24. 1919 World Series Conspiracy:
The 1919 World Series (often referred to as the Black Sox
Scandal) resulted in the most famous scandal in baseball history. Eight players
from the Chicago White Sox (nicknamed the Black Sox) were accused of throwing
the series against the Cincinnati Reds. Details of the scandal remain
controversial, and the extent to which each player was involved varied.
It was, however, front-page news across the country when the
story was uncovered late in the 1920 season, and despite being acquitted of
criminal charges (throwing baseball games was technically not a crime), the
eight players were banned from organized baseball (i.e. the leagues subject to
the National Agreement) for life. There are hundreds of other conspiracies
involving throwing games, sporting matches and large scale entertainment
events. It is common knowledge for many, this list would have to go into the
thousands if we included all of them.
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Black Sox Scandal ( [1] )
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Black Sox Scandal took place around and during
the play of Major League Baseball's 1919 World Series. Eight members
of the Chicago White Sox were banned for life
from baseball for intentionally losing games, which allowed
the Cincinnati Redsto win the World Series. The conspiracy was the
brainchild of White Sox first baseman Arnold "Chick" Gandil, who
had longstanding ties to petty underworld figures. He persuaded Joseph
"Sport" Sullivan, a friend and professional gambler, that the fix
could be pulled off. New York gangster Arnold Rothstein supplied the
money through his lieutenant Abe Attell, a former
featherweight boxing champion.
Gandil enlisted several of his teammates, motivated by a
dislike of club owner Charles Comiskey (whose miserliness they
resented) to implement the fix; Comiskey had developed a reputation for
underpaying his players for years (under the MLB reserve clause, players
either had to take the salary they were offered, or couldn't play Major League
Baseball, as they were property of the original team, and no other team was
allowed to sign them).
All of them were members of a faction on the team that
resented the more straight-laced players on the squad, such as second baseman
Eddie Collins, a graduate of Columbia College of Columbia University,
catcher Ray Schalk, and pitcher Red Faber. By most contemporary
accounts, the two factions almost never spoke to each other on or off the
field, and the only thing they had in common was a resentment of Comiskey.
Starting pitchers Eddie
Cicotte and Claude "Lefty"
Williams, outfielder Oscar "Happy" Felsch,
and shortstop Charles "Swede" Risberg were all
principally involved with Gandil.Third baseman George "Buck"
Weaver attended a meeting where the fix was discussed, but decided not to
participate. He was later banned with the others for knowing of the fix but not
reporting it.
Although Weaver attended meetings with some of his teammates
and the gamblers, he played to the best of his ability during the series.
During the series he batted .324 with 11 hits in 34 at-bats. Those stats were
higher than some of his batting averages in his previous years. He had a career
batting average of .272 which was also lower than what he batted in the World
Series. Weaver was also one of the few players to attend the meetings who
didn’t receive any money.
Although he hardly played in the series,
utility infielder Fred McMullin got word of the fix and
threatened to report the others unless he was in on the payoff. As a small
coincidence, McMullin was a former teammate of "Sleepy" Bill
Burns, who had a minor role in the fix. Both played for the Los Angeles Angels
of the Pacific Coast League. Star outfielder "Shoeless" Joe
Jackson was also mentioned as a participant, though his involvement is
disputed.
Stories of the Black Sox scandal have usually included
Comiskey as a villain, focusing in particular on his intentions regarding a
clause in Cicotte's contract that would have paid Cicotte an additional $10,000
bonus for winning 30 games. According to Eliot Asinof's account of the
events, Eight Men Out, Cicotte was "rested" for the season's
final two weeks after reaching his 29th win, presumably to deny him the bonus.
However, the record is perhaps more complex. Cicotte won his 29th game on
September 19, had an ineffective start on September 24, and was pulled after a
few innings in a tuneup on the season's final day, September 28 (the World
Series beginning 3 days later). However, the allegation is probably
substantiated in reference to the 1917 season, when Cicotte won 28 games before
being benched.
Series
Main article: 1919 World Series
Even before the Series started on October 2, there were
rumors among gamblers that the series was fixed, and a sudden influx of money
being bet on Cincinnati caused the odds against them to fall rapidly.
