How sports betting affected the 1912 World Series

In my post about sports gambling, I mentioned in passing the 1919 World Series, the most famous case of an American sporting event being fixed. I also noted that this wasn’t the first World Series in which gambling affected the outcome of games.

Gambling affected the outcome of at least one game in the 1912 Series, albeit in an unusual way. It may also have affected games in other Series prior to 1919.

The 1912 Series was between two great teams: The Boston Red Sox (led by Tris Speaker, arguably one of the five best centerfielders of all time) and New York Giants (managed by John McGraw and featuring Christy Mathewson, arguably the best pitcher in the history of the National League).

Mathewson wasn’t even the best pitcher in the 1912 Series, though. That distinction belonged to (Smokey) Joe Wood. His record that season was 34-5 with a 1.91 ERA. Mathewson, a bit past his prime, was 23-12 with a 2.12 ERA.

Wood was a central figure in the betting saga. The other figure, albeit indirectly, was Red Sox owner Jimmy McAleer, a former player.

In those days, running a baseball team was something of a shoestring proposition. Thus, even more than today, owners were always looking to squeeze extra revenue from the enterprise.

One way an owner could make extra money was if his team made the World Series and the Series went the maximum number of games, thus producing the maximum revenue. Players, though, received no benefit from a long series. Their cut was (and still is, I think) determined by attendance at the first four games. This was to make sure they had no incentive to prolong a series through dishonest play.

In the 1912 Series, the Red Sox took a three games to one lead over the Giants. This was due in large part to Wood’s pitching. He earned two of the Red Sox three victories, allowing only four runs in 18 innings.

Wood was scheduled to pitch the next game (which was Game 6 because Game 2, suspended due to darkness, had ended in a 6-6 tie). Most expected the Sox to wrap up the Series in this game.

Wood certainly expected this, as did his brother. The brother bet heavily on the Red Sox.

McAleer feared the result that the Wood brothers desired. A win by his team would cost him the revenue from Game 7 and maybe Game 8, which were scheduled to be played at Fenway Park before (presumably) a full house.

Accordingly, McAleer ordered his manager, Jake Stahl, not to pitch Wood. He ordered that Stahl select Buck O’Brien, instead.

O’Brien wasn’t a bad pitcher. He had performed well in the Sox 2-1 defeat in Game 3. He might have performed well in Game 6, too, if he had been told he would start.

But, on McAleer’s orders, O’Brien was not so informed. Thus, O’Brien, who liked to drink, went out on the town the night before the game.

Predictably, the Giants shelled him in Game 6. He allowed five runs before being replaced in the second inning. The Giants won 5-2.

Red Sox players and fans were furious at the decision to start O’Brien. Wood’s brother was probably the most upset of all, with Wood himself running a close second.

Game 7 was Wood’s to pitch, but the real Smokey Joe didn’t show up. After his first few pitches, the Giants’ leadoff batter announced to his teammates that the Red Sox ace had nothing. To prove the point, the Giants went one better against Wood than they had against the hungover O’Brien. They scored six runs in the first off of baseball’s best pitcher, and went on to win 11-4.

Wood’s brother, betting heavily against the Red Sox that day, won back his losses from Game 6. It was rumored that some Red Sox players, angry about the decision to start O’Brien in Game 6, also bet on the Giants and cashed in.

Game 8 would be the decider. Ironically, it was played before a half-full Fenway Park. Many fans boycotted the game because the seats reserved for the “Royal Rooters, ”a hardcore group of Red Sox supporters, had been sold to other fans in Game 7. (The Royal Rooters most famous member was John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, mayor of Boston and grandfather of JFK.)

Wood asked to start Game 8. After all, he had only thrown about a dozen pitches the day before.

Stahl had other ideas. He gave the ball to Hugh Bedient, a 20-game winner and winner of Game 5 over Mathewson, 2-1, whom McGraw sent out to pitch the decider. But Wood took over in the eighth inning and picked up his third win of the Series when Boston came back from one run down in the tenth to prevail, 3-2.

Matthewson took his second loss of the Series, though it wasn’t his pitching that did him in.

Game 8 of the 1912 World Series is among the most thrilling World Series games ever played. You can read about it here.

Yet, the game probably would not have been played, but for bets that were placed in the two previous contests.

NOTE: Much of the information in this post comes from The First Fall Classic: The Red Sox, the Giants, and the Cast of Players, Pugs, and Politicos Who Reinvented the World Series in 1912, by Mike Vaccaro.