6. New Yorkers “watched” the 1919 World Series from Times Square
All of the 1919 series’ games were played in the afternoons in Chicago and Cincinnati. Though none of the three New York area teams were in the series, interest in the event was huge. In New York, fans exited offices and shops, warehouses and factories, construction sites and shipyards, and gathered in Times Square. There a giant green board was erected with a baseball diamond painted on it. The board’s manipulators went so far as to use markers simulating a runner’s lead off a base, or a runner tagging up prior to advancing on a fly ball. Despite a steady drizzle in New York as the game progressed, the crowd grew larger. New York was (and is) both a National and American League town, so which team was favored by the crowd is unknown. But Times Square remained filled throughout the games, and the series was won by Cincinnati.
Similar events took place in other cities, where the place to gather was the building occupied by the local newspaper, or the Western Union offices. Fans gathered during the work day afternoons to follow the action. They impeded traffic, downtown commerce, and local deliveries. In some cities, the sounds of baseball were simulated during the game, including the crack of bat on ball and the calls of the umpires. New York’s simulation board even included the pitch progressing to the plate, curving on its path if the telegraph reported a curveball. Similar events occurred in subsequent World Series, an indication that despite the Black Sox Scandal of 1919, fan interest in the Fall Classic did not wane. Babe Ruth didn’t save baseball from the Black Sox, as so many have asserted over the years. But he did reinvent how it is played.