1919 Black Sox Scandal Outline

he 1919 Chicago Black Sox baseball scandal

The 1919 Chicago Black Sox hold the greatest baseball scandal of all time; the stories differ as they are told by Chicago’s local media at the time, the man himself “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, and a man piecing the ninety-five year old story together, still to the day.

I. Chicago’s local media followed the Black Sox story closely, from the rumors about gamblers to the actual court case.

A. The story starts out as mere rumors around the windy city.

1. Gamblers were always looking for a way to secure their money, and what better way than with a MLB player, or team.

2. The Black Sox coach, Comiskey, was as frugal as they came. The team was formerly known as the White Sox before the scandal, and they were nothing short of terrible their first several years of existence.

3. Comiskey knew he had to act quickly to keep a team together. He built a new stadium for his team on the south side of Chicago and purchased three new star players (Chicago local media).

B. Comiskey succeeded in building a powerful team, but not a happy team.

1. The Black Sox even won the World Series in 1917 for their coach, but how were they repaid? They were promised a bonus for the win but instead they received cheap wine.

2. It is said to be that because of Comiskey’s frugality the Black Sox committed the crime. They were the lowest paid team in the whole league.

C. To top off being paid poorly, the team did not get along well either.

1. The team was said to have been broken into two cliques.

a. One clique was led by Eddie Collins, the second baseman. His clique was said to be educated, sophisticated, and able to negotiate salaries as high as $15,000 (Chicago Local Media).

b. The other clique led by first baseman, Chick Gandil, were a less polished group, who only early an average of $6,000, bitterly resented the difference (Chicago Local Media).

2. Gandil was about to retire and knew he could make...