These rumors also reached the press box where a number of correspondents,
including Hugh Fullerton of the Chicago Herald and Examiner and
ex-player and manager Christy Mathewson, resolved to compare notes on any
plays and players that they felt were questionable. Despite the rampant rumors,
gamblers continued to wager heavily against the White Sox.
However, most fans and observers were taking the series at
face value. On October 2, the day of Game One, the Philadelphia Bulletin
published a poem which would quickly prove to be ironic:
Still, it really doesn't matter,After all, who wins the
flag. Good clean sport is what we're after,And we aim to make our brag To each
near or distant nation Where on shines the sporting sun That of all our games
gymnastic Base ball is the cleanest one!
On the second pitch of the Series, Eddie
Cicotte struck Cincinnati leadoff hitter Morrie Rath in the
back, delivering a pre-arranged signal confirming the players' willingness to
go through with the fix.
Shoeless Joe Jackson
The extent of Joe Jackson's part in the conspiracy remains
controversial. Jackson maintained that he was innocent. He had a Series-leading
.375 batting average – including the Series' only home
run – threw out five baserunners, and handled 30 chances in the outfield
with no errors. However, he batted far worse in the five games that the White
Sox lost, with a batting average of .286 in those games (although this was
still an above-average batting average; the National and American Leagues hit a
combined .263 in the 1919 season).
Three of his six RBIs came in the losses,
including the aforementioned home run, and a double in Game 8 when the Reds had
a large lead and the series was all but over. Still, in that game a long foul
ball was caught at the fence with runners on second and third, depriving Jackson
of a chance to drive in the runners. Statistics also show that in the other
games that the White Sox lost, only five of Jackson's at-bats came with a man
in scoring position, and he advanced the runners twice.
One play in particular has been subjected to much scrutiny.
In the fifth inning of Game 4, with a Cincinnati player on second, Jackson
fielded a single hit to left field and threw home. Chick Gandil, another leader
of the fix, later admitted to yelling at Cicotte to intercept the throw. The
run scored and the White Sox lost the game 2–0.
Cicotte, whose guilt is undisputed, made two errors in that
fifth inning alone.
Another argument, presented in the book Eight Men Out,
is that because Jackson was illiterate, he had little awareness of the seriousness
of the plot, and thus he consented to it only when Risberg threatened him and
his family.
Years later, all of the implicated players said that Jackson
was never present at any of the meetings they had with the gamblers. Lefty
Williams, Jackson's roommate, later said that they only brought up Jackson in
hopes of giving them more credibility with the gamblers.
Williams, one of the "Eight Men Out," lost three
games, a Series record. Dickie Kerr, who was not part of the fix, won both
of his starts. Cicotte bore down and won Game 7 of the best-of-9 Series; he was
angry that the gamblers were now reneging on their promises, as they claimed
that all the money was in the hands of bookies. Sullivan then paid infamous
gangster Harry F to threaten to hurt Williams and his family if he
didn't lose the last game.
Fallout
The rumors dogged the White Sox throughout the 1920 season,
as they battled the Cleveland Indians for the American
League pennantthat year, and stories of corruption touched players on
other clubs as well. At last, in September 1920, a grand jury was
convened to investigate.
Two players, Eddie
Cicotte and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, confessed their
participation in the scheme to the Chicago grand jury on September 28, 1920. On
the eve of their final season series, the White Sox were in a virtual tie for
first place with the Cleveland Indians. The Sox would need to win all 3 of
their remaining games and then hope for Cleveland to stumble, as the Indians
had more games in hand. Despite the season being on the line, White Sox
owner Charles Comiskey suspended the seven White Sox still in the
majors (Chick Gandil had conspicuously left the team and was playing
semi-pro ball). He said that he had no choice but to suspend them, even though
this action likely cost the White Sox any chance of winning that year's American
League pennant. The White Sox lost 2 of 3 in their final series against
the St. Louis Browns and finished in second place, two games behind
Cleveland.
The damage to the sport's reputation led the owners to
appoint federal judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis as the
first Commissioner of Baseball prior to the start of the 1921 season.
With the unprecedented powers granted to him by the owners, and using a
precedent that saw Babe Borton, Harl Maggert, Gene Dale,
and Bill Rumler banned from the Pacific Coast League for
match fixing, Landis placed all eight accused players on an "ineligible
list", banning them from major and minor league baseball. Comiskey
supported Landis by giving the seven who remained under contract to the White
Sox their unconditional release.
