Not sure I agree entirely with your assessment, though. Jackson was certainly Pat Duncan's superior and Eddie Collins (bad series or not) is the obvious choice over Morrie Rath. I'd also rate Ray Schalk as a clear advantage over the combination of Ivy Wingo/Bill Raridan. The only position where Cincinnati was clearly superior was centerfield, where future Hall of Famer Edd Roush roamed. Even then, Hap Felsch was no slouch in the field or at the plate. Many reports of the day opined that Felsch was the second-best fielding CF of his day, behind only Tris Speaker. For his career, Felsch's fielding percentage compares favorably with that of Roush's.

Jake Daubert is probably the choice over Chick Gandil at 1st, but not by a large margin. (Again) Gandil was no slouch at that position and that Daubert was having one of the worst years of his solid career in 1919 (third-worst batting average, second-most errors). The other non-pitching positions I'd rate as fairly even -- Risberg/Kopf at short, Weaver/Groh at third, and the Leibold/S.Collins combo in RF against Greasy Neale.

The pitching issue is the key. In terms of numbers there is no doubt Cincy held the edge -- Ruether, Eller, Sallee, Fisher, Ring, Luque. But none of those pitchers were as dominant as Cicotte and Williams were during the year. (Okay, they didn't HAVE to be since the Sox were short-staffed much of the year, but you see where I'm going with this. And with ##### Kerr emerging as a bona fide starter, Chicago would have two superior pitchers and one very solid one in a short (9-game) series.

For intangibles, let's not forget that this was Cincinnati's first post-season appearance in 50 years, while the Sox could draw on the experience of having played in (and won) the world's series just two years earlier. Also, in that series they had made short work of pitcher Slim Sallee, then with the Giants.

Your thoughts...? And also, I was actually getting at what Chicago might have been able to accomplish AFTER the 1919 series (but I'm certainly more than happy to rehash the series itself). Thanks for the good convo...