Listen up. You might think that war has nothing to do with baseball. Not true. In 1919 war played a big part in baseball. I’ll explain and keep it short.

World War I, or The Great War, or “The war to end all wars”, held the world in a vice grip for four years. There is some dispute to this, but most people put the end of the war as November 11, 1918.

How did the war affect baseball? Many ways. The toll of war put major strain on the nation. Then came the “work or fight order”. Baseball was not considered work and players like Ty Cobb went off to fight. The White Sox even registered for the draft and held war exercises at Comiskey Park. I’ll have Rhonda dig around for some documents or photos. I think Shoeless Joe’s draft card is floating around somewhere. The 1918 World Series between the Red Sox and the Cubs was held early because of the war and had bad attendance. So when the war ended, America was ready to focus on good things. Baseball was one of these good things. Record crowds streamed through the turnstiles to see games. Baseball helped Americans come back from the years of war. Then the “fix” happens. The results can’t be good. But we’ll get to that later.

Just so you know, the 1918 World Series was Boston’s last until 2004. After the Series they got “cursed” by trading Babe Ruth to the Yankees.