October 4th, 1920 served as the travel day for the Cleveland Indians who head to Brooklyn to meet the Dodgers in the 1920 World Series.
The Indians dominated on both sides of the ball, leading the AL in runs per game a 5.56, while finishing with the second lowest runs allowed per game at 4.18. The Indians posted both a high team batting average and an extremely high OBP, .303 and .376. They did not hit a ton of home runs, but led the AL in doubles and finished second in triples. On the pitching side, they struck out 3.2 batters per nine inning, and that led the league. They were also good at limiting walks.
No team in the NL came close to matching the Indians offense. Brooklyn finished third in the NL with 4.26 runs scored per game. Like the Indians, the Dodgers were a high doubles and triples offense, but were near the bottom of the league in walks. The Dodgers did not steal much compared to other teams in the NL, but still attempted 150 steals. They were caught 80 times.
Where the Dodgers shone was pitching. They allowed just 3.42 runs per game, best in the NL. They struck out 3.5 batters per nine innings, also leading the league.
The American League game shifted to higher power on offense in 1920, something the NL did not do. The question is, will the great Brooklyn rotation be able to reign in the Indians?
Cleveland is favored to win the series 5 to 6.
Babe Ruth starts a barnstorming tour against what we now know as Negro League teams. On this day, he faced the Bacharach Giants and their ace, Dick “Cannonball” Redding.
The man known as “Cannonball” performed masterfully, pitching a shutout into the seventh, when the Babe pleased the crowd by clouting a solo homer. Meanwhile, the Giants hit Mays hard, tallying eight runs before Ruth relieved him. The final score was 9 to 4.
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Ruth would continue the tour through most of October, then head to Cuba.
On the front page, a story notes that Charles Comiskey, owner of the White Sox, sent $1,500 to each of his honest players from the 1919 pennant winner:
“As one of the honest ball players of the Chicago White Sox of 1919, I feel that you are deprived of the winner’s share of the world’s series receipts though no fault of yours,” Comiskey’s letters to the players said. “I do not intend that you, as an honest ball player, should be penalized for your honesty or by reason of the dishonesty of others, and therefore take pleasure in handing you $15,000, being the difference between the winner’s and the loser’s share.”
New York Tribune