Prior to the trial, key evidence went missing from
the Cook County Courthouse, including the signed confessions of
Cicotte and Jackson, who subsequently recanted their confessions. The players
were acquitted. (Some years later, the missing confessions reappeared in the
possession of Comiskey's lawyer.)
Player John F. "Shano" Collins is named
as the wronged party in the indictments of the key figures in the Black Sox
scandal. The indictment claims that by throwing the World Series, the alleged
conspirators defrauded him of $1,784.
Landis was not as forgiving, and was quick to quash any
prospect that he might re-instate the implicated players. On August 3, 1921,
the day after the players were acquitted, the Commissioner issued his own
verdict:
Regardless of the verdict of juries, no player who throws a
ball game, no player who undertakes or promises to throw a ball game, no player
who sits in confidence with a bunch of crooked ballplayers and gamblers, where
the ways and means of throwing a game are discussed and does not promptly tell
his club about it, will ever play professional baseball.
Landis had not officially described his decision as being
"lifetime" or "permanent" suspensions. In the film Eight
Men Out Landis (played by John Anderson) is portrayed to have
said "no player who throws a ball game... will ever play professional
baseball again." however Landis is not contemporarily documented
using the word again. Nevertheless, regardless of what Landis' exact
words were, following his statement it was universally understood that all
eight implicated White Sox would be banned from Major League Baseball for life.
Two other players believed to be involved were also banned.
With seven of their best players permanently sidelined, the
White Sox crashed into seventh place in 1921 and would not be a factor in a
pennant race again until 1936, five years after Comiskey's death. They would
not win another American League championship until 1959 (a then-record 40-year
gap) nor another World Series until 2005, prompting some to comment
about a Curse of the Black Sox.
After being banned, Risberg and several other members of the
Black Sox tried to organize a three-state barnstorming tour. However, they were
forced to cancel those plans after Landis let it be known that anyone who
played with or against them would also be banned from baseball for life. They
then announced plans to play a regular exhibition game every Sunday in Chicago,
but the Chicago City Council threatened to cancel the license of any
ballpark that hosted them.
The 10 players not implicated in the gambling scandal, as
well as manager Kid Gleason, were each given bonus checks in the amount of
$1500 by Charles A. Comiskey in the fall of 1920 — the difference between
the winners' and losers' share for participation in the 1919 World Series.
Banned players
Main article: List of people banned from Major League
Baseball
Eddie Cicotte, pitcher, died on May 5, 1969, had the longest
life; living to the age of 84. Admitted involvement in the fix.
Oscar "Happy" Felsch, center fielder, died on
August 17, 1964, at 72.
Arnold "Chick" Gandil, first baseman. The leader
of the players who were in on the fix. He did not play in the majors in 1920,
playing semi-pro ball instead. In a 1956 Sports Illustrated article,
he expressed remorse for the scheme, but claimed that the players had actually
abandoned it when it became apparent they were going to be watched closely.
According to Gandil, the players' numerous errors were a result of fear that
they were being watched. He died on December 13, 1970, at 82.
"Shoeless" Joe Jackson, the star outfielder, one
of the best hitters in the game, confessed in sworn grand jury testimony to
having accepted $5,000 cash from the gamblers. He later recanted his confession
and protested his innocence to no effect until his death on December 5, 1951,
at 64; he was the first of the eight banned White Sox players to die. Years
later, the other players all said that Jackson had never been involved in any
of the meetings with the gamblers, and other evidence has since surfaced that
casts doubt on his role.
Fred McMullin, utility infielder. McMullin would not have
been included in the fix had he not overheard the other players' conversations.
He threatened to tell all if not included. His role as team scout may have
had more impact on the fix, since he saw minimal playing time in the series. He
died on November 20, 1952, at 61.
Charles "Swede" Risberg, shortstop. Risberg was
Gandil's assistant. The last living player among the Black Sox, he lived on
until October 13, 1975, his 81st birthday.
