04-033 The Black Sox Scandal I
Thursday May 17, 2012
Lead: America was just about begin its "return to normalcy" under Warren Gamaliel Harding when in the fall of 1920 a Chicago Grand Jury indicted eight White Sox players for throwing the 1919 World Series in what became the Black Sox Scandal.
Intro: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.
Content: In 1919 the Chicago White Sox were one of the finest teams in the history of baseball. The team's talent was in-depth with excellent batting and several positions covered by more than a single outstanding player. In left field was Joe Jackson, one of the game's great hitters. On the mound spitball specialist Eddie Cicotte alternated with Claude "Lefty" Williams for pitching honors. They romped through the American League during the season and were highly favored to beat the lackluster National League contenders, the Cincinnati Reds. However, in one of baseball's most sensational reverses, the White Sox had lost. Even before the first game rumors were flying that the fix was in and that several White Sox players had conspired to throw the series.
White Sox owner Charles A. Comisky, tightfisted and at times abusive, began a quiet investigation of his own team almost as soon as the series was over. Despite a $20,000 reward for information, the results of the probe offered no proof, nothing beyond rumors and innuendo. Speculation focused on eight players: To Cicotte, Williams, and Jackson were added Chick Gandil, Hap Felsch, Swede Risberg, Fred McMullin, and Buck Weaver. Nearly a year passed and the gossip and hearsay continued to rumble just beneath the surface, finally coming to the ear of Charles A. McDonald, chief justice of the Criminal Court of Cook County. He convened a grand jury which, in late September 1920, indicted the eight.
Next time: The Black Sox trial and Kennesaw Mountain Landis.
Research assistance has been provided by Andrew Downs. At the University of Richmond, this is Dan Roberts.
Resources
Asinof, Eliot. Eight Men Out. New York: H. Holt, 1987.
Danzig, Allison and Joe Reichler. Baseball - An Illustrated History.
Gropman, Donald. Say It Ain't So, Joe! Boston, 1979.
Luhrs, Victor. The Great Baseball Mystery. New York, 1966.
Thompson, Lewis and Charles Boswell. "Say it Ain't So, Joe," American Heritage 11 (4, June 1960): 24-27, 88-93.
Copyright 2012 by Dan Roberts Enterprises, Inc.
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