Hibernian Chronicle: 85 years ago: The Black Sox scandal: the scheme is hatched

The latter were heavily favored in the contest, which this year would feature an experimental best-of-nine-games format. But unbeknownst to all but a handful of players and gamblers, the Series was fixed with key members of the White Sox conspiring to intentionally lose games in exchange for thousands of dollars in payoffs. Like most stories involving the early days of professional baseball, this one featured several Irish Americans.
The 1919 Chicago White Sox was a formidable team. They’d won the World Series two years before and fielded a star-studded lineup. Pitchers Eddie Cicotte, 29, and Lefty Williams, 23, won a combined 52 games during the regular season. Twenty-nine-year-old “Shoeless” Joe Jackson hit .351 and was one of the most popular stars in the game.
The team’s owner, Charles Comiskey, was the son of an Irish immigrant politician in Chicago. He began baseball playing with Milwaukee as a third baseman and later won four league titles (1885-88) as player-manager for the St. Louis Browns of the American Association. After his playing and managing days were done, Comiskey bought a team in Sioux City, Iowa, and moved it to Chicago, naming it the White Stockings. He later helped organize the American League. His White Sox won the third World Series in 1906 over their crosstown rivals, the Cubs, and the 1917 Series over the New York Giants. They seemed poised to triumph again in 1919.
But the mood in the Chicago clubhouse was far from jubilant in the fall of 1919. Comiskey might have been a savvy franchise owner who helped build Major League Baseball into the national pastime, but he was regarded by his players as a ruthless and stingy boss. On average, the White Sox players earned less than most players in the league. Even more galling was Comiskey’s reputation for refusing to pay performance bonuses unless the terms were fulfilled to the letter. Cicotte’s contract, for example, called for him to be paid $10,000 if he won 30 games. He won 29 — an astonishing feat matched by only a handful of pitchers — and then was benched for the last week of the regular season, presumably on orders from Comiskey to prevent him from winning No. 30. Comiskey refused to pay him even a portion of the bonus.
It was in this climate of discontent that the scheme to throw the 1919 World Series was hatched. The team’s first baseman, Charles “Chick” Gandil, came up with the idea and contacted his friend Joseph “Sport” Sullivan, a Boston bookie. Sullivan then joined forces with a fellow Irish-American gambler named William “Sleepy Bill” Burns, a former professional pitcher. Lacking the necessary money to make a killing by betting on the underdog Reds, they approached the legendary organized crime figure, Arnold Rothstein, who was known by a variety of nicknames, like Mr. Big, The Fixer, The Big Bankroll, The Man Uptown, and The Brain. The extent of Rothstein’s involvement remains a mystery, but it was later reported that he made some $270,000 on the Series with a $60,000 bet on the Reds.
Now all Gandil had to do was line up the right players. Pitchers Cicotte and Williams, left fielder “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, center fielder Oscar “Happy” Felsch, third baseman George “Buck” Weaver, and shortstop Charles “Swede” Risberg, along with Gandil, formed the original conspiracy of seven. Fred McMullen, a backup second baseman, later overheard the men talking and was brought in on the scheme. Gandil was to receive $35,000 and the others $10,000 each. McMullen, along with Jackson, were Irish American. Five other Irish-American members of the team — Eddie Collins, Shano Collins, Eddie Murphy, John Sullivan and Tom McGuire — played no role in the conspiracy.
Everything was in order on Oct. 1, 1919 when the White Sox took the field in game one of the World Series.
(Continued next week.)

HIBERNIAN HISTORY WEEK
Sept. 29, 1925: Col. Billy Mitchell of U.S. Army testifies before Congress and advocates separate aviation branch. He is later courtmartialed for these and other remarks made to the press critical of the Army handling of aviation.
Sept. 30, 1900: Arthur Griffin establishes the Cumann na nGaedheal, or “Party of the Irish.”
Oct. 1, 1910: A bomb explodes at the Los Angeles Times, killing 21. Labor radicals James and Joseph McNamara are later convicted of the crime.

HIBERNIAN BIRTHDATES
Oct. 3, 1938: Early rock ‘n’ roll star Eddie Cochran is born in Oklahoma City.
Oct. 4: 1889: Olympic rowing champion and father of Grace Kelly, John B. Kelly, is born in Philadelphia.
Oct. 5, 1923: Militant priest Philip Berrigan is born in Virginia, Minn.