From left to right (front): Arnold “Chick” Gandil, Claude “Lefty” Williams, Charles “Swede” Risberg, George “Buck” Weaver and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson sit in front of their lawyers during their Grand Jury Trial in 1921. All of these players are now eligible for the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Photo courtesy of Creative Commons
Editor’s Note: There were at least two and a possible third conspiracy to purposely lose the 1919 World Series with each conspiracy including the same players but different gamblers. The “Black Sox Scandal” in this reporting refers to the culmination of these conspiracies.
Say it ain’t so, Joe, say it ain’t so.
These were the words a child allegedly said to star White Sox outfielder “Shoeless” Joe Jackson in September of 1920 after he admitted his involvement in purposely losing the 1919 World Series, according to This Day in Quotes. This line has become famous in pop culture as it inspired a song in 1975 by Murray Head and was referenced in the first season of the Simpsons.
Despite its popularity, no witnesses report hearing anyone say this, and Jackson himself denied anyone saying this to him. There being no evidence to support this quote’s existence is right in line with many other aspects of the conspiracy to throw the 1919 World Series, as there are many misconceptions surrounding the scandal.
Major League Baseball will remove members from their ineligible list upon the players death, MLB announced May 13. Thus, the eight players who conspired to throw the 1919 World Series — referred to as the Black Sox Scandal — are now eligible for the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Multiple sources who had spent countless hours studying this scandal said the common understanding of the motive behind the scandal — among other aspects — is shrouded in misinformation.
“I would hope that those who care about this or care about the induction would inform themselves of the facts that we know rather than what they read in some book that was written 60 years ago or what they saw last week on MLB Network TV,” Black Sox Historian Bill Lamb said.
The eight players banned were pitchers Eddie Cicotte and Claude “Lefty” Williams, infielders Arnold “Chick” Gandil, Charles “Swede” Risberg, Fred McMullin and George “Buck” Weaver and outfielders Oscar “Happy” Felsch and Jackson.
Multiple sources said the reason for the amount of misinformation is due to Eliot Asinof’s 1963 book “Eight Men Out,” later turned into a movie in 1988 — both containing many inaccuracies. The speculated reason for the inaccuracies is Asinof admitted he created aspects of the story for effect, didn’t have access to the trial records and relied upon Felsch and gambler Abe Attell for information.
“[Happy Felsch] was probably the least informed of the eight players of what went on and who was behind it,” Lamb said. “He also relied upon Abe Attell, the only gambler who would speak to him. Abe Attell is a very interesting character, but he’s not someone with a reputation for much reliability as far as truth goes.”
Cheapness of White Sox Owner
Arnold “Chick” Gandil, former White Sox first baseman, poses for a photo during his time with the White Sox. Multiple historians said Gandil was one of the initiators of the fix. Photo courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame
The legend goes the eight players conspired to throw the World Series as a way to get revenge against White Sox Owner Charles Comiskey for underpaying them, as it is portrayed in the book and movie. Multiple baseball historians said they found this to be untrue due to the Hall of Fame making certain evidence accessible in the early 2000s.
The Hall of Fame made viewing contract cards for many players available, which contains information regarding their yearly salary and bonuses, multiple sources said. What the contract cards revealed was the White Sox season payroll for 1919 — including everyone who appeared that year weighted by the amount of days on the roster — was $111,397, the highest in the American League that year.
“If the White Sox felt underpaid, well then so did players on every other major league team,” said Jacob Pomrenke, chairman of the Black Sox Scandal Research Community. “They were all kind of in the same boat and the reality is, the White Sox were getting paid better than most.”
Additionally, three members of the Black Sox — Cicotte, Weaver and Jackson — were in the top 20 in salary for AL players, according to Pomrenke’s research. Furthermore, five of the Black Sox were given raises after 1919 — which wasn’t always the case back then.
The reason raises weren’t as common was due to the Reserve Clause, which allowed owners of teams to renew contracts for the same salary if they chose, said Michael Haupert, Black Sox Historian and Economics Professor. Due to the clause and lack of free agency, the White Sox weren’t getting paid all the revenue they were generating, but that was common across all teams and owners.
“There’s a lot of myths going on,” Black Sox Historian Bruce Allardice said. “Comiskey wasn’t obviously the cheapest owner.”
In both the book and movie, there was an alleged $10,000 bonus for Cicotte if he won 30 games. Cicotte won 29 games in 1919, but it’s rumored Comiskey had him sat for two weeks in September and pulled early from a start Sept. 24 to prevent him from winning 30 games. It is true he sat for two weeks in September, but Lamb said Cicotte pitched into the seventh inning Sept. 24, which gave him the opportunity to be the winning pitcher.
The scene from “8 Men Out” where White Sox Owner Charles Comiskey denies pitcher Eddie Cicotte his $10,000 bonus. Multiple historians said there is no evidence of this bonus existing.
