1918 World Series 1920 but retired after that season and was never officially suspended. There was no solid evidence that the 1918 World Series itself was "fixed", and with the war dominating the news nothing came of the rumors. It was another season before baseball's relationship with gambling erupted in a major scandal. Star pitcher "Ol' Pete" Alexander of the Cubs saw almost no action in the 1918 regular season due to military service and none in the Series. This left the Cubs pitching corps thin compared to the strong Red Sox staff, which included Babe Ruth and Carl Mays. Hippo Vaughn was
Babe Ruth Polo Grounds. The Yankees won the first two games with Ruth in the lineup. However, Ruth badly scraped his elbow during Game 2 when he slid into third base (he had walked and stolen both second and third bases). After the game, he was told by the team physician not to play the rest of the series. Despite this advice, he did play in the next three games, and pinch-hit in Game Eight of the best-of-nine series, but the Yankees lost, five games to three. Ruth hit .316, drove in five runs and hit his first World Series home run.