1919 World Series Totally Explained

Everything about 1919 World Series totally explained

The World Series matched the American League champion Chicago White Sox against the National League champion Cincinnati Reds. Although most World Series' were of the best-of-seven format, the 1919 World Series was a best-of-nine-games series (along with 1903, 1920, and 1921). Partly to increase the popularity of the sport and also increase revenue, baseball decided to try the best-of-nine game format.
The events of the series are often associated with the Black Sox Scandal, when several members of the Chicago franchise conspired with gamblers to throw World Series games. The 1919 World Series was the last World Series to take place without a Commissioner of Baseball in place. In, the various franchise owners installed Kenesaw Mountain Landis as the first "Commissioner of Baseball."
Future Hall of Famer Red Faber was injured and unable to pitch for the White Sox. This injury severely limited the pitching options for Kid Gleason.

Summary

NL Cincinnati Reds (5) vs. AL Chicago White Sox (3)

Game	core	ate	ocation	ttendance
1	Chicago White Sox - 1, Cincinnati Reds - 9	October 1	Redland Field	30,511
2	Chicago White Sox - 2, Cincinnati Reds - 4	October 2	Redland Field	29,698
3	Cincinnati Reds - 0, Chicago White Sox - 3	October 3	Comiskey Park I	29,126
4	Cincinnati Reds - 2, Chicago White Sox - 0	October 4	Comiskey Park I	34,363
5	Cincinnati Reds - 5, Chicago White Sox - 0	October 6	Comiskey Park I	34,379
6	Chicago White Sox - 5, Cincinnati Reds - 4 (10 innings)	October 7	Redland Field	32,006
7	Chicago White Sox - 4, Cincinnati Reds - 1	October 8	Redland Field	13,923
8	Cincinnati Reds - 10, Chicago White Sox - 5	October 9	Comiskey Park I	32,930

The Fix

The conspiracy was the brainchild of White Sox first baseman Arnold "Chick" Gandil and Joseph "Sport" Sullivan, who was a professional gambler of Gandil's acquaintance. New York gangster Arnold Rothstein supplied the major connections needed. The money was supplied by Abe Attell, former featherweight boxing champion, who accepted the offer even though he didn't have the $80,000 that the White Sox wanted.
Gandil enlisted seven of his teammates, motivated by a mixture of greed and a dislike of penurious club owner Charles Comiskey, to implement the fix. Starting pitchers Eddie Cicotte and Claude "Lefty" Williams, outfielders "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and Oscar "Happy" Felsch, and infielder Charles "Swede" Risberg were all involved. Buck Weaver was also asked to participate, but refused; he was later banned with the others for knowing of the fix but not reporting it. Utility infielder Fred McMullin wasn't initially approached, but got word of the fix and threatened to report the others unless he was in on the payoff. Sullivan and his two associates Sleepy Bill Burns and Billy Maharg, somewhat out of their depth, approached Rothstein to provide the money for the players, who were promised a total of $100,000.
Stories of the "Black Sox" scandal have usually included Comiskey in its gallery of subsidiary villains, focusing in particular on his intentions regarding a clause in Cicotte's contract that would have paid Cicotte an additional $10,000 bonus for winning 30 games. According to Eliot Asinof's account of the events, Eight Men Out, Cicotte was "rested" for the season's final two weeks after reaching his 29th win, presumably to deny him the bonus. However, the record is perhaps more complex. Cicotte won his 29th game on September 19, had an ineffective start on September 24, and was pulled after a few innings in a tuneup on the season's final day, September 28 (the World Series beginning 3 days later). Reportedly, Cicotte agreed to the fix on the same day he won his 29th game, before he could have known of any efforts to deny him a chance to win his 30th.

