The newsletter is slowly browsing the best 50. The best team in baseball. Today's story focuses on No. 47 of the Chicago White Sox in 1917.
Here is a quick boilerplate note attached to each story I have in this series:
I compiled the best 50 by analyzing 2,544 major league teams from 1903 to 2024. (The historical percentile for a given club is the percentage of its other 2,543 teams.)
Please refer to my book to explain my TS calculations. The book also offers a separate breakdown of the best and worst clubs every decade, along with a comprehensive overview of the best 50 (including a position-by-position lineup and more information than you will find in this newsletter), and a similar summary of the 10 worst teams of all time.
Now enter today's profile.
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Team: Chicago White Sox in 1917
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Team Score: 85.163 points
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Ranking History: 47 of 2,544
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Historical percentile: 98.19%
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Seasonal record: 100-54 (.649)
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Season position: No. 1 in the American League
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Final identity: World Champion
A pair of smart acquisitions resurrected the Chicago White Sox and had not won the American League flag since 1906. Superstar Eddie Collins In December 1914, purchased from Philadelphia Track and Field for $50,000. Joe JacksonIt was an amazing batsman, eight months later in a deal with the Cleveland Indians.
The offensive spark provided by Collins and Jackson pushed the White Sox to second place in the American League in 1916, behind champion Boston Red Sox two games. Chicago won the AL championship in 1917 with a nine-game mat.
Victory is shrouded in rumors that the Sox has been engaging in a scheming lead. A group of Chicago players led by first baseman Little Chicken GandirThe Detroit pitcher reportedly paid a pair of doubles over Labor Day weekend, and Sox actually won all four games, winning 34 runs in the process. American League officials and White Sox executives chose to ignore gossip.
Get a complete low in 50 greatest (and 10 weakest) clubs of all time
John McGrawThe New York Giants have qualified for three world competitions over the past decade, but have lost three world competitions. McGraw prepares for an unhappy winning streak for the 1917 series, although experts suspect the Giants will lose again. “I can't see how they will be defeated.” Sports News Correspondent Joe Vila. “McGraw will make everyone on the team suitable for fighting for their lives.”
The White Sox confused the experts by participating in the first two games. The Giants ended with a back-to-back closed-door occasion with the series and then ran out of steam. Sox beat 14 hits in his fifth win of 8-5 and capitalized in Game 6 with three failed runs. Chicago won the championship with a 4-2 victory.
The cheerful 39-year-old White Sox manager, Pants Rolandclose to a poppclec McGraw to shake hands after the postseason. “Stay away from me, you, your boole,” McGraw snarled.
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The White Sox was surprised and even shocked – Eddie CicotteAs the pitcher's ace suddenly appeared. The 33-year-old commander shaped the Pedestrians’ 119-100 record in 10 seasons last season, but he exploded 28 victories in 1917, with an era of 1.53, leading both categories of American leagues. beginner Left-handed Williams,,,,, Red Fabreand Reb Russell Together, they won 48 victories.
The club’s two best batsmen have released decent statistics, although everyone has reason to be disappointed. Left fielder Joe Jackson hit the .301, the worst all-season average of his 13-year career. Second baseman Eddie Collins hit the .289 with his first under 0.300 advantage since 1908. The two stars have little in common except baseball skills. Jackson is functionally illiterate. “It doesn't need school stuff to help guys play,” he said, a graduate of the Ivy League.
All eight players in the 1919 World Series – the infamous Black Sox – were members of the Chicago 1917 squad, including five regulars in the infield and outfield. The future illegality, one of the midfield guards Happy Fairsthe Leader'17 Sox averaged .308, while 99 runs.
Three Clean Soxes – those who aired live in 1919 – will eventually be included in the Hall of Fame: Collins, Farber and Ray Schalk. The latter beat only .226 in 1917, but he was agile and durable, perhaps the best defensive catcher of his time.
