The Boston Red Sox visit the Chicago Cubs this weekend, which gave the New York Times an excuse to discuss what had been until a year ago, the biggest rivalry in futility in sports history.
But what was really cool was a PDF file of the Times’ account from Sept. 12, 1918, when the Red Sox defeated the Cubs in the World Series. It really shows what a great art sportswriting was back then, compared to today where short and concise is the priority, and descriptives and cleverness are secondary.
A few of my favorites:
“Boston is the luckiest baseball spot on earth, for it has never lost a World Series.” (Oh, the days…)
“The gleaming sun of admiration did not shine this afternoon on the professional ballplayer who thrives and glories in the effervescent acclaim of popular approval.” (In other words, the fans were apathetic)
“Tyler’s impression of the plate in the third inning was that the platter was about four feet in diameter.” (He was pitching wild)
Oh, and the names: Max Flack, Fred Merkle, Stuffy McInnis…
And if sportswriters wrote today the way they did in 1918, players would really hate the media.
