by Harmon Jolley
posted November 4, 2005
) Advertisement for train trip to 1917 World Series. Click to enlarge. |
Prior to the start of Game 4 of the World Series, I changed the channel to Chicago’s WGN. Chicago’s city officials were discussing preparations for controlling the fan frenzy should the White Sox win that night. One official noted that he had attempted to talk with a fan who was around for the last championship of the Chisox. However, since that last occurred in 1917, he said that he was unable to find anyone.
Eighty-eight years of saying, “Wait ‘til next year.” Eighty-eight years of players being traded, and managers being fired. Eighty-eight hopeful spring times followed by eighty-eight autumns of disappointment. All those years culminated in the Chicago White Sox sweeping the World Series over Houston on October 26, 2005.
The lengthy interval since their last victory party caused me to ponder what baseball coverage had been like in Chattanooga’s newspapers of 1917. I expected to find very little to no coverage of the major leagues, since the closest team was hours away to the north in Cincinnati. If I did find any news of the World Series, I expected that it would not resemble how that baseball is reported today. My prejudices were about to be erased after I reviewed what was on the microfilms at the library.
CHATTANOOGA’S INTEREST
In 1917, the Chattanooga Times and Chattanooga News reported each day’s events as of the morning and evening respectively. The United States had entered World War I earlier that year on April 6, 1917. The reporting of the war was in stark contrast to any fun events reported from the ball parks.
I reviewed the September 1, 1917 newspapers to see what was being reported at the start of the pennant stretch. I expected to find coverage of the last days of the Southern League schedule, and did find Chattanooga’s Lookouts being mentioned along with other SL teams. However, the major league teams were given even more coverage.
As the season neared its end, neither league had a close pennant race among its eight teams. The Chicago White Sox led by a 9-game margin over the Boston Red Sox, winners of the 1916 World Series. The New York Giants (antecedent of the present-day San Francisco Giants) commanded a comfortable 10-game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies.
One oddity that I noted was that the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians played two exhibition games AFTER the regular season ended.
I was surprised to find that Chattanooga’s interest in the World Series was strong. The Southern Railway advertised a $24.60 round-trip to the World Series opener in Chicago. Several local dignitaries were reported as being on board, but may have missed the start of Game 1 due to the train being late.
TIMELINESS OF REPORTING
I expected to find a delay of at least one day in the timeliness of reporting. However, with connections to news wire services, both newspapers were able to report the World Series games on a timely basis. The games were held in the early afternoon, so the Chattanooga News was able to give the scores and highlights in their evening edition.
The Chattanooga News on October 2nd also invited the public to come downtown, and witness live coverage of the game in progress: “An Associated Press wire, direct to the ball park, where the pennant winners will contend for world honors, will flash the news of every play, even to balls and strikes, within a few seconds after it occurs.” The play-by-play was reported on a bulletin board in front of the News Building.
At Wilder Tower in Chickamauga, World Series games were also reproduced via the Coney Electrograph – “the greatest baseball board in the county” according to the advertisement. Staying up-to-date on the scores cost patrons the huge admission price of twenty-five cents.
DEPTH OF REPORTING
OK, so the news was timely. I still didn’t expect to find in-depth baseball coverage like we see today, with “up close and personal” profiles of players and managers, position-by-position comparisons of the two teams, and all of the behind-the-scenes news. Wrong again I was.
In terms of the word count in their articles, the two newspapers excelled over any printed or electronic form of baseball coverage today. The front page was devoted to a recap of the game, with more details available inside the paper.
The Chattanooga Times profiled the two managers, John McGraw of the Giants and Clarence Rowland of the White Sox, in the September 29, 1917 edition. The headline read, “Two Leaders in Contrast.” McGraw was described as a hard taskmaster, while Rowland gave advice.
Position-by-position coverage was also featured. The Chattanooga News of October 3rd said that “Effective pitching will be the outstanding factor” and profiled the opposing pitchers Sallee (NY) and Cicotte (CHI). Catchers were described as the “backbone of the defense.” The News of October 11th also noted that a former Chattanooga Lookout, Rube Benton, pitched for the Giants in their win of Game 3.
A combination of drawings and actual photographs was used to help readers to visualize the players and events.
STATISTICS
OK, so Chattanoogans were interested in the Series, and were able to get timely, in-depth coverage. I’ll wager that the readers of 1917 received all of the statistics available to baseball fans today. Again, I am in the loss column.
While simple line scores were shown for many of the regular season games, the 1917 World Series was reported through box scores. Inning-by-inning events were reported, similar to the format used by USA Today.
CONCLUSION
Regarding my bias towards our modern age, I have to admit that the world of 1917 was more advanced than I had imagined. It was clear that by 1917, baseball had become a national sport. When radio and television later came on the scene, those two forms of media appealed to an already-established fan base.
The Chattanooga News of October 15, 1917 reported “White Sox Capture World’s Pennant 4-2.” A photograph of twelve of the Sox players accompanied the article.
For the Chicago White Sox, the ensuing seasons would seem very long. The rival Boston Red Sox re-captured the title in 1918, though that team began its own drought of championships the next year, ending in the 2004 World Series.
The White Sox returned to the World Series in 1919, losing to Cincinnati. However, eight of the Chicago players were accused of scheming to lose the Series in return for payments from gamblers. One of the players “Shoeless” Joe Jackson became known to new generations through the “Field of Dreams” motion picture of 1989.
Chicago made it back to the World Series in 1959, losing to the Trolley-Dodgers who by then had moved to Los Angeles. After the two leagues split into divisions, the White Sox advanced to the postseason a few times, but did not advance to the World Series until 2005.
If an ancestor shared memories of the 1917 World Series with you, or you are a Chattanooga-based White Sox fan, please send me an e-mail at jolleyh@bellsouth.net. As for the Atlanta Braves fans, “Wait ‘til next year.”
) Chattanooga News hosted live coverage by wire of World Series. Click to enlarge. |
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