Sports Trivia on the Black Sox

By: Chad Henry

Before the 1919 World Series began, many people noticed the fact that major gamblers were putting down a tremendous amount of money on the Reds. This caused people to wonder if something was going on. So, before the first pitch was even thrown, some people were resolved to closely examine all the White Sox players and how the players performed in each game.

Back then the World Series was a best of nine series instead of a best of seven series as it is today. In the very first game, on the very first pitch, White Sox pitcher Eddie Cicotte hit Red's batter Morrie Rath in the back. This was a signal to the gamblers that the Black Sox would go ahead with the plan to fix the Series.

Arnold Chick Gandil, the White Sox first baseman, was the leader of the fix. It's said that the entire thing was his idea. Along with his friend, known gambler Joseph Sport Sullivan, they allegedly convinced 7 other White Sox players to take part in the fix as well. These players accepted money in exchange for allowing the Reds to win the necessary 5 games in the Series.

The players who agreed to throw the series for money most likely did so for 2 reasons: they wanted / needed more money than what they were making playing baseball and they didn't like White Sox owner Charles Comiskey.

The most interesting player involved in the Black Sox fix is Shoeless Joe Jackson. Jackson was one of the greatest ball players of his era. He confessed to fixing the games at first but then took back his confession. He maintained his innocence until the day he died.

Jackson batted .375 in the Series and made several spectacular defensive plays, including throwing out 5 base runners from his centerfield position. He also made 30 outs without committing any errors. However, in the games that the White Sox lost, Jackson's batting average was much lower and he failed to make a play on a ball hit his way. The play resulted in a triple and was not ruled an error.

Shoeless Joe did accept $5000 from the gamblers. He later tried to give back the money but to no avail. Though he was found innocent of taking part in the fixing of the games, Jackson was kicked-out of the Major Leagues and would never again be a big league player.

The story of the Chicago Black Sox continues to interest people to this day. The movie Eight Men Out tells the story of what happened. The fact that players accepted money to fix the biggest series in the most popular sport in America at the time will always be a black eye for America's most storied game.

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