What Was The 1919 Scandal
1919 Scandal
Deflategate, the Russians using steroids, and Thomas Voeckler using a hidden engine while cycling, are all sports scandals that may be see in the news today, but in all reality infamous sports scandals date way back. Indeed, the 1919 World Series is one of the most iconic, when eight members of the Chicago White Sox were bribed to throw the game by many high ranking gamblers. The players were sent to court, and tried for their crimes, and sewed punishments. The players caused many new rules and punishments in the MLB and even lowered viewing rating for some time. Some even say when this happened baseball lost all of its innocence (Douglass 1).
The 1919 World Series was between the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds, and was supposed to be easily own by the Chicago White Sox whom most felt has the superior team. The odds were 7-5 that the Sox would win every game of the series and beat the Red’s by at least two points (Solomon 1). However, strangely in New York, copious amounts of money began to be bet on the Reds winning all but one game this raised …show more content…
suspicions for obvious reasons. Suspicions heightened when the Sox’s lost game one of the Series and the owner of the White Sox’s, Charles A. Comiskey, told intimates that he suspected a fix (1). Additionally, some players were seen talking to a Boston gambler Joseph “Sport” Sullivan, and others were seen talking to “Sleepy” Bill Burns (a retired pitcher) and his partner Billy Maharg (a former professional boxer) (B-R Bullpen 1). As an investigation later showed, the gamblers had been first approached between July and September 1919 by White Sox first baseman Arnold “Chick” Gandil and pitcher Eddie Cicotte (2).
The first game was at 3 p.m. on October 1 in Cincinnati’s Crosley Field with Cicotte on the mound for Chicago. Cicotte’s second pitch hit the batter in the back and was later revealed to be the signal to Rothstein that the game was to be thrown (“B-R” 2). Cicotte continued to throw the game by giving up several runs in the fourth inning, including a two-out triple and allowing them to score five times to crush the 1-1 tie. Cocotte was finally replaced, but the damage was done, the Reds ended the game with a nine to one win (2-3).
That evening is when the fix started to go wrong, only Cicotte had been paid the 10,000 he demanded up front. When they didn’t immediately get paid, many of the players in on the scam started to get agitated, and some even dropped out of the scam. The following game the players decided to actually play, leaving the gamblers in a tough situation as they got all of the remaining money and it towards the Sox. At this point the gamblers met with the players again and paid them a small sum of what they were to receive later, but the players had to lose the next two in order to get their money. Cicotte, starting again, refused want to look as bad as he did in game one, so he matched the other pitcher without a single batter getting on base until the fourth inning. Two outs in to the fifth inning, Cicotte fielded a slow rolling ball to the mound, but had a crazy throw to first to allow a double (3). After the game, Sullivan gave the players $20,000 which was divided between Swede Risberg, Oscar Felsch, Joe Jackson, and Claude Williams who was to start Game 5 the next day.
The following games just got worse, a rain delay started the next day when they came back the pitchers were doing good and both had zero runners past first in the 6th inning.
Then, the bad news began, Eller hit a dropping ball that fell in between Felsch and Jackson. When Felsch got the ball, he tried to throw it to second, but the throw went over the second baseman's head allowing the runner to advance to third base. The leadoff hitter was up next and hit a line drive right over the shortstop's head for a single bringing the run in. The next batter hit a double after some controversial fielding by Felsch. The next hit was also to Felsch, andthe fielding was even worse allowing two more runs to score, and the hitter eventually scored also the opposing pitcher pitched well enough to hold the Sox’s leaving the Red’s one game from winning the series in the newly adapted best-of-nine format (BR
3).
Game six was hosted in Cincinnati with Dickie Kerr starting off on the mound. The Red’s came out with maximum effort and flew to a 4-0 lead before the Sox’s decided to fight back bringing it to 4-4 in the sixth. This was one of the best game of the series and ended up going to extra innings. Weaver got to second on a pop fly between the out fielder with Gandil behind him who drove him in on his next hit (Goetsch 4). That made the game 5-4 giving the Sox’s their second win and allowing them to play in the series -- only two games away now from claiming the series for themselves. The gamblers began to sweat at this point, not knowing if the Sox’s were going to flip on them and leave them empty handed in the end. Talk went around among them claiming that a counterfix might be brewing, and that action should be taken to insure that the Sox’s would lose. The night before the eighth game, Williams was visited by an anonymous hitman - given the alias “Harry F.” The hitman threatened to kill his wife and take his children if he didn’t allow two scores within his first twelve pitches (BR 4).
