Games of Note: Thanks to World War I, or, to be more historically accurate, the Great War, as it was known as the time, the 1918 baseball season was cut short. Because of this, the World Series began on September 5 that year, with the Red Sox playing the Cubs at Comiskey rather than what was then known as Weeghman Park -- the Wrigley name wouldn't come until later. Teams sometimes traded home parks for seating capacity purposes, with the Red Sox using the home of the Boston Braves rather than Fenway in previous World Series appearances.
As for the game itself, Babe Ruth scattered six hits without allowing a run, extending his scoreless streak in the World Series to 22 innings. The Cubs' Hippo Vaughn gives up just one run to Boston, but it's one too many, and the Sox take the first contest.
Skipping ahead a few years to 1921, to a time when Ruth is on the Yankees, we find the Red Sox and Bombers facing off in a Labor Day match-up. The Yankees record five outfield assists -- an American League record -- in the game, with outfielder Bob Meusel recording four of them on his own. Meusel will lead the AL in assists both this season and in the next, but the Red Sox take the game despite his efforts, 8-2.
Transactions: Boston receives the player to be named later in the David Wells trade of 2006, and it's catcher and then-prospect George Kottaras. Kottaras never played in the minors for Boston in 2006, with the season over, but he would stick with the organization from 2007 through 2009, when the Brewers would select him off of waivers that off-season. While Kottaras showed some patience and pop in Pawtucket, it didn't transfer to the majors while with Boston. Over the last two years, Kottaras has been a well above-average backstop, backing up for the Brewers and now the A's, who acquired him before this season's trade deadline.
It was a busy September day for the Red Sox back in 1940, as the club acquired Skeeter Newsome from the Athletics in exchange for Harold Sieling, and also picked up Mike Ryba from the St. Louis Cardinals, sending out Al Brazle in return. Newsome wouldn't put on a Boston uni until 1941, but stayed with the organization through the war years, until the Philadelphia Phillies purchased him after the 1945 campaign. Newsome was a utlity infielder, picking up playing time at second, short, and third, but wasn't much to behold with the bat. Newsome posted a combined 79 OPS+ with the Red Sox, though, to be fair to Newsome, that was far better than his career rate of 62.
Ryba would also join the 1941 Red Sox squad, and stuck with Boston until his career ended in 1946 at the age of 43. Ryba was successful with the Sox, starting 27 games and pitching in 183, posting a 105 ERA+ over 582 innings. Though he only started those 27 contests, Ryba had 10 complete games with the Sox, and finished 98 of the 156 games he relieved.