The 1919 World Series

Created Sep 20, 1999 | Updated Oct 20, 2010

The 1919
World Series

"As
Jackson departed from the Grand Jury room, a small 
boy clutched at his sleeve and tagged along after him.

'Say
it ain't so, Joe,' he pleaded. 'Say it ain't so.'

'Yes,
kid, I'm afraid it is,' Jackson replied.

'Well,
I never would've thought it.' the boy said.

Chicago
Herald and Examiner 
30 September 1920

The
World Series is the annual 'finale' to the U.S. baseball season.
A competition between the best of the National League vs. the
best of the American League, it is look upon as being a beloved
American pastime- a clean, family event where someone could buy a
$7 hot dog without thinking twice about it. However, in October
1919, it was something different. As F. Scott Fitzgerald put in
in The Great Gatsby: "It never occured to me that
one man could start to play with the faith of fifty million
people- with the singlemindedness of a burglar blowing a
safe". This is the (somewhat) complete history of how it
happened.

The
war was over and people were finally remembering what 'fun' was.
Of course, along with that came what you would expect-
overindulgence, corruption, and betrayal. But no one would think
about that. Especially not October of 1919, when the World
Series; the revival of the American Pastime and predicted sign of
the times, was to be held. It was the Chicago White Sox vs. the
Cincinnati Reds, and the White Sox were extremely favored. It was
to the point that "...Chicago fans did not come to see them
win: they came to see how." as Eliot Asinof put it. But when
the series was over and reality sank in, the loss Chicago was
dealt was obviously not just bad luck. There was definitely
something fishy, something an incredible amount of people knew
about even before the series started.

The
games were thrown. Eight players: Eddie Cicotte, Oscar
"Happy" Felsch, Chick Gandil, Joe "Shoeless"
Jackson, Fred McMullen, Swede Risberg, Claude "Lefty"
Williams, and George "Buck" Weaver, had been in on the
deal. Why did they, some of the best players in the world, risk
their reputations and careers? Why would they give up a series so
important to the teams and their individual's career? Who was
behind such an elaborate hoax?

Gambling
and fixed games for the purpose of profit was popular at the
time. One of the players, Chick Gandil, had thought about it for
a while and finally decided three weeks before the World Series
to meet with Joseph "Sport" Sullivan. Sullivan was one
of the biggest names in gambling and the only person Gandil knew
who could raise enough money. He wanted $80,000 cash, a massive
amount of money at the time. Sullivan soon agreed.

Gandil
knew it would be easy to tempt players with the money. Because of
the war and the overall penny-pinching (when it came to the
players, at least) nature of the team owner Charles Comiskey,
they were in need of it. Unlike the outrageous salaries of
players today (baseball's minimum wage is $200,000 a year),
baseball players did not make much. Comiskey made the situation
even worse for the White Sox, who earned sometimes less than 50%
of a baseball player's average earnings, despite their obvious
superiority of talent. Comiskey went so far as to cut the laundry
budget, which is where the team actually got the nickname 'Black
Sox': the obvious filth of their uniforms.

Despite
all of this flagrant economic caution, Comiskey had enough to
constantly wine and dine the news reporters, which is why no one
heard of the player's abuse. The press was on Comiskeys side.

This
angered the players, all of who made an average of $6,000 a year
except for one player who was smart enough to get a contract
signed before the economic tidings had turned. The star pitcher
of the team, Eddie Cicotte, was especially upset, and Gandil knew
it. He approached Cicotte with his offer. At first Cicotte
blatantly refused it, but he needed money. A few days after they
had first spoken, Cicotte returned and tersely told him he'd do
it if he got $10,000 cash-over 140% what he made that year-
before the game. Gandil agreed.

Once
Gandil had Cicotte onboard he knew he could get others. He second
target was Swede Risberg. He had already discussed the
possibility of fixing the series with him, and knew he would want
to be included along with Risberg's friend Fred McMullin, who
overheard one of their chats about it and immediately wanted in
on the deal.

Gandil
went after Claude "Lefty" Williams, another pitcher.
Without at least two pitchers, it would be very difficult to win
more than two or three games. At first Williams shied away,
doubtful. Later that week, however, he got on the bandwagon-
after all, Cicotte was in, and that was worth something. 

Now
Gandil had defense all covered; all he needed was to get some
hitters to help him out. He set out to persuade the "big
three", Weaver, Jackson, and Felsch, and managed to get them
all to join him at a meeting the next night. He had chosen well-
not only did he have a powerhouse, but he had selected comrades.
There were two 'cliques' on the White Sox, who hardly spoke and
truly disliked each other. Everyone Gandil targeted was on one of
them, which meant he had the power of friendship and peer
pressure on his side. With the mention of their friends already
in on the deal, the three joined up.

Eight
players and $80,000. If Sullivan followed through on the deal
Gandil had recounted to the players, the players' cooperation
would be assured. At this point, they decided to just wait and
see if Sullivan would pull through.

Soon
after the meeting, another opportunity arose. One of Cicotte's
old baseball friends, "Sleepy Bill" Burns, asked if
rumors that the game would be thrown was true, and Cicotte soon
admitted it. He and Gandil went to a meeting with Burns and his
associate Billy Maharg. This time the ante was $100,000; which
Burns and Maharg turned to the New York gambling great Arnold
Rothstein to raise.