To start the first inning of the eight game Williams threw nothing but mediocre fastballs allowing four straight hits causing three runs before he was replaced by Bill James. James allowed the runner on base to score and continued to be ineffective in stopping the Reds. The Sox’s finally rallied together in the eighth inning and brought the game to 9-5. Unfortunately the Reds scored one more time ending the game at 10-5 and clinching the Series five games to three (The Editors 3). After this defeat the rumors began to grow and many of the players seen to distanced themselves from everyone at practice and cause even more suspicions. Due to all the rumors Coach Fullerton wrote a letter to the MLB explaining that the Series should never be played again.
The National Commision were infuriated by the allegations of a fix. They tried there best to pretend like it could never happen and the sport is too pure for such things. The rumors continued into the 1920 season and troubled the Soxs causing many of the teammates to turn on each other and made the team even worse. In september of 1920, a grand jury was convened to investigate the rumors and get to the bottom and see if they are true. The began to question each player on the team and tried to narrow down the suspects. A few of the players that knew about the “fix” came forward and told the jury in hope that they could still play. The jury finally found all players that were involved and took them to court and tried them for their crimes. Joe Jackson, Eddie Cicotte, Oscar Felsch, Claude Williams, Arnold Gandil, Fred McMullin, Charles Risberg, and George Weaver were banned from the MLB for their parts in the Scandal of the 1919 World Series (Douglas 1). Many other players were later banned for just knowing about the “fix”.
After the ‘fix”Kenesaw Mountain Landis was appointed the Commissioner of Baseball was in charge of making and enforcing new laws in the MLB. He banned the eight players and eventually banned more players that knew about the scandal and didn’t come forward. A few of the players begged Landis to come back to the league but he would not budge this forced the players to play in independent leagues. In making these harsh but effective rules, the popularity of the MLB began to rise and the confidence of fans began to regain strength.
Deflategate, the Russians using steroids, and Thomas Voeckler using a hidden engine while cycling, are all sports scandals that may be see in the news today, but in all reality infamous sports scandals date way back. Indeed, the 1919 World Series is one of the most iconic, when eight members of the Chicago White Sox were bribed to throw the game by many high ranking gamblers. The players were sent to court, and tried for their crimes, and sewed punishments. The players caused many new rules and punishments in the MLB and even lowered viewing rating for some time. Some even say when this happened baseball lost all of its innocence (Douglass 1).
The 1919 World Series was between the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds, and was supposed to be easily own by the Chicago White Sox whom most felt has the superior team. The odds were 7-5 that the Sox would win every game of the series and beat the Red’s by at least two points (Solomon 1). However, strangely in New York, copious amounts of money began to be bet on the Reds winning all but one game this raised …show more content…
suspicions for obvious reasons. Suspicions heightened when the Sox’s lost game one of the Series and the owner of the White Sox’s, Charles A. Comiskey, told intimates that he suspected a fix (1). Additionally, some players were seen talking to a Boston gambler Joseph “Sport” Sullivan, and others were seen talking to “Sleepy” Bill Burns (a retired pitcher) and his partner Billy Maharg (a former professional boxer) (B-R Bullpen 1). As an investigation later showed, the gamblers had been first approached between July and September 1919 by White Sox first baseman Arnold “Chick” Gandil and pitcher Eddie Cicotte (2).
The first game was at 3 p.m. on October 1 in Cincinnati’s Crosley Field with Cicotte on the mound for Chicago. Cicotte’s second pitch hit the batter in the back and was later revealed to be the signal to Rothstein that the game was to be thrown (“B-R” 2). Cicotte continued to throw the game by giving up several runs in the fourth inning, including a two-out triple and allowing them to score five times to crush the 1-1 tie. Cocotte was finally replaced, but the damage was done, the Reds ended the game with a nine to one win (2-3).
