• The 1919 World Series resulted in the most famous scandal in baseball history.

• Eight players from the Chicago White Sox (later nicknamed the Black Sox) were accused of throwing the series against the Cincinnati Reds.

• The 1919 World Series was expected to generate 50% more revenue than any other previous World Series.

• Opportunity for large profit was on the rise, due to attendance increase.

William Burns• William “Sleepy Bill”

Burns was an ex major league pitcher.

• Will had the connection with White Sox players.

Billy Maharg• Bill had the gambling

connections underground.

• Arnold Rothstein was the most successful and well known gambler in America. .

• Rothstein agreed to give Maharg $100,000 to fund the conspiracy.

• Rothstein’s bodyguard relayed messages between Rothstein and Bill Maharg

• The gamblers bet nearly half a million dollars on the Cincinnati Reds

• They agreed to pay the players of the White Sox $100,000 to split.

• Left Fielder for White Sox• Originally didn’t want to be

involved in fix• Tried to warn owner

Comiskey, about scandal• Hit only homerun in World

Series

The Games Begin

• Chicago lost the first game 9-1, and the second game 4-1.

• Players not involved in the fix had growing suspicion.

• Catcher Ray Schalk noticed something wrong with the Sox pitching.

• After the first two games, the conspirators only paid the players $10,000

• Players began to wonder whether or not they should continue to lose.

• Chicago won the third game 3-0.

• Many of the gamblers bet on individual games

• They lost a large amount of money after the third game.

• Chicago lost the fourth game 2-0 and the fifth game 5-0.

• Eddie Cicotte pitched the fourth game and made several errors.

• After the fifth game, the gamblers missed another payment.

• The White Sox players realized they had no reason to lose.

• Every player on the White Sox tried as hard as they could to win the remainder of the games.

• Chicago won the sixth game 5-4 and the seventh game 4-1.

• Arnold Rothstein had an enormous sum of money on Chicago to win the World Series

• Claude Williams was pitching the ninth and final game of the world series.

• With Rothstein’s money at risk, he sent a bodyguard of his to threaten Claude Williams and his wife

• Claude Williams blew the eighth game, and the Chicago Black Sox lost 10-5.

The Trial

Time to Confess• Eddie Cicotte

admitted involvement in the Scandal

• Stood in front of Grand Jury and plead in tears

• First player to speak to Jury

• Joe Jackson was the second player to speak

• “I got a big load off my chest”

Facing the Law

• All eight players, Bill Burns, Abe Attell, and along with others were indicted.

• Rothstein was not indicted by the jury, and moved on to bootlegging and drug dealing.

• Rothstein was eventually murdered by a gambler who accused him of fixing a poker game.

• Federal Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis became baseball’s first commissioner

• Said the White Sox players could not be reinstated to MLB

• Due to lack of evidence and missing confessions, the final verdict of the players was not guilty.

• After the trial, Commissioner Landis made sure the eight players did not play in the MLB again.

• After the trial, many players played in semi-professional or in outlaw leagues.

• Joe Jackson opened a liquor store.

• Jackson died in 1951, shortly after being inducted in the Cleveland Baseball Hall of Fame.