Matchups

Game 1

Wednesday, October 1, 1919 at Redland Field in Cincinnati, Ohio The first game began at 3pm that day at Cincinnati's Redland Field with Cicotte on the mound for Chicago, who failed to score in the top of the first inning, and 30,511 fans in the stands with people outside the park paying at least $50 per ticket. In the bottom of that inning Cicotte (who was paid his $10,000 the night before the series began) hit the lead-off hitter, Morrie Rath in the back with just his second pitch, a prearranged signal to Arnold Rothstein that the game was going to be thrown. Despite this, the game remained close for a while, due in part to some excellent defense from the conspirators, who didn't wish to bring suspicion on themselves. In the fourth, however, Cicotte gave up a sequence of hits, including a two-out triple to the opposing pitcher, as the Reds scored five times to break a 1-1 tie. Cicotte was replaced by a relief pitcher but the damage was done, and the Reds finally triumphed 9-1.
By the evening of that day, there were already signs that things were going wrong. Only Cicotte, who had shrewdly demanded his $10,000 in advance, had been paid. Burns and Maharg met with Abe Attell, a former world boxing champion who acted as intermediary for Rothstein, but he didn't provide the next installment ($20,000), wanting to place it out on bets for the next game. The next morning Gandil met Attell and again demanded their money. Again, the players went unpaid.

Game 2

Thursday, October 2, 1919 at Redland Field in Cincinnati, Ohio Although they hadn't received their money, the players were still willing to go through with the fix. "Lefty" Williams, the starting pitcher in Game Two, wasn't going to be as obvious as Cicotte. After a shaky start he pitched well until the fourth inning, when he walked three and gave up as many runs. After that, Williams went back to looking unhittable, giving up only one more run; but a lack of clutch hitting, with Gandil a particular villain, meant that the White Sox lost 4-2. Attell was still in no mood to pay up. Burns managed to get $10,000 and gave it to Gandil, who distributed it among the conspirators. The teams headed to Comiskey Park in Chicago for the third game.

Game 3

Friday, October 3, 1919 at Comiskey Park I in Chicago, Illinois Dickie Kerr, who was to start Game Three for the Sox, wasn't in on the fix. The original plan was for the conspirators, who disliked Kerr, to lose this game; but by now dissent among the players meant that the plan was in disarray. Burns still believed, however, and gathered the last of his resources to bet on Cincinnati. It was a decision that would leave him broke, as Chicago scored early - Gandil himself driving in two runs - and Kerr was masterful, holding the Reds to 3 hits in throwing a complete game shutout and a 3-0 victory.

Game 4

Saturday, October 4, 1919 at Comiskey Park I in Chicago, Illinois Cicotte was again Chicago's starter for the fourth game, and he was determined not to look as bad as he'd in the first. For the first four innings he and Reds pitcher Jimmy Ring matched zeroes. With one out in the fifth, Cicotte fielded a slow roller, but threw wildly to first for a two-base error. The next man up singled to center and Cicotte first cut off the throw home from Jackson and then fumbled the ball, allowing the run to score. When he gave up a double to the next batter the score was 2-0 - enough of a lead for Ring, who threw a three-hit shutout of his own. The Reds led the Series 3-1.
After the game, "Sport" Sullivan came through with $20,000 for the players, which Gandil split equally between Risberg, Felsch, Jackson, and Williams - who was due to start Game Five the next day.

Game 5

Monday, October 6, 1919 at Comiskey Park I in Chicago, Illinois The next game was delayed by rain for a day, and when it got under way both Williams and Reds pitcher Hod Eller were excellent. By the sixth inning, neither had allowed a runner past first base, before Eller hit a blooper that fell between Felsch and Jackson. Felsch's throw was off line, and the opposing pitcher was safe at third. Leadoff hitter Morrie Rath hit a single over the drawn-in infield and Eller scored. Heinie Groh walked before Edd Roush hit a double - the beneficiary of some more doubtful defense from Felsch - to score two more runs, and Roush himself scored shortly later. Eller pitched well enough for the four runs to stand up and the Reds were only one game from winning the Series.

