When Chicago Ruled Baseball

A fascinating look at the storied World Series of 1906--a thrilling contest between the Chicago Cubs and their upstart crosstown rivals, the Chicago White Sox.
The local press nicknamed the Sox the "Hitless Wonders"--a team that emerged as American League champs without a productive offense. But player/manager Patsy Dougherty led a team that knew when and where the hits were needed, and the hits were never needed more than in their first World Series appearance. The Sox took off with a stunning Game One victory, and never looked back.
A Chicago that had rebuilt itself from the Great Fire that had left it in ashes only 35 years earlier was now the focal point of an entire baseball-loving nation. The city, the fans, and the players were on display, and for six thrilling nights in fall, baseball fans everywhere were on the edge of their seats, and the Second City was, most certainly, the First City of Baseball.

Bernard A. Weisberger is a distinguished teacher and author of American history. He has been on the faculties of the University of Chicago and the University of Rochester, is a contributing editor of American Heritage for which he wrote a regular column for ten years, has worked on television documentaries with Bill Moyers and Ken Burns, and has published some dozen and a half books as well as numerous articles and reviews. He lives in Evanston, Illinois, with his wife.