Baseball was played at the Inter-Allied Games, a multi-sport tournament held in June 1919 and organized by the United States military and the YMCA. It took place in June 1919, nearly a year after the armistice brought an end to the fighting of World War I. All of the games were played at the newly constructed Stade Pershing (named after American general John J. Pershing) in Paris.
Two teams represented the United States and, in its international baseball debut, Canada; both teams were composed entirely of soldiers from the American and Canadian Expeditionary Force. In a best-of-four series, the United States defeated Canada three games to one.
Background
Baseball was played extensively by Canadian soldiers, who were stationed on the western front as early as 1914, and later, by American soldiers, after the U.S. joined the war in 1917. With the cessation of hostilities in 1918, Unrest among soldiers awaiting repatriation caused officers to encourage baseball, in an effort to boost morale. An Anglo-American Baseball League was formed in early 1919, with games between all-star Canadian and American teams being held at Stamford Bridge and elsewhere in England.[1]
The Canadian team was also the champion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force league, selected by a series in London and reinforced by the best players from other Canadian teams. Many of these soldiers were from the "Artillery" team, champions of the Witley area.[8] None of the Canadian players had major league experience, though Larry Carmel would later play with the Montreal Royals and Quebec Bulldogs of the Eastern Canada League.[9] Three of the Canadian players (Ernest Tate, John Edis, and Paul Gilpatrick) were born in the United States, though at least two of them served in the Canadian Army.[10][11][12]
The first two games of the series were relatively close and characterized by pitching duels between the starters. In the first game, American starter Moose Fuller kept the Canadians to a single hit over eight innings of work. Canada won the second game thanks to starter Ernest Tate, who took a no-hitter into the ninth inning before it was broken up by the U.S.'s Henning Anderson.[14]
After the June 27 game, the American team traveled to Germany for a three-game exhibition series, while the Canadians waited in Paris without playing. The wait became evident in the final two games of the series, which the U.S. won convincingly. The fourth game, played on July 6, was called after seven innings, so as not to conflict with the closing ceremonies of the games.[14]
Ty Cobb, a Hall-of-Fame MLB player and World War I veteran who was in attendance at the Inter-Allied Games, but did not participate in the baseball tournament.[16][17]
Notes
↑ Contemporary reports refer to Fuller as having played in the majors with the Washington Senators, but this is not supported by MLB records.[7][6]
1 2 Bohn, Terry. "Adam DeBus". SABR. Society for American Baseball Research. DeBus was the captain of the Blackhawks, a team that won the championship of the Inter-Allied games in July 1919.
↑ Morris, Jack. "Tom McGuire". SABR. Society for American Baseball Research. He was attached to the 86th Infantry Division (known as the Black Hawk Division) as a sergeant major in charge of troop transportation, and pitched on the division's baseball team, which also included former major leaguers Ed "Jeff" Sweeney, William Marriott, Adam DeBus, and Austin Walsh.
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United States (1st title)
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