World Series 1919

a series fixed by lies

• The 1919 Chicago White Sox team had the best players in major league baseball

• Some of the players had the lowest salaries

• Compelled players to take part in the fix

• The owner, Charles Comiskey, was reluctant on giving raises

Players SalariesJoe Jackson $6000

George Weaver $6000

Eddie Cicotte $5000

Chick Gandil $4000

Oscar Felsch $3750

Claude Williams $3000

Fred McMullin $2750

Charles Risberg $2500

White Sox Salaries

the PLAYERS

Chick Gandil Chick Gandil• Fixed the game• Played as a first baseman in 1919 World Series• Banned from major league

Chick Gandil

Eddie Cicotte

Eddie Cicotte• Famed pitcher• Relatively new to the White Sox• Banned from major league

Chick Gandil

Eddie Cicotte

Fred McMullin

Fred McMullin• Famed pitcher• Relatively new to the White Sox• Banned from major league

Chick Gandil

Eddie Cicotte

Fred McMullin

George “Buck” Weaver

George “Buck” Weaver• Famed pitcher• Relatively new to the White Sox• Banned from major league

“Shoeless” Joe Jackson “Shoeless” Joe Jackson• One of the best batters in baseball in 1919• Batted a 0.375 average during the 1919 World Series• Known to be an illiterate

“Shoeless” Joe Jackson – A Legend Torn by a Lie

• Jackson began his career in 1908

• Helped White Sox win the 1917 title against the New York Giants

• Had a batting average of 0.408 in 1915 while batting for the Cleveland Indians

• “Shoeless”- sat out a minor league game and went up to bat in socks due to lack of players

“Shoeless” Joe Jackson

Claude “Lefty” Williams

Claude “Lefty” Williams• “Lefty”- left handed pitcher• Began his major league career in Detroit• One of the lowest paid players on the team

“Shoeless” Joe Jackson

Claude “Lefty” Williams

Oscar Happy Felsch

Oscar “Happy” Felsch• Took part in military service in 1918• Played as a center fielder during 1919 World Series• Dropped out of school at an early age

“Shoeless” Joe Jackson

Claude “Lefty” Williams

Oscar Happy Felsch

Charles Risberg

Charles “Swede” Risberg• Played as a shortstop in the 1919 World Series• Recruited players into the fixed game• He was only talented on the defensive

The Baseball Game of Gambling• Gambling and betting in baseball became popular in the early 1900s

• Fixed games were risky and commonly unsuccessful

• No organization to watch levels of gambling and betting

The Four Main Masterminds

• Former players in major in league baseball

• Started take a role in the gambling business in baseball

William Burns and Billy Maharg

• Gambler in baseball• From Boston,

Massachusetts

Joseph Sullivan

• Important figure in organized crime

• Provided the $100,00 for the fix

Arnold Rothstein

The F

ixWilliam Burns and

Billy Maharg bring up the idea of fixing the series to Chick Gandil

and Eddie Cicotte.

Gambler Sullivan and Rothstein, figure of

organized crime, provides money

Gandil and Cicotte gathers the players

$100,000 is split among the eight

players

People bet on the Cincinnati Reds

White Sox lose the game

Players get the money Gamblers win money Everyone who betted

earns money

The Trial and Effects on Society

• The outcome of the trial was that the players be suspended and banned from major league baseball for life

• Debate in society rose around “Shoeless” Joe Jackson’s participation in the fix

• Kenesaw Mountain Landis was appointed as the first Commissioner of Baseball

Jackson’s criminal record

Connection to Great Gatsby-a twist in names

• On page __ , Gatsby mentions that Meyer Wolfsheim took part in the fix

• Wolfsheim is a fictional character, but it refers to Arnold Rothstein

• The reaction from the society towards the fixed game can be seen in Nick’s narration

• Connects to the theme of the superficiality of the rich, in money overshadows reason

“He ‘s the man who fixed the World Series”- Gatsby

“…with the singlemindedness of a burglar blowing a safe.”- Nick