The Boston Red Sox continued to roll this year; they won their second straight World Series, and their third in the last five years. They did this despite having sold star Tris Speaker to Cleveland in the off-season. But the Sox had a young left-handed pitcher who was already a star, and would eventually become a legend.

         George Herman "Babe" Ruth turned 21 this year, and was the best pitcher in the league. He led the AL in shutouts and ERA, and was among the leaders in wins and innings pitched. It was the greatest season Ruth would have as a pitcher; he had another fine season in 1917, before he began his transition to the outfield. Despite his young age, Ruth was already a growing legend, having starred for Jack Dunn's Baltimore Orioles in the International League. The Red Sox bought him for a record price, and Ruth quickly ascended to the top ranks of pitchers in the league.
        This was also the year that Ruth started his record string of consecutive scoreless innings in the World Series. He started one game against the Brooklyn Robins, and gave up a run in the first inning. Ruth settled down after that, and did not give up another run, even though the game went 14 innings! It is the longest complete game by a pitcher in World Series history. In 1918, the Sox returned to the Series, and Ruth threw a shutout in his first start; his streak was eventually ended at 29 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings. He had accomplished all this... and he wasn't even a Yankee yet!
        Speaking of the Yankees, they were still a hopeless team at this time. But the future was bright; in addition to Ruth, the Red Sox also had a 24-year-old hurler named Carl Mays, who would be a star for New York within three years. And Bob Shawkey also had his first of numerous outstanding seasons. Combine those two with Ruth, and New York's future was very promising.
        Despite Ruth's arrival, Walter Johnson wasn't about to let go of the title as the league's best pitcher. Walter pitched in some tough luck this year; his team wasn't too bad, and scored almost as many runs as Boston, but Johnson still wound up losing 20 games. Nevertheless, he was better than any other pitcher in the league except Ruth, and was still the top power pitcher in the league as well.
        Harry Coveleski had his third straight outstanding season, and also his last. Next year his arm went lame, and he never came back. Ironically, this was the year that Coveleski's younger brother, Stan, broke into the league, and began his Hall Of Fame career.