions of Woodrow Wilson and Charles Comiskey are historically inaccurate. “The American Leadership Tradition” by Marvin Olasky gives a much more accurate view of Wilson; while Tim Hornbaker’s careful “Turning the Black Sox White” documents some of the problems with “The Original Curse’s” conjectural assertions about Comiskey. In straining to prove his case that the Cubs threw the 1918 Series, the author tells us concerning Game Five, “But, remember, the Cubs had to win. The teams were still trying to gain some concession on players’ shares, and if the Red Sox had won, the commission would have no reason to give up anything.” This assertion would seem to be a double-edged sword for the author, though, because there was no Game Seven. In spite of its flaws, “The Original Curse” is written by an entertaining storyteller, and is a worthwhile read.

I would recommend this book to any one that loves baseball history or the dead ball era. Anyone looking to figure out why the Black Sox threw the 1919 World Series, other than the neatly packaged account we’ve been given, may find those answers here.

A well researched book, with lots of quotes from newspapers from 1918. A look back at the 1918 season as America starts entering the war I Europe, and ball players are getting drafted. The author makes a good case regarding how easy it would be to fix a game, and raises the possibility, pointing at specific points during the world series, that the series was fixed.

As a student of the game, the 1918 World Series story really got to me. I really enjoyed the set-up put in place by the author. What was it like to live in those times, how players dealt with the Great War, what was the moribond athmosphere surrounding baseball?Once you smell the scent of 1918, you realize everything was in place for a fix to happen.I've got to know more about many players, such like Charley Hollocher, Les Mann, Bill Killefer, Max Flack and Hippo Vaughn.I won't say too much, and let you discover and make your own mind about those 1918 Chicago Cubs.