Baseball: The Black Sox Scandal

In 1919, eight of the Chicago White Sox allegedly threw the World Series. Charles Comiskey was the ruthless owner of the White Sox and was the main motive of the sox to throw the series. Chick Gandil was the first player to get involved and then he spread it to the other players on the team. The act by these players would be called the Black Sox Scandal. The Scandal nearly ruined America’s pastime. The baseball commissioner, Judge Landis, banned all eight of the players for life. Based on how Joe Jackson played in the world series and how he was proven innocent in a court of law, he should be reinstated into baseball and be put in the hall of fame.

The 1919 World Series resulted in the most famous scandal in baseball history. Eight players from the Chicago White Sox (later nicknamed the Black Sox) were accused of throwing the series against the Cincinnati Reds. Details of the scandal and the extent to which each man was involved have always been unclear. It was, however, front-page news across the country and, despite being acquitted of criminal charges, the players were banned from professional baseball for life. The eight men included the great “shoeless Joe Jackson,” pitchers Eddie Cicotte and Claude "Lefty" Williams; infielders Buck Weaver, Arnold "Chick" Gandil, Fred McMullin, and Charles "Swede" Risberg; and outfielder Oscar "Happy" Felsch.

In my book there are two main characters. The first is Stevie. He is 14 years old and a writer for The Washington post. When He was 12 he won a writing contest with Susan Carol Anderson (the other main character in my book) to go to the final four and write sports articles. From then they were sent to other major sporting events. This one being the world series. Stevie is very outgoing but he is is jealous of his girl friend susan carol. “well,” stevie said “I may be good enough, but not as good as you.” This is saying that Stevie is good at some sports writing and smart. But Susan Carol is amazing at sports writing and she is very smart. Susan Carol is a very sweet girl. She is a southern belle from north carolina. She can

In this essay we will take a look at the unique history of the Negro Baseball Leagues. We will discuss how they were an integral part of the African American culture and what they meant to their communities. We will also discuss some of the more famous players of the Negro Leagues as well as take a look at what the impact of Jackie Robinson being the first African American to be signed to a professional Major League team was and how it affected the future of baseball.

George Herman Ruth, better known as Babe Ruth, is an American baseball hero due to his successes that have allowed him to become a household name even after his passing. His great legacy lives on, but for those not alive during his reign over baseball, it is sometimes hard to grasp the Babe’s true life story, which is where film comes into play. In the several films about Babe Ruth, many differentiating perspectives about his life are introduced. In The Babe Ruth Story (1948) and The Babe (1992), we are shown two very different versions of the ‘Great Bambino’. With the help of Ardolino’s analysis of the deification and deconstruction of Ruth in Reel Baseball, it is easy to see the similarities and differences between the two Hollywood Babes. Ardolino states that, “In fact, these movies are dialectically related: the first is an attempt to sacralize Ruth’s checkered life, and the latter is an attempt to replace the hagiography with a Dickensian psychodrama of a bumbling Bacchus who belches, farts, indulges his appetites, is haunted by his past, explodes irrationally when he is called ‘incorrigible’ and never gains any measure of self-control” (115-16). Ardolino’s chapter thoroughly discussed the portrayals of Babe Ruth as a character, which brings to light the similarities and differences portrayed in both Hollywood films. After screening the Hollywood films, we move to screen the documentary about Ruth, a blatant deification, which treats his life story much differently.

Before there were players such as Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Barry Bonds, Major League Baseball was strictly white players only. The color line of Major League Baseball excluded black players until the late 40’s. This didn’t stop the colored men of America from playing the beloved American sport. The creation of the Negro Leagues in 1920 by Rube Foster gave colored men a chance to play in their own professional league, similar to the Major Leagues, but for African-American men. The creation of the Negro Leagues was a result of the Jim Crow Laws, state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Enacted after the Reconstruction period in the U.S., these laws continued in force until 1965. These laws created

For anyone who knows anything about baseball, the 1919 World Series brings to mind many things. "The Black Sox Scandal of 1919 started out as a few gamblers trying to get rich, and turned into one of the biggest, and easily the darkest, event in baseball history" (Everstine 4). This great sports scandal involved many, but the most memorable and most known for it was Joe Jackson. The aftermath of the great World Series Scandal left many people questioning the character of Joe Jackson and whether or not he should have relations thereafter with baseball. There is still question today whether or not to let Joe into the Hall of Fame.

