The Scandalous Chicago White Sox of 1919

The Chicago White Sox in 1919 were simply the best team in the Major League. It could even be argued that they are possibly one of the best teams in the history of Baseball. However, in 1919 the Chicago White Sox did not even win the World Series, which they had been favored to win with odds of 5 to 1. Instead, they were beaten by the Cincinnati Reds five to three. The money won on bets were huge, and immediately rumors flew around by the end of the series that it may have been fixed. Christy Mathewson, of the New York Times, felt otherwise in her article, “Baseball Is Not Crooked In Spite Of Big Bets On Games”. She stated, “The rumors and mutterings about the honesty of the World Series is ridiculous to me”, and that there is, “too much pride and money involved” to lose the World Series.

However, Christy Mathewson was mistaken and a year later investigations began. The first investigations began almost a year later just after the Philadelphia Phillies were investigated for rigging games against the Chicago Cubs. The Cooke County Jury investigated several players and one of them from the Giants had the information on the Sox. Rube Benton, a teammate of Bil

his team that had remained honest as if to put more guilt on the

ly Burns, gave the Cooke County Jury information that the World Series had been fixed. Burns had previously played with the White Sox in 1919 and the jury took action. They began to investigate and interrogate White Sox players and Cicotte, the star pitcher and one of the major players in the fix, was the first to talk.

After looking through one could also sense the increasing need for leisure time. There were numerous ads for hotels to help you get away from the rigor of everyday life. This seems very similar to the ads that we see today for the Holiday Inn. You also saw sections in the newspaper telling about the best books to read, the most entertaining silent movies, and even sections for theatre plays. One also could sense the heightened want for clothing. On almost every page there was a picture of clothing with prices listed. It was quite similar to the ads in today’s papers showing beautiful models dressed in the nicest clothing you could buy. It very much made me think of the Gap photos in today’s newspapers. The ads would seem to make people want to buy their clothing so that they could look elegant and stylish as the models portrayed.

did anything I regretted so much in my life. I would give up anything in the world if I could undo my acts in the last world’s series. I have played a crooked game”4. Also as a result of this scandal there seemed to be a series of investigations concerning other games that may have been fixed. It seems like this awakened America’s sense for truth because not only were other baseball games being investigated but also Football games. After the Black Sox Scandal there seemed to be a “Fix Scare” similar to the Red Scare. During the investigation the 1920 series was taking place and people were suspecting that one of the teams had negotiated to rig the series. Reading through the old films I noticed that many other teams began to be investigated for fraudulency. For example, the Cincinnati Reds investigated their team for any signs of dishonesty.

5 Associated Press, Erie Dispatch Herald. sec.III,p11.

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