Sox Century: Aug. 7, 1917

Two days ago, the White Sox had no official game on their schedule, but it was far from a day off.

On Aug. 5, the White Sox traveled to Detroit in the middle of their series with the Philadelphia Athletics to make up a postponed game with the Tigers, who had to travel from New York themselves. It’s an idea that’s hard to fathom by today’s schedules, but there was extra money to be made on Sundays.

For all that effort, though, they couldn’t play. A downpour stopped the game in the third inning tied at 2, and so the Tigers had to hand out rain checks to a five-figure crowd, making the whole trip pointless.

The White Sox then returned to Philadelphia and lost in 11 innings yesterday, adding to the stress. Two days after starting in Detroit, Red Faber took the ball in this series finale, and he hit a wall, too. From the Chicago Tribune:

Still wabbling [sic] from the effects of their foolish trip to Detroit and yesterday’s overtime endeavor, the White Sox submitted today to an inglorious defeat at the hands of the formerly soft-boiled Athletics. Score, 8 to 1.

Poor weather threatened to halt this one, too. I.E. Sanborn wrote that the weather was “cloudy, excessively sultry and dark,” and that streetlamps went on in the seventh inning to provide additional light.

The recaps read like the White Sox suffered from a vitamin D deficiency. The A’s clobbered Red Faber, touching him up for 15 hits over 6 ²⁄₃ innings, and they didn’t stop when Dave Danforth or Lefty Williams entered in relief. All in all, Philadelphia outhit Chicago 19-4.

While Faber spent a lot of the day on the ropes, the A’s only led 2-1 through six, and Faber set the first two down in the seventh before a pair of singles put runners on the corners. Even then, the Sox handled a double steal correctly, except Ray Schalk dropped the ball at the plate for an error. The White Sox’ lone error of the game opened the floodgates. Faber left after allowing three singles, but Dave Danforth couldn’t find the final out until he allowed two more hits and two more outs. When the smoke cleared, Philadelphia scored six in the seventh to put the game well out of reach.

Combined with a Red Sox victory over Cleveland, the White Sox’ lead was reduced to 2½ games.

Record: 66-39 | Box score