World Series: Scherzer vs. Cole and the best matchups ever
By Bill Felber
Three-Finger Brown vs. Doc White, Game 6, 1906, 420 ERA+
Brown’s 1906 frustrations with ‘Hitless Wonder’ White Sox starter Nick Altrock have already been documented. But Altrock wasn’t the toughest opponent the Cubs Hall of Fame pitching great ran into that frustrating fall.
Statistically, the White Sox best pitcher that remarkable season was actually Guy Harris ‘Doc’ White, a 27-year-old left-hander. A practicing dentist with a degree from Georgetown – hence his nickname – White went 18-6 for the Sox in 1906 with a league-leading 1.52 ERA. That translated to a league-leading 167 ERA+ that was 32 points higher than his more celebrated teammate, Walsh.
In the World Series, Sox manager Fielder Jones assigned White to pitch the second game, where he ran into one of the great mound performances in Series history. The Cubs cuffed White around, but it probably wouldn’t have mattered because Cubs star Ed Reulbach threw a one-hitter, winning 7-1.
In the fifth game, White worked the final three innings in relief of Walsh, holding the Cubs to just one hit and posting what would be counted today as a save in the White Sox’ 8-6 win.
Although he had pitched three innings the previous day, Jones chose White to take the mound against Brown for the possible Game 6 clincher. It was no contest. The White Sox tormented Brown, who had pitched a complete game win two days earlier. With eight of the first 14 Sox batters hitting safely, they gave White a -1 lead through just two innings.
White coasted from there, scattering seven hits in an 8-3 decision that provided one of the most anti-climactic endings in World Series history.