Well, it was on my mind, so I went and dug through the old newspapers on microfilm, to see if some of my theories on how pre-1924 World's Series were right or not.
Turns out I was applying a little too much of a modern sensibility to analyzing the situations. The actual baseball solutions are straightforward, though certainly unexpected.
I haven't completed all my research yet, but I have gone through 1910-1923, so I have enough info to make some definitive statements. So here goes.
Question: What method was used to decide whether to start the Series in the AL or NL park?
Answer: Coin toss.
Question: How was the home field rotation handled for the first 6 games of a best-of-7 series?
Answer: Basically, by the following two methods.
If the two teams were from the same city, the home field was simply alternated each day. So the pattern was just 1-1-1-1-1-1.
If the two teams were from different cities, then either the 1 game alternating method described above was used, or, teams would alternate after two games were played (for the first 4 games), and then alternate after one game. In other words, the pattern was 2-2-1-1.
In this instance, how was the specific rotation pattern chosen? The answer seems to depend on the particular year examined.
From 1910-1913, either pattern could be used. It appears the two contesting teams would agree on the method, with the distance between the cities playing a role. Teams from cities that were closer together, like Boston and New York for example, might opt for 1-1-1-1-1-1. Cities that were further apart, like Chicago and New York, would opt for the 2-2-1-1 method, to reduce the amount of long distance travelling.
From 1914-1917, only the 2-2-1-1 rotation was allowed for teams from different cities.
I don't have any information yet on pre-1910 World's Series yet, but it would appear the same rules as used in 1910-1913 were in effect. More on this as it is uncovered.
Question: How was the 7th game of a best-of-7 series handled?
Answer: The site of the 7th game was determined by coin toss.
Question: Why does the way some of the World's Series games were actually played differ from the above patterns?
Answer: Because of the way baseball handled games that were postponned due to rain or were declared ties.
Baseball changed the rules handling these types of situations several times. In some years, regardless of whether games were rained out or declared tie games due to darkness, the teams would remain in the same city and play the amount of games they were originally scheduled to play. The remaining games of the Series would then be pushed back in the schedule to accommodate this.
In other years, games that were rained out would be made up the next day, pushing back the schedule, but games declared ties would not be made up and the teams would then proceed to the next game that was originally scheduled.
And in other years, games that ended as ties would be made up, but rained out games might not be made up, depending on whether there was a day in which to reschedule it before the next originally scheduled game was set to be played.
As a result of these rule changes, the patterns that were actually played in some years differ from what was described earlier.
Question: Why do call it the World's Series?
Answer: Because that's what it was actually called in those years. It was "World's Series" not "World Series".
Also, I have to make a correction. The reason why the 1918 baseball season was cut short was not due to the influenza outbreak. It was actually cut short by decree of Congress - with the entry of the U.S. into the First World War, baseball was told to finish up it's regular season by Sept. 1st.
However, I am pretty sure the influenza outbreak was the principle reason for the shortening of the 1919 baseball season. I had the right cause, just the wrong year.
When I finish up the research into the years prior to 1910, I will make any further updates as needed.