Why The Onion Article On The Black Sox Is Humorous

Linda Nichols

Professor Rustemeyer

English 110

3 March 2015

Why The Onion Article on “The Black Sox” is Humorous

The article in The Onion on “The Black Sox” presents a humorous take on the sport of baseball as it relates to the 1919 White Sox scandal in which eight of the club’s players were suspected of fixing the 1919 World Series in favor of the Cincinnati Reds. Yet many people born in the late 20th century and beyond may not have heard about the infamous “Black Sox” scandal. As your friend, I take it as my personal responsibility to provide you with the back story on the 1919 “Black Sox” scandal and the joke itself in order to better assist you with understanding the joke presented.

The Onion is a fictitious newspaper that takes real

(Of course, truth is always subjective, and is not always cut and dry, as we will see in supporting accounts). During the 1919 World Series between the White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds, eight White Sox players (Buck Weaver; “Shoeless” Joe Jackson; Arnold Gandil; were accused of purposely throwing the World Series for gamblers who were betting on the series in exchange for money (Isaacson 1). The list of players were Charles “Swede” Risberg: George “Buck” Weaver; Fred McMullin; Eddie Cicotte: Oscar Felsch: “Shoeless Joe Jackson; Arnold Gandil; and Claude “Lefty” Williams. In “Baseball’s Big Black Eye: Black Sox, Blackouts, and the Banning of Buck Weaver,” it is suggested that even owner Charles Comiskey was aware of the fix (Maza 1). Yet there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding this situation. Comiskey may have known, or may not. However, multiple sources indicate that Comiskey’s penny pinching ways with his players-- from unpaid monies to players having to wash their own uniforms -- may have contributed to the desire of players to put their team’s reputation on the

As written in a 2013 Chicago Tribune article titled MLB’s Latest Ills Cast Light Anew on 1919 Black Sox Scandal, “Shoeless Joe and his teammates were tempted to cheat by meager salaries and the callous treatment many players felt they received” (Grossman 1). Rob Neyer, a writer for ESPN, revealed Cicotte raked in $10,000; “Lefty” Williams, two times his normal salary for a total of $5,000; and five other players at least $5,000 each (“Say it aint so... for Joe and the Hall” 1). The last player, “Buck” Weaver, took $0 but was reported to have sat in on meetings discussing the fix (Neyer 1). The end result was a trial and an acquittal of all players, yet a lifetime ban from baseball by one very stern judge named Kenesaw Mountain Landis (Isaacson