Black Sox Scandal Essay

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Black Sox Scandal Baseball was popular the most sport in 1919; players were seen as heroes and celebrities. At this time the players were payed very low wages and the owners of the team made huge profit. Because of this many players were into scams that involved them losing games on purpose. During that time of baseball, players didn’t make as much as they do today.Players would be offered large amount of money that would multiply to several times their salary.

The World Series of 1919 resulted in the most famous scandal in baseball history. The teams that played were the White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds. Eight players on the team were accused of losing the World Series on purpose. Those players were Claude Williams, Joe Jackson, …show more content…

However backing out from a deal from gangsters was not very easy. When the gamblers learned about that they were gonna start winning games instead of losing like they had agreed they started to threaten them and their families. Game eight of the world series, instead of winning they lost and many people think that they lost on purpose because of the threats that their family had received.

A sports writer investigated the scandal and later wrote a famous article called “Is Big League Baseball Being Run for Gamblers WIth Players in the Deal.” The White Sox owner quickly avoided the rumors by saying that ”I believe that my boys fought the battles of the recent World Series on the level.” He wanted to avoid people knowing that he had been tipped off about the scam for the World Series.

There was no investigation about the World Series until August 31, 1920 when evidence came up that gamblers had rigged a regular seasoned game between the Cubs and the Phillies. There was an investigation that went on and found that the World Series was fixed too. Eddie Cicotte decided to testify before the grand jury. He admitted his involvement in the scandal saying that he needed the money for his wife and kids. After his confession “shoeless” Joe Jackson testified and also admitted that he was involved. A few days later Lefty Williams and Oscar Felsch also admitted to being involved.The eight players were banned from playing

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