The heavily favored Chicago White Sox were upset in the 1919 World Series by the
Cincinnati Reds, five games to three. At the apex of the pennant race the following
year, eight players were indicted for throwing the Series in return for payoffs from
gamblers.
Although they were all cleared by a conciliatory grand jury, newly appointed
Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis banned for life the eight so-called Black Sox
-- left fielder Shoeless Joe Jackson, first baseman and ringleader Chick Gandil, shortstop
Swede Risberg, third baseman Buck Weaver, centerfielder Happy Felsch, pitchers Eddie Cicotte and Lefty Williams, and utility infielder Fred McMullin -- from organized
baseball. Only a handful of them actually received any payment, and Jackson hit .375
in the Series to lead both teams.
Landis's office had been created because of the
scandal, and he was chosen to fill it because he had shown a friendly attitude toward
the baseball establishment when he was a judge. He justified banning all eight players
on the grounds that not reporting the plot was as bad as actually taking part in
the fix.
The plan was apparently hatched by local Chicago gamblers, but New York
gangster Arnold Rothstein was rumored to be its major backer. The players were easily
tempted. They were not paid well by tight-fisted owner Charles Comiskey. Legend has
it that upon Jackson's leaving the courthouse, a little boy cried, "Say it ain't
so, Joe!"
There have been movements to have Jackson, who owns the third-highest batting
average in baseball history, posthumously reinstated for election to the Hall of
Fame. This revisionist sympathy has risen considerably with the release of two films
connected to the scandal: "Eight Men Out" in 1988, based on the definitive Eliot
Asinof book, and "Field of Dreams" in 1989, based on the W.P. Kinsella novel "Shoeless
Joe." An off-Broadway play, "Out!" was also produced in New York in 1986. (SEW)
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FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY
»May 18, 1912: The Tiger players protest Ty Cobb's suspension and vote to strike. Faced with a $5,000 fine for failing to field a team, club owner Frank Navin orders manager Hugh Jennings to sign up some local amateurs. Al Travers, Bill Leinhauser, Dan McGarvey, Billy Maharg (whose real name was Graham, "Maharg" reversed), Jim McGarr, Pat Meany, Jack Coffey, Hap Ward, and Ed Irvin put on Tiger uniforms. Two Detroit coaches, Joe Sugden, 41, and Jim McGuire, 48, complete the lineup, and score the only two runs for Detroit. The Athletics win 24–2, as Travers goes all the way, giving up 26 hits and 24 runs in eight innings. The only recruit to hit for Detroit is Irvin, who laces two triples in three at bats and closes his ML career with a 2.000 slugging average (only three other players will debut with two triples -— Roy Weatherly, Willie McCovey, and John Sipin). Only one ever plays another ML game: Maharg will bat once for the Phils in 1916. He will also be involved as a conspirator in the Black Sox scandal of 1919. A's starter Jack Coombs leaves after three innings with a 6–0 lead, good enough for a win under the rules at the time. Boardwalk Brown and Herb Pennock divide the rest of the pitching for the A's. Starter Travers, having pitched his only ML game, returns to his studies at St. Joseph's College and later becomes a Catholic priest.
»February 5, 1919: Charges brought in 1918 by Reds owner Garry Herrmann and manager Christy Mathewson against Hal Chase for betting against his team and throwing games in collusion with gamblers are dismissed by National League president John Heydler. Heydler decides Chase's sometimes indifferent play was due to "carelessness." Two weeks later John McGraw trades 1B Walter Holke and C Bill Rariden to the Reds for Chase, but the Giants will also have their problems with him. In September, McGraw will send Chase and Heinie Zimmerman home without explanation; during the investigation of the Black Sox scandal in 1920, McGraw will testify that the dismissal was because both players had thrown games and tried to enlist Fred Toney and Benny Kauff in their scheme.
»August 2, 1921: A Chicago jury brings in a verdict of not guilty against the Black Sox. That night, jurors and defendants celebrate with a party in an Italian restaurant. Ignoring the verdict, Judge Landis bans all eight defendants from baseball for life.
»April 3, 1923: Two "Black Sox" sue the White Sox. Swede Risberg
and Happy Felsch seek $400,000 damages and $6,750
back salary for conspiracy and injury to reputation,
but their suit will be unsuccessful.
»December 10, 1925:
The American League goes on record as opposing the use of resin by pitchers, but the joint rules committee finally votes it in. The committee also agrees that future World Series games are set to start at 1:30 P.M.; 2nd-place money withheld from the eight Black Sox in 1920 is distributed to the other 1920 White Sox; and players signed by August 31st are declared eligible for World Series play. Finally, no times at-bat will be charged in a fly ball advances a runner to 2B or 3B, as well as home.
»November 25, 1944: Kenesaw Mountain Landis, baseball's first commissioner,
dies of a heart attack at age 78 in Chicago. The Commissioner
had ruled over baseball since November 1920 in the
wake of the Black Sox scandal, and wielded authority
perhaps unparalleled in any other industry. Landis
had entered the hospital on October 2nd. He will be
named to the Hall of Fame on December 9th by a special
committee which he formed on August 4th.
»February 21, 1951: The South Carolina House introduces a resolution urging that "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, who was banished from baseball because of his part in the Black Sox Scandal of 1919, be reinstated.
»October 28, 1981: Pedro Guerrero drives in five runs and the Bert Hooton and the Dodgers beat the Yankees 9–2 to win the World Series in six games. In a remarkable post season, the Dodgers came from behind to win three series (down 2–0 to Houston and 2–1 to Montreal in the best-of-5 series). Guerrero, Ron Cey, and Steve Yeager (2 home runs) are named co-MVPs, while OF Dave Winfield and relief pitcher George Frazier are the goats for New York. Winfield was just 1-for-21, while Frazier tied a World Series record by losing three games. The record was set by the White Sox Lefty Williams in 1919, but Williams, one of the eight "Black Sox," probably was losing on purpose.
»February 28, 1986: In baseball's sternest disciplinary move since the Black Sox were banished for life, Commissioner Ueberroth gives seven players who were admitted drug users a choice of a year's suspension without pay or heavy fines and career-long drug testing, along with 100 hours of drug-related community service. Joaquin Andujar, Jeffrey Leonard, Enos Cabell, Keith Hernandez, Dave Parker, Dale Berra, and Lonnie Smith will be fined 10 percent of their annual salaries, while 14 other players will receive lesser penalties for their involvement with illegal drugs.
»July 15, 2000:
A 1909 Honus Wagner baseball club is auctioned for a record $1.1 million on eBay. Other high priced items in the auction include a baseball autographed by the entire 1919 Chicago "Black Sox" team, including Shoeless Joe Jackson, as well as the umpires who worked the final game of the 1919 World Series sells for $93,666, including a 15 percent buyer's premium. A ball signed by the 1919 Reds goes for $11,208, while a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth sells for $76,020. A contract from Shoeless Joe Jackson's sale of his Chicago pool hall to teammate Lefty Williams, sells for $36,098. The contract, dated Oct. 6, 1921, is for just $1.
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