1918 Boston Red Sox season

The 1918 Boston Red Sox season was the 18th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished first in the American League (AL) with a record of 75 wins and 51 losses, in a season cut short due to World War I. The team then faced the National League (NL) champion Chicago Cubs in the 1918 World Series, which the Red Sox won in six games to capture the franchise's fifth World Series. This would be the last World Series championship for the Red Sox until 2004.

1918 Boston Red Sox
1918 World Series Champions
1918 American League Champions
1918 Boston Red Sox team photo, with Babe Ruth fourth from left in the back row
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record75–51 (.595)
League place1st
Other information
Owner(s)Harry Frazee
Manager(s)Ed Barrow
StatsESPN.com
BB-reference
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With World War I ongoing, a "work or fight" mandate was issued by the government, requiring men with non-essential jobs to enlist or take war-related jobs by July 1, else risk being drafted.[1] Secretary of War Newton D. Baker granted an extension to MLB players through Labor Day, September 2.[2] In early August, MLB clubs decided that the regular season would end at that time.[3] As a result, AL teams played between 123 and 130 regular-season games (including ties),[4] reduced from their original 154-game schedules. Later in August, Baker granted a further extension to allow for the World Series to be contested;[2] it began on September 5 and ended on September 11.[5] World War I would end two months later, with the Armistice of 11 November 1918.

The Red Sox' pitching staff, led by Carl Mays and Bullet Joe Bush, allowed the fewest runs in the league. Babe Ruth was the fourth starter and also spent significant time in the outfield, as he was the best hitter on the team, leading the AL in home runs and slugging percentage.

Regular season

Season standings
American League W L Pct. GB Home Road
Boston Red Sox 7551 0.595 — 49–21 26–30
Cleveland Indians 7354 0.575 2½ 38–22 35–32
Washington Senators 7256 0.562 4 41–32 31–24
New York Yankees 6063 0.488 13½ 37–29 23–34
St. Louis Browns 5864 0.475 15 23–30 35–34
Chicago White Sox 5767 0.460 17 30–26 27–41
Detroit Tigers 5571 0.437 20 28–29 27–42
Philadelphia Athletics 5276 0.406 24 35–32 17–44

Record vs. opponents
1918 American League Records

Sources:
Team BOS CWS CLE DET NYY PHI STL WSH
Boston —12–710–1013–56–1113–614–57–7
Chicago 7–12—10–116–1012–611–105–56–13
Cleveland 10–1011–10—10–311–7–113–7–110–68–11
Detroit 5–1310–63–10—9–10–19–1110–109–11–1
New York 11–66–127–11–110–9–1—8–410–10–18–11
Philadelphia 6–1310–117–13–111–94–8—8–106–12–1
St. Louis 5–145–56–1010–1010–10–110–8—12–7
Washington 7–713–611–811–9–111–812–6–17–12—

Opening Day lineup
Harry HooperRF
Dave Shean2B
Amos StrunkCF
Dick Hoblitzel1B
Stuffy McInnis3B
George WhitemanLF
Everett ScottSS
Sam AgnewC
Babe RuthP

Roster
1918 Boston Red Sox
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Player stats

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
CSam Agnew7219933.16606
1BStuffy McInnis117423115.272056
2BDave Shean115425112.264034
SSEverett Scott12644398.221043
3BFred Thomas4414437.257111
OFGeorge Whiteman7121457.266128
OFAmos Strunk114413106.257035
OFHarry Hooper126474137.289144

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Babe Ruth9031795.3001166
Wally Schang8822555.244020
Dick Hoblitzel256911.15904
George Cochran24607.11703
Jack Stansbury20476.12802
Wally Mayer264911.22405
Jack Coffey15447.15912
Frank Truesdale153610.27802
Walter Barbare13295.17202
Hack Miller12298.27604
Heinie Wagner381.12500
Eusebio González352.40000
Red Bluhm110.00000

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Carl Mays35293.121132.21114
Joe Bush36272.215152.11125
Sam Jones241841652.2544
Babe Ruth20166.11372.2240
Dutch Leonard16125.2862.7247
Lore Bader527133.3310

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Jean Dubuc210.2014.221
Dick McCabe39.2012.793

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Walt Kinney50001.804
Vince Molyneaux61003.381
Bill Pertica10003.001
Weldon Wyckoff10000.002

Awards and honors

League top ten finishers

Bullet Joe Bush

  • #3 strikeouts (125)
  • #5 earned run average (2.11)

Harry Hooper

  • #3 runs scored (81)

Carl Mays

  • #3 wins (21)
  • #5 strikeouts (114)

Babe Ruth

  • #1 home runs (11)
  • #1 slugging percentage (.555)
  • #2 on-base percentage (.411)
  • #3 runs batted in (66)

1918 World Series
Main article: 1918 World Series

AL Boston Red Sox (4) vs. NL Chicago Cubs (2)

GameScoreDateLocationAttendance
1Red Sox – 1, Cubs – 0September 5Comiskey Park19,274
2Red Sox – 1, Cubs – 3September 6Comiskey Park20,040
3Red Sox – 2, Cubs – 1September 7Comiskey Park27,054
4Cubs – 2, Red Sox – 3September 9Fenway Park22,183
5Cubs – 3, Red Sox – 0September 10Fenway Park24,694
6Cubs – 1, Red Sox – 2September 11Fenway Park15,238

References
  1. Baker, Kendall; Tracy, Jeff (April 6, 2020). "Special report: War, fever and baseball in 1918". axios.com. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  2. Verducci, Tom (June 22, 2020). "Love, Loss and Baseball: Letters From the Hub, Chapters VI - IX". SI.com. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  3. "Cutting Down Baseball Season Favors Present Club Leaders for Final Honors". Star-Gazette. Elmira, New York. August 5, 1918. p. 8. Retrieved October 8, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
  4. "The 1918 Season". Retrosheet. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
  5. "The 1918 Post-Season Games". Retrosheet. Retrieved October 8, 2020.


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