September 24, 1919: The Cicotte Betrayal (That Never Happened) & the Ruth Record

Eddie Cicotte

September 24, 1919: The Chicago White Sox beat the St. Louis Browns, 6-5 at Comiskey Park, and clinch their 2nd American League Pennant in the last 3 years. They come back from a 5-2 deficit, capped by "Shoeless" Joe Jackson letting loose a drive that could have been a triple, had the Sox not needed only the one base of Nemo Leibold scoring from 3rd.

Legend has it that the biggest reason the 8 players later banned for life, including Jackson and Ed Cicotte, took money to throw the World Series is that team owner Charlie Comiskey promised Cicotte a bonus of $10,000 -- about $166,000 in 2022 money -- if he won 30 games this season, then ordered manager William "Kid" Gleason to hold Cicotte out of games after the 29th win, so Comiskey wouldn't have to pay up.

In fact, no evidence has ever been found that the promise was made. Cicotte came into this game with 29 wins, but was losing when Gleason took him out. And Gleason gave Cicotte his last regularly-scheduled start, 4 days later, at home to the Detroit Tigers, but he only lasted 2 innings. It sounds like, if you want to blame anyone for Cicotte not winning 30 games that season, you should blame Cicotte himself first, and Gleason second.

Also on this day, the New York Yankees split a doubleheader with the Boston Red Sox at the Polo Grounds. In the opener, "Sad Sam" Jones pitched a 5-hit shutout, and the Sox won, 4-0.

In the nightcap, the Yankees won 2-1. The only Boston run came in the 9th inning, when Babe Ruth hit a home run over the right field roof, at least the 2nd time he'd done that at the Polo Grounds. It was his 28th home run of the season, a new record. Ned Williamson had hit 27 for the 1884 Chicago White Stockings (forerunners of the Cubs). But the Yankees won the game in the bottom of the 13th, when Wally Pipp hit a leadoff triple against Waite Hoyt, and then Del Pratt hit a sacrifice fly to bring him home. Hoyt had pitched all 13 innings, as had Yankee starter Bob Shawkey.

Ruth, of course, would soon become a Yankee. So would Jones, and Hoyt, and current Sox pitchers Herb Pennock and "Bullet Joe" Bush. The value of the pitchers who went from the Sox to the Yanks was more important in the 1910s Boston dynasty becoming the 1920s New York dynasty than Ruth.

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September 24, 1919 was a Wednesday. These other baseball games were played that day:

* A doubleheader was split at Braves Field in Boston. The New York Giants won the 1st game, 6-1. Jesse Barnes won his 24th game of the season. The Boston Braves won the 2nd game, 3-2. Tony Boeckel singled Dorsey "Dixie" Carroll home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

Over the 2 games, Frankie Frisch went 2-for-9, Ross Youngs went 2-for-7 with 2 walks and an RBI, and George "High Pockets" Kelly went 3-for-8 with an RBI. Art Fletcher went 4-for-5 in the 1st game, but did not play in the 2nd game.

* The Brooklyn Robins, as the Dodgers were known while Wilbert Robinson managed them from 1914 to 1931, swept a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-1 and 14-7 at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia. Over the 2 games, Zack Wheat went 3-for-9 with a walk and 4 RBIs.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-1 at Navin Field (later renamed Briggs Stadium and Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Hubert "Dutch" Leonard outpitched Jim Bagby Sr. Ty Cobb went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Tris Speaker went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* And the Chicago Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds, the Philadelphia Athletics, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Washington Senators were not scheduled.