In 1919 two teams came together to fight for the title of being the 1919 World Series winner, these two teams where Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox. The world series is the championship for baseball. Chicago was the team in favor to win the series, but other people wanted the Cincinnati reds to win. This is what started the whole scandal for eight White Sox players to rig the series so that the Reds would win. All eight players were banned from baseball forever and became known as baseball's Black Sox. All players that were a part of the scandal are no longer allowed to play an organized baseball game.

     The Black Sox scandal was a baseball betting scheme involving a group of baseball players and gamblers which led to the Chicago White Sox intentionally losing in the 1919 World Series. As a result this scandal led to the banning of eight players from the 1919 Chicago White Sox team, Joe Jackson (better known as Shoeless Joe Jackson), Eddie Cicotte, Chick Gandil, Oscar Felsch, Fred McMullin, Swede Risberg, Buck Weaver, and Claude Williams. This event also introduced a new commissioner and strict rules prohibiting gambling in baseball.

Jackie Robinson did not only help initiate the integration of the game of baseball, but he also helped initiate integration throughout America. The film Soul of the Game does not go into all of the details regarding his career on the Brooklyn Dodgers, but rather it depicts his life and choices leading up to his career in the Major Leagues. This film portrays important themes such as segregation, perseverance, and doubt, and it applies to history in the beginning of the story of Jackie Robinson and how America has gotten to where it is now.

Branch Rickey decided to take a leap of faith and do what was viewed as the unthinkable at the time, sign an African-American to a baseball team. In the film there is one scene in particular

When asked to describe a baseball the first word generally voiced is white, and before April 15, 1947 that is exactly what the game of baseball was, white. “There is no law against Negroes playing with white teams, or whites with colored clubs, but neither has invited the other for the obvious reason they prefer to draw their talent from their own ranks” (‘42’). These were the feelings of people living in 1947, that blacks and whites were not meant to play baseball together. Then, why decades earlier, had there been an African American in the league? In 1887, an African American Pitcher, George Stovey, was expected to pitch a game with Chicago, however, the first baseman, Cap Anson, would not play as long as Stovey was on the field. Other

Specific Purpose: I would like to inform people on the 1919 Black Sox Scandal in Major League Baseball.

The movie 42 is a story about Jackie Robinson’s life as a baseball player, and how he broke the baseball color barrier by becoming the first African American player in the league. The story begins with Wendell Smith giving the audience background information about the United States and their segregation laws, and he brings it in comparison with baseball. He discusses how baseball was made up of 16 professional teams of all white players, but then Robinson comes in the picture. The movie then goes on to talk about Robinson’s career on the Brooklyn Dodgers, but mentioning before his time on the Kansas City Monarchs and the Montreal Royals. When Robinson advances to play with the Dodgers some of his fellow players sign a petition saying they refuse to play with him, but as the season progresses they become close friends with Robinson. Some examples of their kindness to him include backing him up when the manager of the Phillies said some racial slurs to Robinson. Another is when a Pittsburgh player hit him in the head, and his teammates stood up for him. The movie ends with some facts about other African American players joining the league, and a summary of the rest of Robinson’s career.

Ethics, or the difference between right and wrong, are a strong theme throughout 8MO, and a few amongst the gamblers and cheats stand out for their strong moral code. Hugh Fullerton is the best example, being practically the poster boy for good ethics. From his introduction, the author details his genuine love of baseball and his devotion to the pursuit of justice. Hugh is the first one to have strong suspicions about the honesty of the players, and also quick to act on his suspicions. He digs for evidence ruthlessly and tries to present his findings to any paper that will publish him, all for the honor of the game he loves so much.