Golden Baseball Magazine

Post-Season Surprises

This feature discusses players who unexpectedly played key roles in the World Series or other post-season play .
George Whiteman - 1918 World Series
When George Whiteman left his left field post at Fenway Park in the eighth inning of the sixth game of the 1918 World Series, the crowd of 15,238 gave him a standing ovation.
  • Whiteman took himself out of the game because he had injured his shoulder making a somersaulting catch.
  • The fans applauded him not only for the catch but for all that he had done to put the Red Sox in posi­tion to win the Series over the Chicago Cubs, which they did that day.
  • No one noticed the player who trotted out to left field to replace Whitman. He was one of the best pitchers in the American League - another George, last name Ruth, who had been the winning pitcher in two of the three games the Sox had previously won in the 15th Fall Classic.

Whiteman had been a career minor leaguer.

  • He had played four games with Boston in 1907 and eleven with the New York Yankees in 1913.
  • The United States's entry into World War I in the spring of 1917 provided Whiteman another big league chance. By 1918, a number of major league players served in the military or worked fulltime in war-related industries.
  • The Red Sox lost their left-fielder from what was generally regarded as the best outfield in the American League if not in all of baseball. Duffy Lewis spent 1918 in the Navy coaching a baseball team in California.
  • Boston's CF Tris Speaker had played with Whiteman in the Texas League. In fact, the Red Sox acquired the future Hall of Famer because of Whiteman. When Boston tried to buy Whiteman from Houston, the minor league club's owner insisted that Boston take Speaker also. Tris owed White­man and persuaded the Red Sox to acquire Whiteman to replace Duffy.

Whiteman, age 35, played in 71 games for the 1918 Bosox.

  • He hit .266 with only one homer in that Dead Ball Era but had 14 doubles and 28 RBI.
  • The reason he appeared in only 71 games is that he was platooned with Ruth, who played outfield when not pitching to get his potent bat in the lineup.
  • Nothing in Whiteman's resumé prepared Red Sox fans for his performance in the World Series.

Because of wartime travel restrictions, the first three games were played in Chicago and the rest in Boston.

  • Game One: Whiteman had two singles in four at-bats as Boston won 1-0 behind Ruth's six-hitter in the start of the World Series that still ranks as the one in which the fewest runs were scored.
    Ruth was in process of setting a World Series record of 29 2/3 scoreless innings that would not be broken until 1961 by Whitey Ford.
  • Game Two: George walked and singled in four plate appearances, the single knocking in the Sox's only run in the 3-1 loss that evened the Series.
  • Game Three: Whiteman scored the game's first run after getting hit by the pitch in the 4th. He also singled but, more importantly, made a "circus catch" in the 4th to rob Dode Paskert of a homer to help make Boston's 2-1 lead stand up. The game ended in a unique way in World Series history. The Cubs' 2B Charlie Pick was on second with two outs. He took 3rd on a passed ball but kept going in an effort to score the tying run. But he was thrown out at the plate.
  • Game Four: George drove home the winning run in the bottom of the 8th with a single to give Ruth the victory, 3-2. He also walked and scored in the 4th as Boston took a commanding 3-to-1 lead.
  • Game Five: A single kept Whiteman's hitting streak going. The Cubs stayed alive behind the 3-0 shutout of southpaw Hippo Vaughn.
    Game 5 started only after the players from both teams threatened to strike, citing the fact that poor attendance and a new plan to cut all first-division teams in on the Series money would greatly diminish their expected share of the first four games.
  • Game Six: In addition to his sensational catch in the 8th, George smacked a line drive in the 3rd that RF Max Flack dropped, allowing two runs to score. Carl Mays made the unearned tallies stand up to win the championship 2-1.
The war ended that fall, Lewis returned to the Red Sox for the 1919 season, and George Whiteman never played in another major league game.

L-R: Charlie Pick, Hippo Vaughn, Carl Mays

George Whiteman


Babe Ruth


Duffy Lewis


Tris Speaker


Dode Paskert