Say It Aint So Joe
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Say it aint so Joe
“To me, baseball is as honorable as any other business. It has to be, or it would not last a seasonÐ Crookedness and baseball do not mixÐ… This year, 1919, is the greatest season of them all”(Asinof 6). This is Charles Comiskey speaking about baseball, unknowingly before eight of his own players would be part of the biggest scandal in baseball and sports history alike. The scandal took place during the World Series of 1919, and these eight players would be involved with one of the most unforgivable actions in sport, throwing a game. Not only were they throwing a game but they were throwing the World Series, a sacred event that was a staple in the American culture at this time. America watched as what seemed like one of the biggest upsets of the time, the Cincinnati Reds beating the Chicago White Sox, began to become a very real reality. What most Americans did not know was there was a series of events before the series that was leading to one of the most disgraceful moments in sports history.
Baseball had always been a game that most gamblers loved to bet on and watch. And in the 1860s to the bettors it was a perfect chance to get out and spend the afternoon watching Americas pastime with the benefits of gambling and betting. So as one could imagine it was not long before the gamblers were trying to make the game their own. It quickly got out of control, “an outfielder, settling under a crucial fly ball, would find himself toned by a nearby spectator, who might win a few hundred dollars if the ball was dropped”(Asinof 11). These were only extreme measures of ensuring a bet and were rare. More commonly used strategies for winning a bet was simply bribery. Players would take cash bribes to miss a crucial play or strike out with runners on base. During the time where salary was a major issue it was not hard to find willing ball players to take a bribe.
The White Sox were a perfect example of a team on the rocks. Although their many wins on the field, the White Sox were an unhappy team. No team played better in 1919, but few were paid so weakly. Comiskey was able to get away with paying low salaries because of the “reserve clause” in players contracts. This clause prevented players from changing teams without the permission of the owners. Comiskey frequently made promises to his players that he had no intention of keeping. He once promised his team a big bonus if they won the pennant. When they did win, the bonus turned out to be a case of cheap champagne(Asinof 22). Comiskey even charged his players for cleaning their uniforms. In protest, for several weeks the players wore the same dirty uniforms. Comiskey removed the uniforms from their lockers and fined the players. To make matters worse, the White Sox players did not get along with each other. The team was divided into two cliques; one led by second baseman Eddie Collins and the other by first baseman Chick Gandil. Collinss group was educated, sophisticated, and able to negotiate salaries as high as $15,000. Gandils less sophisticated group, who only earned an average of $6,000, bitterly hated the difference. So it came as no surprise that Comiskeys players were more than willing to throw the World Series.
Chick Gandil stood about six feet and two inches tall and he was about as tough as they come. He had been playing since he was seventeen in St. Paul, Minnesota, his home. With his size not only was one of the best first baseman of his time but also he was a heavyweight fighter. Gandil had always been somewhat of a gambler, giving tips to certain bettors or maybe telling them not to bet on a certain team. But it was during one afternoon when little inside secrets became an all out plot to throw the World Series. Joseph “Sport” Sullivan was one of Gandils friends and someone who he relayed inside information to. Sullivan and Gandil knew each other well and had developed a trust between each other as well as a friendship. So Gandil knew that if he wanted to go through with the plan he was the one who could coordinate it. Gandils proposal was simple. He promised Sullivan that he would get enough players in on his plan to insure the White Sox defeat. All Gandil wanted was 80,000 dollars in cash and he knew Sullivan could raise those funds.
Sport Sullivan knew that this was a big job and if he wanted to take part in it there was only one man he could go to, Arnold Rothstein. A professional gambler, Rothstein was worth a large sum of money, which many could only guess how expensive he was. Rothstein knew Sullivan and knew he was the type of man who would not bring him an idea that would not work. Of course Rothstein had hesitations about this but being a gambling man this was a proposal he could not pass by. He would give Sullivan 40,000 dollars in advance to give to take care of the players. This was to insure the fix would take place. The rest of the cash, now up to 100,000 dollars, would be given to the players after the series. Now the fix was looking like it was going to happen and both Sullivan and Rothstein began betting on the Reds with large amounts of money.
With the high amount of money on the line for Gandil is what of very high importance for him to find sufficient players who would not only be willing to throw it but have enough impact to insure the loss. No game could be thrown without pitchers being a part so the first players Gandil recruited were Eddie Cicotte, the Whites Soxs ace who won twenty nine games that season. The other was their number two