The+Black+Sox+Scandal

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The Black Sox Scandal By Drew 5/21/09 5-Ch

The 1919 World Series of Major League Baseball seemed to be too easy for the Cincinnati Reds. It seemed as though the Chicago White Sox were almost letting the Reds win, but how, and why? It all started just a few days earlier, when a group of men had a collaboration of ideas about fixing the 1919 World Series. But out of the many men, two stood-out above the rest. They were William Thomas "Sleepy Bill" Burns, and Billy Maharg. Maharg was a gambler, and had the connections underground, and Burns was an ex-Major League Baseball pitcher, who had the connections to the present-day players of that time. Their idea was to get a few of the White Sox's good players, and pay them to make errors, and strike-out. The two men (Burns, and Maharg), would bet on the Reds who were underdogs. If their plot was successful, the winnings from their betting would hopefully be enough for them to pay off the players that they hired, and have a little bit of profit for themselves. When the players purposely mess up, the underdog Reds would probably win. As long as the players didn't tell anyone else about the scandal, it might work.

At first, the two main men were looking to hire about two players, but then they realized that they would need more. So, they hired Fred McMullin, Swede Risberg, Happy Felsch, Lefty Williams, Eddie Cicotte, Buck Weaver, Arnold "Chick" Gandil, and the star of his era, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson. Most of the players were against the idea of the scandal, but what made most of them accept was the big money involved.

Baseball players didn't make a lot in those days, so $100,000 to split among eight players was a lot of money. The players agreed, and when the series began for the world championship of Major League Baseball, so did the purposely-made errors, and the "by-accidently"-made strikeouts. The two head dogs were very pleased with how bad the White Sox players were playing, because the White Sox were losing the series, they were winning all of the gambling bets, and no one knew about the paid players, and them. What could go wrong?

After the Cincinnati Reds won the World Series, all of the eight paid White Sox players confessed about purposely losing the World Series. The 1st commissioner of Major League Baseball, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, suspended each of the eight players. But, he did promise them reinstatement to Major League Baseball if they were found not guilty. Even though all of the eight players were cleared of criminal charges, he still banned them all for life. Their hopes of getting reinstated to Major League Baseball had been crushed.

Although seven of the eight players were found to be very guilty, 1 player seemed to be relatively innocent. That man was “Shoeless” Joe Jackson. Jackson admitted that he did let up in key situations, but he did try to do things so that he could say that he didn’t have a part in the “Black Sox Scandal”. He asked his coach to bench him during the series, and he told the owner of the White Sox, Charles Comiskey, about the scandal. Unfortunately for Jackson, he didn’t get benched, and Comiskey ignored the news about the scandal. During the series, Jackcon hit .375, with twelve hits, which was the record for most hits in a World Series, and one home run. The home-run that Jackson hit happened to be the only home run of the series. People still rave about the fate of “Shoeless” Joe Jackson. Should, or shouldn’t “Shoeless” Joe Jackson be in the Major League Baseball Hall Of Fame? Before he died, he said, “I am going to meet the greatest umpire of all… and He knows I’m innocent.”

Some people say that the “Black Sox Scandal” got its name because Charles Comiskey, the owner of the White Sox, was so cheap that in order to have the player’s uniforms washed, he would take the wash amount out of the player’s salaries. The players wanted as much money as they could, so they didn’t have their uniforms washed. The uniforms got so dirty, that the players uniforms turned black. Others say that the name is the way it is because “Black” means bad.

In the end, the “Black Sox Scandal” was successful, meaning that the Cincinnati Reds won the 1919 World Series. But still, who would be happy with a World Series win, when players on the opposing team were losing on purpose?

**__ Bibliography __**
 * "1919 Black Sox Scandal." __Montgomery College____, MD . __ 02 June 2009 . **
 * http://www.1919blacksox.com/story.htm **