The Black Sox Scandal: Fact From Fiction
Introduction: The Black Sox Scandal
The Black Sox Scandal refers to the 1919 World Series in baseball. It was perhaps the most prominent blemishes to ever appear in the history of the game, and marks one of the biggest betting scandals in the history of sport. Because the events took place over one century ago, many people haven’t heard about it. As you’ll see, there are a number of different versions to the tale, and one of the most prominent sources from the period is now regarded with some skepticism. So let’s try and separate fact from fiction.
Setting the Record Straight
In 1988, the film director John Sayles made “Eight Men Out”. This movie was based on the infamous 1963 book of the same title, written by Eliot Asinof. The film, starring John Cusack and Charlie Sheen, depicts the Black Sox scandal when the underpaid Chicago White Sox accepted bribes to deliberately lose the 1919 World Series.
Though Asinof’s book does a great job of showing the whole saga, we could later see that the author was less than truthful with some parts, with added embellishments and some obvious historical errors. And because both the movie and the book it was based on is a less than perfect source, we would like to look into the real story, warts and all.
The Ball Players Were the Real Masterminds
There’s a continuing belief that it was a pool of gamblers who were responsible for setting up the whole debacle. But nothing could be further from the truth. This comes from a feeling that the players themselves were somehow duped into this scheme. It provides us with a myth that somehow the players are above reproach. But the sad truth was that it was the players themselves who came up with the scheme. Contemporary records show that it was the White Sox player Chick Gandil who initiated their diabolical scheme. He actually served as a go-between for both the gamblers and the players.
Not just was he a facilitator in the whole scheme of things, but he also set himself up as the money man. One of his jobs was to collect and then distribute the monies to the players. In reality, he pocketed most of the money for himself. Whilst paying out around $10,000 to each player, in one of his jackpot winning strategies, he kept over $35,000 back for himself. In today’s money, that’s equivalent to over $500,000!
The Black Sox Scandal: Lefty’s Life Wasn’t on the Line
When Asinof wrote his book, he took a very sympathetic view towards the players. In many passages he plays up or simply invents happenings that would shine a more forgiving light on those involved. One of those stories, which the author later admitted was a complete fabrication, was that Lefty Williams had to carry out this fraud because he was being targeted by hit men. Unfortunately, this tale stuck and it’s often repeated as a means of painting the players in a better light.The idea being that, who wouldn’t throw a game if you had a hit man threatening you. But it was a fiction.
This Was Not a Silent Protest
Another myth that simply will not die, is that the players were somehow rebelling against their mean and oppressive owner. This story was bought up during the trial by the player’s defense attorneys, and then later used in Asinof’s book. Somehow it sounds better if the narrative points to an under-trodden team lorded over by a hostile and unforgiving boss who refused to pay a fair living wage. The truth is that during that period, the White Sox were the team with the highest pay in the entire league. And all thanks to the generosity of their owner, Charles Comiskey. At the time, their combined payroll amounted to over $100,000.
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Missing Performance Bonus
Yet another untruth that’s often repeated, is that the owner, Charles Comiskey had somehow wronged the pitcher, Eddie Cicotte over a performance bonus. The player was set to get a $10,000 bonus for a 30 season win. This was already one of the best jackpot offers. But Cicotte already had the chance to clinch the pennant. So it all makes zero sense. The very idea, that the world’s highest paid pitcher was somehow being short paid is preposterous. Again, it’s was a tale woven by one of the defense attorneys and then later perpetuated in the book. If you want to learn how to really bet on sports, then we have a great guide on how to bet on sports.
The Black Sox Scandal: Disappearing Confessions
This is still a major bugbear even to this day. There has always been a lot of toeing and frowning about the fact that some of the original transcripts from the trial were lost. But it was all a storm in a teacup. But Shoeless Joe Jackson, Cicotte, and Lefty Williams never gave signed confessions.
They testified in front to of a Grand jury and it’s these testimonies that went missing. But it was never a big deal. The court stenographer referred back to her notes and then made a fresh set of transcripts. And it was those new transcripts that were in use during the trial. The defense attorneys never questioned the transcripts at the time. So these missing documents were just another sad red herring.
The Fix Didn’t Come Out of Left Field
Though the Black Sox scandal was a big deal at the time, it certainly wasn’t either the first or the last baseball scandal to cause waves. In fact, the evidence suggested that the teams owner, Charles Comiskey actually knew about the rouse, but prayed it would quietly blow over. Going back to the 1860’s baseball has been filled with fixed games. So Shoeless Joe and his fellow players were hardly outliers in this activity. The very idea that baseball was somehow sullied by the Black Sox is nonsense, as cheating was an almost daily occurrence. Remember that Cicotte said that he and his team mates were unhappy with the money the crosstown Cubs players got when they threw the World Series the year before.
Match Fixing was Commonplace
And in 1919, the Black Sox were certainly not the only team facing accusations of match fixing. Both Tris Speaker and Ty Cobb (one of the greatest players ever) caught a lot of heat for allegedly fixing a game just days before the World Series started. The same Grand jury who were looking into the Black Sox, were simultaneously looking into collusion between the Red Sox and the Phillies. So the Black Sox scandal wasn’t the one off rare occurrence. No, it was the culmination of years of endemic corruption. Of course, it followed that at that time, it was in the interest of baseball to throw the Black Sox under the bus as a means of misdirecting attention from the corruption going on within the sport.
At the end of the day, baseball had become too big for it’s boots. There was simply, too much money swirling around. The owners conspired with the commission to protect their cash cow. Baseball had suffered from this sickness for over 30 years prior. Unfortunately, Shoeless Joe and his team mates paid the price by being banned from the game. And thus, the commissioner swept the whole rotten mess under the carpet.
Conclusion: The Black Sox Scandal
It didn’t take baseball very long to recover from this glitch. The scandal was played down by the media as much as possible. Perhaps the saddest part involves Shoeless Joe. Though he took the fall, today we can see that there is absolutely no evidence that he was in any way corrupt. But he was banned all the same. You probably know the famous story; when he’s leaving court a young boy steps forwards, tugs at the player’s sleeve and says, “Say it ain’t so, Joe”. And Joe sadly replied by saying that it was. Well, as with most of the stories around this event, that too wasn’t true either. It never happened. You can check out our favorite sportsbooks for the best sports betting jackpots.
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