Black Sox Fix Of 1919

It was time for the one of the most exciting sports events of the year. After a long, hard fought season, the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds had finally made it to the World Series. Whatever team to first win five games would win the series. The White Sox were heavily favored to win against their opponents. However, in a series of inconceivable events, the Sox lost the series. Even more preposterous was the fact that they lost it on purpose. Due to unjustly cut salaries and a feeling of resentment towards Charles Comiskey, the Black Sox Fix of 1919 transpired and caused eight players to throw away the World Series, forever changing the game of baseball. The White Sox club owner, Charles Comiskey, was unfair to his players. Comiskey

As Ralph Hickok explains, “Cicotte said he’d throw the first game if he had to throw the ball clear out of the Cincinnati park” (79). Cicotte did not throw it out of the park, but he did still play so bad that the Sox lost the first game nine to one. Chicago went on to lose the second, fourth, and fifth game, while winning the third game to make it seem less like there was a fix. After losing the fifth game, the gambler did not deliver any of the $20,000 to the players. Realizing that they had been played, the players were now determined to win the World Series and won games six and seven. Now the Sox were only down three to four in the series, so “Rothstein ordered the conspirators to lose the decisive game eight” (Porter 68). Sullivan had a mobster from Chicago tell Williams to lose the game in the first inning, otherwise he would harm him. Williams ignored his catcher’s signs and allowed four runs in the first inning, helping Cincinnati win the final game and the World

After the series had been completed, a gambler told Comiskey that many players on the Sox threw the series. As John M. Rosenburg explains, “Comiskey put up $20,000 as a reward for anyone who could prove the Series had been fixed.” However, “no one made any attempt to claim Comiskey’s reward during the winter months” (69). It seemed like the Series had been forgotten about by the next season. Suddenly, an ex-fighter and gambler named Billy Maharg approached the newspaper and said the World Series was rigged. Rosenburg explains that he “named the players involved and gave facts and figures” (69). Surprisingly, Cicotte came forward as a voluntary witness. He named the other conspirators and gamblers and talked about the offers that had been made. It was found that Cicotte found $10,000 under his pillow after the first game. Felsch, Williams, and Jackson also told their stories and said they were promised $20,000 and received only $5,000 each, but no other players received anything (Rosenburg 71). As Rosenburg explains, the case did not go to trial until a year later. When the time came, it was discovered that the Grand Jury minutes and player testimonies were stolen from the prosecutor’s office. This forced the Grand Jury to proclaim all those involved as not guilty