(Photo: File photo)
By 1917, the Cincinnati Reds were slowly forming into the team that would win the 1919 World Series. Mainstays such as center fielder Edd Roush, shortstop Larry Kopf and third baseman Heinie Groh were in place as building blocks for a championship team.
The 1917 team also had stars that wouldn’t be around for the 1919 season. One was manager Christy Mathewson, the former New York Giants superstar pitcher who would be part of the inaugural class of inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
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Another was right-handed pitcher Fred Toney, the winning pitcher in perhaps Major League Baseball’s all-time greatest pitching duel.