Babe Ruth and the 1918 Red Sox

1918. When the Boston Red Sox are having a good season there’s no escaping that date. Sports announcers talk about the “Curse of the Bambino” while fans of opposing teams taunt Boston diehards with chants of “nine-teen-eight-teen.” The year of course is the last season the Red Sox won the World Series. Babe Ruth and the 1918 Red Sox is the first complete account of Boston’s last championship. Though the year is famous fans and even baseball historians know very little about the events of the season. Even the most knowledgeable baseball fan will find one revelation shocking: Wood has uncovered the possibility that the 1918 World Series may have been fixed much like the notorious 1919 “Chicago Black Sox” scandal. During that tumultuous summer the Great War in Europe cast an ominous shadow over the national game as enlistments and the draft wreaked havoc with every teams roster. Players and owners fought bitterly over contracts and revenue the parks were infested with gamblers and the Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs almost called off the World Series. And a Boston player known as The Colossus 23-year-old Babe Ruth began his historic transformation from pitching ace to the games greatest slugger. Allan Wood’s extensive original research and lively narrative brings to life a time when the Red Sox ruled the American League. In addition to poring over miles of microfilm Wood spoke with descendants of the 1918 players as well as two men who knew Babe Ruth in 1918. With 34 pages of photographs many never-before published Babe Ruth and the 1918 Red Sox is a must-read for Red Sox fans and lovers of baseball history. “Mr. Wood has lit upon one of the most turbulent and at the same time least known years in baseball history. He has done remarkable revelatory research and he has a clean clear way of writing.” Robert W.