The 1919 Chicago Black Sox Scandal
Baseball's Biggest Scandal Destroyed Shoeless Joe Jackson's Career
The 1919 Chicago White Sox threw the World Series. In doing so, they threw away their careers, their Hall of Fame chances, and their baseball legacies.
The Foundation for the 1919 Chicago Black Sox Scandal
To understand the 1919 Chicago Black Sox scandal, it is necessary to look back to the 1917 White Sox team that won 100 games and captured the World Series. They were led by pitchers Eddie Cicotte and Lefty Williams, and superb hitters Shoeless Joe Jackson, Buck Weaver, Chick Gandil, Swede Risberg and Happy Felsch. Similar players on other teams were earning up to $20,000 a year. Cicotte’s salary was $6,000. Williams made just $2,600, and Jackson earned $6,000. Believing that their World Series triumph justified a raise, the Sox asked owner Charles Comiskey for more money. Comiskey refused their request.
The players became furious, but they knew they couldn't go anywhere. Not anywhere in baseball at least. Because of the reserve clause in every Major League contract, the players were bound to play for the White Sox in 1918. Furthermore, if they played for the Sox in 1918, they were also bound to the team for 1919 (and so on and so on.) Not too surprisingly, the team dropped from first place to sixth in the American League. That off-season, Comiskey cut the pay of several players.
The 1919 Chicago Black Sox Scandal Develops
Incredibly, the team banded together in 1919. They went 88-52 and won the American League pennant. They were once again the toast of the town. Fans loved the players, and they hated Comiskey, who continued with his shenanigans. For example, Cicotte was to receive an extra $10,000 if he won 30 games. The pitcher won his 29th game with two weeks left in the season. To avoid having to pay the pitcher, Comiskey allegedly ordered manager Kid Gleason to sit Cicotte so he couldn’t get his last win.
As the Series approached, fans and gamblers made Chicago the heavy favorite. Then, a local gambler named Sport Sullivan had a brainstorm. Sullivan thought if the Sox threw the Series, he could make a fortune by betting on the Reds. Sullivan knew first basemen Chick Gandil, and presented the idea to him. Gandil agreed that he would recruit several angry teammates to mutiny against Comiskey. Sullivan claimed he could get $100,000 from New York Gambler Arnold Rothstein to pay off the players. Risberg, McMullin, Williams, Felsch and Cicotte all signed on before the Series, and some received payments of $5,000. Pressure was also put on Shoeless Joe Jackson, who took the $5,000, and Weaver, who refused the money.
Rumors of the fix swirled throughout baseball. Baseball appointed Christy Mathewson and reporter Hugh Fullerton to monitor the games. At the end of each game, the two came up with the same list of apparently crooked players: Gandil, Ciccotte, Williams, Felsch, McMullin and Risberg. Although they heard Weaver and Jackson sold out, neither showed it on the field. Jackson hit .375 with the only home run of the Series. Weaver hit .324 with 4 doubles.
The Reds prevailed in the Series, 5 games to 3. As soon as the Series ended, rumors of the fix made became more and more of a public issue. Throughout the 1920 season, the newspapers questioned the legitimacy of the Series result and called for a grand jury investigation into the gambling allegations.
The 1919 Black Sox Almost Get Away With It
During the grand jury investigation, Cicotte confessed to accepting the gambler's money to throw the games that he had pitched. Jackson acknowledged taking the money, but denied that he played any less than his best. Weaver denied all involvement with the scheme. Right before the trial began, the confessions suddenly disappeared from the prosecutor’s office. Cicotte and Jackson recanted their confessions, and the judge threw the entire case out due to lack of evidence. Something was rotten in the City of Chicago.
However, the major leagues were not so forgiving. The damage to the sport caused the owners to appoint Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis as the first Baseball Commissioner in 1920. The day after his appointment, Landis banned the eight implicated players for life, including future Hall of Famers Shoeless Joe Jackson and Eddie Cicotte. Neither player has ever been reinstated.
Until the day that he died, Weaver continued to deny any involvement with the scandal. Shoeless Joe acknowledged taking money, but no one could ever prove that he was at all responsible for throwing the Series.
______
Check out articles on the movies Eight Men Out and Field of Dreams, which are based on the 1919 Chicago Black Sox Scandal.