On
September 23rd, Maharg and Burns met Rothstein's associate Abe
Attell. They told him of their proposal, and he in turn told
Rothstien. Rothstien, however, didn't think it was possible.
Everyone went back, defeated, except for Attell. He went to Burns
and bluffed, saying Rothstien had changed his mind and would be
in on it, but didn't want his name involved. 
Five days before the series, Sullivan told Rothstien about his
involvement in the fix. Rothstien believed Sullivan much more
than he did Burns and Mahrag, and instructed him to go with
Evans, another of Rothstien's associates, to meet with the
players. By this time the players were wary of the deal: Williams
wanted out, and Jackson was now demanding $20,000. Evans told
Rothstien, who agreed to provide $40,000 immediately and another
$40,000 once the fix was reality. He had amazing faith: that same
day he put $270,000 on the Reds, and instructed his gambling
friends to do the same.

Sullivan
received the $40,000, but only passed on $10,00 to Gandil,
keeping the rest to himself for bets. However by that time the
odds had already decreased against the Reds. Sullivan told Gandil
one of the players must have leaked. Gandil reluctantly took the
money and gave it all directly to Gandil, the first person in on
the deal and the pitcher for the first game.

By
the day before the Series, money was being put down everywhere-
for the Reds. Word was out. 

Attell,
unaware of the Sullivan deal, tried to get $100,000 as he had
promised, but was unable to. Everyone's money was out on bets. He
told the players that he would pay them after every game lost.
The players decided to lose the first three games and win the
fourth (Kerr, not involved and disliked by the group, pitched the
third. Therefore this did not happen, but that isn't important
now). Jackson, probably the player with the most impact of the
group, wasn't present at this, or any other, meeting.

And
so the Series began. Right away Cicotte gave away a walk- he hit
the batter! By the fourth inning he had given so much opportunity
to the other team that he was out of the game. The throw was
obvious, but that night Burns could not get the money from
Attell. He promised he'd give them the money the following night,
and they advised Williams to throw carefully the next day- the
one just thrown was way too obvious.

The
next day Williams threw carefully: it was only a 4-2 loss, but by
that time the fix was well known. The team manager, Kid Gleason,
tried to strangle Gandil, and the catcher Shalk attacked Williams
for ignoring his signals. Comiskey tried to tell the National
Commision (ruling body for baseball) of the fix, but they shook
his protests off as bitterness over the recent losses. Meanwhile,
Attell had the $40,000, but only agreed to give the players
$10,000. He also instructed them to win the third game, so that
the odds would once again increase against the Reds. 

Third
game: Attell betted on Chicago, and won. He told Burns that he
lost, though, and didn't give the player the money he owed them.
Burns betted against Chicago, and lost all he had won from the
first two games. He tried to convince the player that they would
get their money later yet, but they no longer believed him. They
said the deal was off. 

Suddenly,
before game four, Sullivan reappeared. He promised to wire
$20,000 before they began playing game four, and reminded Gandil
that there was another $40,000 in the safe, as promised. Gandil
said they'd go on with it if they could have $20,000 before the
fourth game, and another $20,000 before the fifth. Sullivan was
able to come up with the money in time. They lost the game, and
the money was distributed to everyone but McMullen and Weaver- it
seemed as if Weaver was out of the fix.

In
game six Kerr pitched, and although there were three errors by
Chicago, Gandil and Weaver helped them come back and win 5-4.
Still no money or business.

Game
seven was Cicotte's performance; he had planned to win one, and
that was it. This left the series 4-3 Reds, and the gamblers were
getting nervous. Sullivan sent out a threat on Lefty Williams and
his family if he didn't lose the last one.

Lefty
took the threat seriously. In only the first inning, he gave up 4
runs, and the game was won by the Reds 10-5. The series had been
won by the Reds.

Comiskey
later was quoted as saying "There are seven boys who will
never play for me again!". He did not acknowledge Weaver as
in on the deal. Comiskey offered $20,000 to anyone who had
information about the deal. He later lowered the figure to
$10,000, and didn't end up paying the many people who did come
forth. 

Cicotte
was the first to tell about what happened. Jackson followed suit.
Gandil and Rothstien never admitted to anything. On September
28th the eight players, Attell, and other big-time gamblers were
indicted for "conspiring to defraud the public and injure
the business of Charles Comiskey and the American League".
There was no law against fixing games at the time. Mysteriously,
Cicotte and Jackson's confessions disappeared, and everyone was
acquitted. 

The
National Commission was scrapped, as the entire baseball
community tried to cleanse itself of the scandal. Kennesaw
Mountain Landis was appointed new commissioner, and soon after
the players were acquitted, he banned all eight of them from
professional baseball for life:

"...any
player that throws a game, no player that entertains propositions
or promises to throw a game, 
no player who sits in on a conference with a bunch of gamblers in
which ways and means of throwing 
a game are discussed and does not promptly tell his club about
it, will ever play professional baseball."

Though
Weaver did not accept any money, said he was out of the deal, and
played well during the series, his six requests for reinstatement
were turned down.

Cicotti
and Weaver probably would have made it into the Hall of Fame if
not for the ban. Joe Jackson, often said to be one of the best
players of the game, isn't even mentioned in the Hall, despite
pleads from the public. Ted Williams, a San Diego baseball
legend, has vouched for his entrance publicly, but he is still
not there. 

1917
was the last Chicago White Sox World Series win to date.

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