Furthermore, multiple historians said upon examining Cicotte’s contract card, there was no information about any bonus for the 1919 season. Bonuses weren’t very common back in 1919, as only 8% of the contract cards available had information about a bonus in them, according to Haupert’s research.
“He never got a bonus any other time, and yet, there were lots of examples in baseball in those years when bonuses were given and it was written right into the contract,” Haupert said. “So it’s highly unlikely that there was ever any bonus, because we’ve seen his contract and we know it wasn’t there.”
Former White Sox pitcher Eddie Cicotte throws a ball during his time with the White Sox. Major League Baseball has removed Cicotte’s ban for throwing the 1919 World Series, according to the MLB. Photo courtesy of National Baseball Hall of Fame
Cicotte earned $8,000 in 1919, so this alleged $10,000 bonus would have been higher than his yearly salary, according to Haupert’s research. His teammate and fellow conspirator, Williams, did have two bonuses in his contract — one for winning 15 games and another for winning 20 — but they were worth $375 and $500 respectively, compared to a $3,000 salary.
The Graphic requested copies of the contract cards, but were unable to receive copies because they contained sensitive personally identifying information. The Hall of Fame confirmed there was no information related to Cicotte’s alleged $10,000 bonus in his contract card and the existence of William’s two bonuses.
Furthermore, this bonus would have also been higher than Washington Nationals pitcher Walter Johnson’s 1919 salary — the highest paid pitcher in the AL that year, and only five players in the AL had a salary of at least $10,000, according to Pomrenke’s research.
Motive Behind the Fix
The exact motive behind the fix is something multiple historians said can only be speculated about for various reasons. One reason it’s unknown is the possibility that there were different motives for each player.
“You have at least eight people on the ballplayer side — not all of them are going to be motivated by the same thing,” Lamb said. “Why Cicotte chose to do it may not be the same reason that Happy Felsch chose to do it, or the same reason that Lefty Williams chose to do it.”
While the team wasn’t underpaid, multiple historians said the money could have still been the motivation — but it was a matter of greed, not revenge. Across the multiple conspiracies, the players were promised $20,000 with the original conspiracy promising $10,000.
Former White Sox Outfielder “Shoeless” Joe Jackson stands in a dugout during his time with the White Sox. Jackson said during his grand jury trial he accepted $5,000. Photo courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame
Sources said Cicotte was given $10,000 before game 1, and Jackson admitted in his testimony in 1920 he accepted $5,000, but it’s unclear how much the other players received. Haupert said the promise of $10,000 was enticing enough for some players.
“He [Jackson] was going to be looking at about a 10-year income pump relative to an average American,” Haupert said.
There were rumors previous World Series were fixed, which multiple historians said was likely part of the Black Sox motive. While unlikely any other World Series was thrown, Allardice said there were rumors the Chicago Cubs threw the 1918 World Series for $10,000 — so that was the “benchmark” for this type of conspiracy.
Lamb said this gave the players the idea they wouldn’t get caught if they were to throw the 1919 World Series.
“They viewed the fix of the series as a low risk, high reward proposition,” Lamb said. “They didn’t expect to get caught and they didn’t expect to get punched if they did get caught.”
Aspects Lost to Time
Part of the reason sources said aspects of the scandal have been lost to time is because many of the gamblers never appeared in court — most notably Boston Gambler Joe “Sport” Sullivan. Gandil approached Sullivan — not the other way around as portrayed in the book and movie — in Boston in September of 1919, initiating the first conspiracy.
The now-rundown Hotel Buckminster stands in Boston on June 29. Multiple sources said this is where White Sox first baseman Chick Gandil and Boston Gambler Joe “Sport” Sullivan first met to discuss the conspiracy. Photo by Tony Gleason
With multiple conspiracies, there were many people on the gamblers’ side, but sources said Sullivan was on the ground floor of the scandal and dealt with the passing of money and financing the fix. What made Sullivan different was he knew both baseball players and gambling, unlike other people who knew one or the other.
“Sullivan knew both Cicotte and he dealt with Gandil when Gandil played for Washington,” Allardice said. “Gandil didn’t throw games — don’t get me wrong — but Gandil would provide Sullivan with inside information so Sullivan could place bets for and against the Washington team.”
Despite his major involvement in the scandal, Lamb said not only did he never appear in court, but there was never an effort by the court to bring him to trial, even though he was in Massachusetts the entire time. Sullivan also never spoke publicly about what happened, so his version of the events has been lost to time.
The exact reason he was never brought to trial is also unknown, but Lamb — who spent over 30 years as a prosecutor — said he speculates Sullivan never appeared because none of the witnesses placed Sullivan in the mix of what went on.
“The prosecutors didn’t have any usable witnesses against Sport Sullivan,” Lamb said. “So I suspect that that’s why they didn’t make any great effort to get Sullivan in because they couldn’t prove there were charges against them.”
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Contact Tony Gleason on Twitter (@tony__gleason) or via email: anthony.gleason@pepperdine.edu
