1918 was one of the most interesting seasons in Cubs history. The Cubs had their first good team since they started playing at Cubs Park (now known as Wrigley), and they made it all the way to the World Series. Along the way, however, there were some memorable twists and turns.

On Memorial Day, the Cubs had a huge fist fight on the field. Cubs catcher Bill Killefer got into an argument about a foul ball with Greasy Neale of the Reds. It escalated quickly into a fight, and Neale was beating the crap out of Killefer. He had him pinned to the ground and was punching his face mercilessly when Hippo Vaughn stepped in to stop the fight. It took most of Greasy's teammates to get him back into the dugout after Hippo was through with him.

America entered “The Great War” in 1918, and baseball actually considering canceling the season at the time. Instead, on August 1st, they shortened it to 140 games. The government announced that September 2nd was the last day for anyone who was of draft age to report for duty, or to find a war related job. This included the ballplayers themselves—although they granted a waiver for anyone playing in the World Series. All draft-age men were told that they had until September 1st to find an essential job or they were going into the armed services. Baseball wasn’t considered essential.

Cubs park (Wrigley) became a dangerous place to go if you were of draft age. They didn't just take your tickets at the gate, federal agents were standing by to check everyone's registration card to make sure there were no draft dodgers attending the games. Anyone of draft age who didn't have a card was held for investigation.

On September 1st, the Cubs were in first place in the National League and the Red Sox were in first place in the American League, so they played against each other in the only September World Series in baseball history. The Cubs played their home games at Comiskey Park because it held more fans. That decision angered both the Cubs fans and the players--it effectively eliminated their home field advantage.

This is also the series that White Sox pitcher Eddie Cicotte alleged was thrown by the Cubs. A close examination of the facts around the series does seem to lead some credence to his claims.

For one thing, the players were all very upset that baseball was reducing player shares because of the war. In 1917 the players on the winning team each received more than $3600. In 1918, they received $1103. The Cubs (photo) and Red Sox players were both so upset by this (including star Red Sox pitcher Babe Ruth), they staged a strike just before Game 5 at Fenway. The start of the game was delayed for more than sixty minutes as the players representatives held talks with the national commission—they were holding out for $2000 a man. The commission, led by Boston Mayor John Fitzgerald (JFK's gramps), wouldn't budge. With the crowd getting angry, and the realization hitting them how bad they would look if they held out for money when the country was at war, the players buckled and played.

The circumstances certainly were ripe for a disgruntled team to throw a game or two. There were also two suspicious plays in the series. In Game 4, pitcher Shufflin' Phil Douglas made an error that allowed the game winning run in the bottom of the 8th. Then, on September 11, 1918, in the earliest final game in World Series history (game 6), Cubs outfielder Max Flack (photo) dropped an easy fly ball which allowed two runs to score. The Red Sox won that game 2-1, and the series.

Did the Cubs throw the series? Probably not. Phil Douglas only handled 63 fielding chances that entire year. It's totally believable that his error wasn't intentional. In addition to that, he was only a relief pitcher. It's hard to believe that a relief pitcher would be part of a fix, considering starters often pitched complete games in a big series like this. As for Max Flack, he was a well-known butcher in the outfield. He had 12 errors just the season before.

Other than those two plays, there weren't any unearned runs in the series. The pitchers obviously weren't jaking it. Only 18 total runs were scored (10 by the Cubs, 8 by the Red Sox). The two staff aces, Hippo Vaughn for the Cubs and Babe Ruth (photo) for the Red Sox, both pitched magnificently.

Baseball looked into the allegations while they were investigating the 1919 Series (that the White Sox did throw), and found no evidence at all of the Cubs cheating.

Legitimate or not, neither the Red Sox nor the Cubs won the World Series the rest of the century.