That evening is when the fix started to go wrong, only Cicotte had been paid the 10,000 he demanded up front. When they didn’t immediately get paid, many of the players in on the scam started to get agitated, and some even dropped out of the scam. The following game the players decided to actually play, leaving the gamblers in a tough situation as they got all of the remaining money and it towards the Sox. At this point the gamblers met with the players again and paid them a small sum of what they were to receive later, but the players had to lose the next two in order to get their money. Cicotte, starting again, refused want to look as bad as he did in game one, so he matched the other pitcher without a single batter getting on base until the fourth inning. Two outs in to the fifth inning, Cicotte fielded a slow rolling ball to the mound, but had a crazy throw to first to allow a double (3). After the game, Sullivan gave the players $20,000 which was divided between Swede Risberg, Oscar Felsch, Joe Jackson, and Claude Williams who was to start Game 5 the next day.
The following games just got worse, a rain delay started the next day when they came back the pitchers were doing good and both had zero runners past first in the 6th inning.
Then, the bad news began, Eller hit a dropping ball that fell in between Felsch and Jackson. When Felsch got the ball, he tried to throw it to second, but the throw went over the second baseman's head allowing the runner to advance to third base. The leadoff hitter was up next and hit a line drive right over the shortstop's head for a single bringing the run in. The next batter hit a double after some controversial fielding by Felsch. The next hit was also to Felsch, andthe fielding was even worse allowing two more runs to score, and the hitter eventually scored also the opposing pitcher pitched well enough to hold the Sox’s leaving the Red’s one game from winning the series in the newly adapted best-of-nine format (BR
3).
Game six was hosted in Cincinnati with Dickie Kerr starting off on the mound. The Red’s came out with maximum effort and flew to a 4-0 lead before the Sox’s decided to fight back bringing it to 4-4 in the sixth. This was one of the best game of the series and ended up going to extra innings. Weaver got to second on a pop fly between the out fielder with Gandil behind him who drove him in on his next hit (Goetsch 4). That made the game 5-4 giving the Sox’s their second win and allowing them to play in the series -- only two games away now from claiming the series for themselves. The gamblers began to sweat at this point, not knowing if the Sox’s were going to flip on them and leave them empty handed in the end. Talk went around among them claiming that a counterfix might be brewing, and that action should be taken to insure that the Sox’s would lose. The night before the eighth game, Williams was visited by an anonymous hitman - given the alias “Harry F.” The hitman threatened to kill his wife and take his children if he didn’t allow two scores within his first twelve pitches (BR 4).
To start the first inning of the eight game Williams threw nothing but mediocre fastballs allowing four straight hits causing three runs before he was replaced by Bill James. James allowed the runner on base to score and continued to be ineffective in stopping the Reds. The Sox’s finally rallied together in the eighth inning and brought the game to 9-5. Unfortunately the Reds scored one more time ending the game at 10-5 and clinching the Series five games to three (The Editors 3). After this defeat the rumors began to grow and many of the players seen to distanced themselves from everyone at practice and cause even more suspicions. Due to all the rumors Coach Fullerton wrote a letter to the MLB explaining that the Series should never be played again.
The National Commision were infuriated by the allegations of a fix. They tried there best to pretend like it could never happen and the sport is too pure for such things. The rumors continued into the 1920 season and troubled the Soxs causing many of the teammates to turn on each other and made the team even worse. In september of 1920, a grand jury was convened to investigate the rumors and get to the bottom and see if they are true. The began to question each player on the team and tried to narrow down the suspects. A few of the players that knew about the “fix” came forward and told the jury in hope that they could still play. The jury finally found all players that were involved and took them to court and tried them for their crimes. Joe Jackson, Eddie Cicotte, Oscar Felsch, Claude Williams, Arnold Gandil, Fred McMullin, Charles Risberg, and George Weaver were banned from the MLB for their parts in the Scandal of the 1919 World Series (Douglas 1). Many other players were later banned for just knowing about the “fix”.
After the ‘fix”Kenesaw Mountain Landis was appointed the Commissioner of Baseball was in charge of making and enforcing new laws in the MLB. He banned the eight players and eventually banned more players that knew about the scandal and didn’t come forward. A few of the players begged Landis to come back to the league but he would not budge this forced the players to play in independent leagues. In making these harsh but effective rules, the popularity of the MLB began to rise and the confidence of fans began to regain strength.