[Big Six]

In 1918, a young outfielder named Ruth joined the Red Sox lineup, and the Babe joined Speaker and O’Farrell to form a powerful hitting trio. Christy Mathewson was nearly through, but Joe Wood headed a staff that now included good young arms like those of George Dauss and Art Nehf. One more pitcher was added to the Red Sox ****nal when Walter Johnson was obtained from the Senators in exchange for Chuck Rose. Both pitchers would eventually be elected to the Hall of Fame. An injury to Speaker led the Sox to sign Edd Roush, who would give the Boston club several productive seasons. These moves were not to deliver a pennant to the fans of Boston, however, as the Athletics won the American League for the second straight year.

By now, it had been three years since the Red Sox had last won a pennant, and there were whispers concerning a possible managerial change in Boston in the air as 1919 began. Jimmy Collins spoke privately to Bill Carrigan about taking the reins, and Carrigan exchanged letters with Pat in which O’Farrell assured his pal that he had the necessary skills to do the job well.

That summer, Pat suffered the worst injury of his playing career, an injured leg muscle that shelved him for a month. He returned by the Fourth of July, and on July 13, he smacked a single off Jack Coombs of the White Sox for career hit No.2000. A month later, he became the career leader in an offensive category for the first time when he drew his 1,133rd base on balls to surpass a mark held by Sammy Strang. Pat and his teammates broke their pennant drought in 1919, and they also took the Series in a sweep over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pat hit a cool .625 for the Series, scoring six runs and knocking in eight in four games.

Pat O’Farrell was now perhaps the most famous star in baseball, and his wholesome image lent itself to a number of endorsement opportunities. Local businesses used his image to sell suits and hats, while national companies discovered his appeal to men, women, and children alike. Even Sarah O’Farrell became a commercial “star,” singing the praises of Cream of Wheat. On January 11, 1920, Sarah had one more mouth to feed, a little boy named John.

Note: I've had to add an extra space to the word "ar senal," because the spelling censor wants to make sure I'm not calling someone a pain in the ar se.

I've also noticed that the censor occasionally has a problem with a particular combination of letters in the spelling of the O'Farrell's home state of Massachusetts, and that star pitcher Bert Sin****'s surname is equally offensive.