The Cubs Way By Tom Verducci

The Black Sox Scandal was the fixing of the 1919 World Series played between the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds. The White Sox team were one of the best to ever play the game. They were a heavy favorite to win the series. Arnold Gandil, the first baseman, came up with the plan to throw the series and persuaded some of his teammates to go along with him. The players involved in the fix were: Joe Jackson, Buck Weaver, Eddie Cicotte, Oscar Felsch, Claude Williams, Arnold Gandil, Fred McMullin, and Charles Risberg. It included the team’s two best pitchers, three of its four best hitters, two out of its three starting outfielders, three of its four starting infielders, and the utility infielder. Collectively, the eight players accounted for 59% of the team’s wins, 66% of the RBIs,

Soon word got out to another gambler, Bill Burns. He approached Cicotte and offered him $100,000. Gandil and Cicotte met with Burns and agreed that they would do the fix as long as they got paid before the series began. Burns took off for New York with his boxer friend Billy Maharg to meet with Arnold Rothstein, a big time gambler, to come up with the money for the fix. At first, Rothstein did not go for it but then Sullivan went to Rothstein with his plans for the fix totally laid out. Rothstein decided to get in on the fix. He sent one of his men to Chicago with $ 40,000 to give to Sullivan to give to the players and the rest would be distributed if the series went as planned. However, when Sullivan got the money he quickly gambled $30,000 and then gave $10,000 to Gandil. The players not happy with the amount that they got they decided that they would throw the first two games and then ask for more money. Gandil told Sullivan he needed more money before the fourth game or the fix was off, Sullivan complied and after the game Gandil gave $5,000 to each of the players except Weaver who apparently was not participating in the plan. “The series continued as planned and the White Sox lost the series to the Cincinnati Reds, ”five games to three” (findingdulcinea.com).

I believe that you Chicago Cubs are doing very well. I hope after your loss in the National League Playoffs, you guys rebound, and make it to the World Series next year.

In 1978, the Red Sox held a 14-game lead in the American League East over the Yankees on July 18. However, the Yankees subsequently caught fire, eventually winning the division by  three games. In the 1986 World Series, Boston took a 5–3 lead in the top of the 10th inning. Red Sox reliever Calvin Schiraldi retired the first two batters, putting the team within one out of winning the World Series. However, the New York Mets scored three runs and winning it when Boston first baseman Bill Buckner allowed a ground ball to roll through his legs. In 2003, the Red Sox were playing the Yankees in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series. Boston held a 5–2 lead in the eighth inning, and Boston opted to stay with starting pitcher Pedro Martínez rather than go to the bullpen. New York rallied against the tired Martínez, scoring three runs on a single and three doubles to tie the game. Then in bottom of the 11th inning, Aaron Boone launched a solo home run to win the game and the pennant for the Yankees. Similar to Boston, Chicago had The Curse of the Billy Goat. The curse was supposedly placed on the Chicago Cubs Major League Baseball franchise in 1945 by Billy Goat Tavern owner William Sianis that lasted from 1945-2016. Between that 1908 triumph, which was the Cubs ' second world championship (they 'd also won the Series in 1907) Before the “curse” Chicago had won national League Pennants in 1910,

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.

Many Cub players denounced the hatred towards Bartman as unfair. Several players went so far as to suggest inviting Bartman to a game, though he himself refused. People openly questioned the “spirit” of baseball that would happily torture an innocent Cubs’ fan for the sake of defeat or victory (Beck, 2003). Besides opinion columns and media, books chronicling sports history include Bartman as an example of the culture of fan imagination, which is significant enough to find its place in history (Cohen, 2014). And with their imagination, Cubs have entered a superstitious existence, of almost comedic futility that both fans and outsiders have constantly (and sometimes) mournfully

The Chicago White Sox of 1919 were a clear favorite to win the World Series. They had all of the odds on their

After that second Philly loss, the Cubs were 84-60 and the Mets had pulled ahead at 85-57. The Mets would not look back. The Cubs' eight-game losing streak finally ended the next day in St. Louis, but the Mets were in the midst of a ten-game winning streak, and the Cubs, wilting from team fatigue, generally deteriorated in all phases of the game. The Mets would go on to win the World Series. The Cubs, despite a respectable 92-70 record, would be remembered for having lost a remarkable 17½ games in the standings to the Mets in the last quarter of the season.

In Major League Baseball’s 1919 World Series two teams that were the Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds went up against each other. They played only a eight game series because the Cincinnati Reds already had won five games after the eighth game was over which didn’t require them to go to the ninth game. Many people found it hard to believe that the Reds actually one the World Series because the White Sox were favored to win. The bookies made the odds seven to five favored on the Chicago White Sox to win. Believe it or not the Chicago White Sox actually let the Cincinnati Reds win the series because they were payed a significant amount of money to throw the game. This famous Scandal was known as The Black Sox Scandal. The media reacted very suddenly to this scandal, the people were very shocked when they got word of it, and the aftermath of this Scandal cause many problems in baseball and society.

So the stage is set, we have the best team n baseball, the tightest owner

There was not one single person behind the scandal, but there was many people involved. Two men were known to be more involved in the scandal than anybody else, William Thomas "Sleepy Bill" Burns and Billy Maharg. William Burns was an ex-major league pitcher and was the connection to the players. Billy Maharg was the gambler with the connections. Those two men approached two of the White Sox players, Pitcher Ed Cicotte and First Baseman Arnold "Chick" Gandil, about fixing the Series. After thinking about the decisions they were making Cicotte and Gandil decided it would not work with just two players, so they got others involved. The other players were Lefty Williams, Happy Felsch, Swede Risberg, Buck Weaver, Fred McMullin, and one of the best and most

Book Review of Eight Men Out The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series by Eliot Asinof

Throughout the time leading up to the 1919 World Series, reporters in both Chicago and Cincinnati spoke about how good the World Series would be, and the odds-makers listed the White Sox as heavy favorites.

The Victory Season: The End of World War II and the Birth of Baseball’s Golden Age written by Robert Weintraub is focused on the 1946 Major League Baseball season after World War II when “America was ready to heal.” During the war, parks were empty, the balls were made with fake rubber, and all of America’s favorite players were serving in the war. When players returned, they exchanged their military uniforms for baseball uniforms and the sport of baseball quickly became a key tool which helped many American’s return to their normal, everyday lives. Parks began to fill up again and a new era of baseball was born. Although so many soldiers returning at once did cause some issues, the National League was very competitive and many thrived on it. Weintraub discusses many events considered to be baseball’s best times including: the difficult, yet rewarding transition of baseball players from military service to the major leagues, The Brooklyn Dodgers breaking the racial segregation in the league by signing a black man, Jackie Robinson, the introduction of the Mexican League, in which American players signed with to receive higher salaries, and the 1946 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals, where the Cardinals defeated the Sox in the seven game series. Weintraub strongly focuses

The 1919 World Series was very interesting to say the least. Some of the White Sox players wanted some extra money. I believe that this series is one of, if not the darkest chapter in Major League Baseball’s history.