Tris Speaker and the 1920 Indians

   During the Cleveland Indians’ checkered 110–year history, only two of its teams have brought home baseball’s ultimate prize. While the 1948 team continues to be revered by Clevelanders, little has been written about the 1920 team that won the city’s first pennant and World Series. Few, if any, World Series championship teams faced as much adversity as did the 1920 Indians. Among the obstacles they faced were the death of their star pitcher’s wife in May; the shadow of the Chicago “Black Sox”  scandal; and the tragic deadly beaning of shortstop Ray Chapman, the only fatal injury ever sustained by a major league player on the field of play. This chronicle of that extraordinary season highlights an overlooked chapter in the history of one of baseball’s most beloved underdogs.

Gary Webster has spent many years in commercial radio in northeastern Ohio and is the author of five books for McFarland.

Gary Webster
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 240
Bibliographic Info: 20 photos, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2012
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6796-9
eISBN: 978-0-7864-9127-8
Imprint: McFarland

Preface      1
Introduction      5

1. Twenty Years in the Making      5
2. Way Down Yonder in New Orleans      28
3. They’re Off !      38
4. All Aboard!      49
5. Summertime Blues      62
6. And Then There Were Three      76
7. Come a Little Bit Closer      96
8. Chappie      113
9. Thank You, Miss Jamieson      130
10. Cleveland’s Time to Win      161
11. There’s No Place Like Home      174
12. Aftermath      201

Appendix A: 1920 Indians Statistics      209
Appendix B: 1920 Indians Game by Game      212
Notes      217
Bibliography      223
Index      225