George "Buck" Weaver, third baseman. Weaver
attended the initial meetings, and while he did not go in on the fix, he knew
about it. Landis banished him on this basis, stating "Men associating with
crooks and gamblers could expect no leniency." On January 13, 1922, Weaver
unsuccessfully applied for reinstatement. Like Jackson, Weaver continued to
profess his innocence to successive baseball commissioners to no effect. He
died on January 31, 1956, at 65.
Claude "Lefty" Williams, pitcher. Went 0–3 with a
6.63 ERA for the series. Only one other pitcher in the entire history of
baseball – reliever George Frazier of the 1981 New York
Yankees – has ever lost three games in one World Series, although it should
be noted that the third game Williams lost was Game Eight - baseball's decision
to revert to a best of seven Series in 1922 significantly reduced the
opportunity for a pitcher to obtain three decisions in a Series. Williams died
on November 4, 1959, at 66.
Also banned was Joe Gedeon, second baseman for
the St. Louis Browns. Gedeon placed bets since he learned of the fix from
Risberg, a friend of his. He informed Comiskey of the fix after the Series in
an effort to gain a reward. He was banned for life by Landis along with the eight
White Sox.
Black Sox
Although many believe the Black Sox name to be related to
the dark and corrupt nature of the conspiracy, the term "Black Sox"
may already have existed before the fix. There is a story that the name
"Black Sox" derived from parsimonious owner Charles Comiskey's
refusal to pay for the players' uniforms to be laundered, instead insisting
that the players themselves pay for the cleaning. As the story goes, the
players refused and subsequent games saw the White Sox play in progressively
filthier uniforms as dust, sweat and grime collected on the white, woolen
uniforms until they took on a much darker shade. Comiskey then had the uniforms
washed and deducted the laundry bill from the players' salaries.
On the other hand, Eliot Asinof in his book Eight Men
Out makes no such connection, mentioning the filthy uniforms early on but
referring to the term "Black Sox" only in connection with the
scandal.
Popular culture
Eliot Asinof's book Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and
the 1919 World Series is the best-known history of the scandal. Director
John Sayles' 1988 film based on Asinof's book is a dramatization of
the scandal, focusing largely on Buck Weaver as the one banned player who did
not take any money. The 1952 novel The Natural and its 1984 filmed
dramatization of the same name were inspired significantly by the
events of the scandal.
W. P. Kinsella's novel Shoeless Joe is the story
of an Iowa farmer who builds a baseball field in his cornfield after hearing a
mysterious voice. Later, Shoeless Joe Jackson and other members of the Black
Sox come to play on his field. The novel was adapted into the 1989 hit
film Field of Dreams. Joe Jackson plays a central role in inspiring
protagonist Ray Kinsella to reconcile with his past.
Harry Stein's novel Hoopla, alternatingly co-narrated
by Buck Weaver and Luther Pond, a fictitious New York Daily News columnist,
attempts to view the Black Sox Scandal from Weaver's perspective.
Brendan Boyd's novel Blue Ruin: A Novel of the 1919
World Series offers a first-person narrative of the event from the
perspective ofSport Sullivan, a Boston gambler involved in fixing the series.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby, a
minor character named Meyer Wolfsheim was said to have helped in the Black Sox
scandal, though this is purely fictional. In explanatory notes accompanying the
novel's 75th anniversary edition, editor Matthew Bruccoli describes
the character as being directly based on Arnold Rothstein.
In Dan Gutman's novel Shoeless Joe & Me, the
protagonist, Joe, goes back in time to try to prevent Shoeless Joe from being
banned for life.
In the film The Godfather Part II, the fictional
gangster Hyman Roth alludes to the scandal when he says, "I've
loved baseball ever since Arnold Rothstein fixed the World Series in
1919."
The HBO series Boardwalk Empire highlights Arnold
Rothstein's involvement in the scandal.
The television series Friday the 13th: The Series
featured an episode titled "The Mephisto Ring" about a cursed 1919
World Series ring that killed whoever wore it, allowing its owner to view the
future outcome of a sporting event in return for supplying it with victims. The
curse was due to the association the ring had with 'past evil', a nod to the
gambling syndicate responsible for the scandal.
The History Channel's Pawn Stars had bought a baseball that
was signed from 2 members of the scandal for $900.
Baseball portal
1919 World Series
Curse of the Black Sox
Major League Baseball scandals
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