Game 6

Tuesday, October 7, 1919 at Redland Field in Cincinnati, Ohio Game Six was held back in Cincinnati. Dickie Kerr, starting for the White Sox, wasn't as dominant as in Game Three. Aided by three errors, the Reds jumped out to a 4-0 lead before Chicago fought back, tying the game at 4-4 in the sixth, which remained the score into extra innings. In the top of the tenth, Gandil drove in Weaver to make it 5-4, and Kerr closed it out to record his - and Chicago's - second win.

Game 7

Wednesday, October 8, 1919 at Redland Field in Cincinnati, Ohio Despite the rumors that were already circulating over Cicotte's prior performances, Chicago manager Kid Gleason showed faith in his ace for Game Seven. This time, the knuckleballer didn't let him down. Chicago scored early and, for once, it was Cincinnati that made errors in the field. The Reds threatened only briefly in the sixth before losing 4-1, and suddenly the Series was close again.
This didn't go unnoticed by Sullivan and Rothstein, who were suddenly worried. Prior to the start of the Series, the Sox had been strong favorites and few doubted that they could win two games in a row - presuming they were trying to win. Rothstein had been too smart to bet on individual games but had a considerable sum riding on Cincinnati to win the Series. The night before the eighth game, Williams - who was due to pitch - was visited by an associate of Sullivan's who left him in no doubt that if he failed to blow the game in the first inning, he and his wife would be in serious danger.

Game 8

Thursday, October 9, 1919 at Comiskey Park I in Chicago, Illinois Whatever Williams had been told had made its impression. In the first, throwing nothing but mediocre fastballs, he gave up four straight one-out hits to yield 3 runs before Gleason replaced him with relief pitcher Big Bill James, who allowed one of Williams' baserunners to score. James continued to be ineffective and, although the Sox rallied in the eighth, the Reds ran out 10-5 victors — clinching the Series by 5 games to 3. Immediately after the end of the Series, rumors were rife throughout the country that the games had been thrown.

Composite Box

1919 World Series (5-3): Cincinnati Reds (N.L.) over Chicago White Sox (A.L.)

Notable performances

Jackson led all players with his .375 average. Most of his offensive potency came in games that were not fixed and/or when the game appeared out of reach. He hit the Series' lone home run, in the final (eighth) game, a solo shot in the third inning, by which time the Reds were already ahead 5-0. His 5 hits with runners in scoring position were: Game 6, sixth inning (1), game not fixed, Kerr pitching; Game 7, first inning (1), third inning (1), the game in which the dishonest players rebelled and Cicotte won; Game 8, eighth inning (2), by which time the Reds were ahead 10-1. (Source: The World Series, by Cohen, Neft, Johnson and Deutsch, Dail Press, 1976)

Cincinnati Reds

Earle "Greasy" Neale (of):10-for-28; .357 batting average; 3 runs; 2 doubles; 1 triple; 4 RBI
Hod Eller (p):2 games (started); 2 complete games (1 shutout); 2 wins; 18 innings pitched; 13 hits allowed, 4 earned runs; 2 bases-on-balls; 15 strikeouts; 2.00 ERA

Chicago White Sox

"Shoeless" Joe Jackson (OF):12-for-32; .375 batting average; 5-for-12 w/ men in scoring position; 5 runs; 3 doubles; 1 home run; 6 RBI

Ray Schalk (C):7-for-23; .304 batting average; 2-for-3 w/ men in scoring position; 1 run; 2 RBI

Buck Weaver (3B):11-for-34; .324 batting average; 1-for-5 w/ men in scoring position; 4 runs; 4 doubles; 1 triple

Dickie Kerr (P):2 games (started); 2 complete games (1 shutout); 2 wins; 19 innings pitched; 14 hits allowed; 3 earned runs; 3 bases-on-balls; 6 strikeouts; 1.42 ERA

In popular culture

In the book The Great Gatsby the character Meyer Wolfsheim is supposedly the one who fixed the World Series of 1919.

In the movie, The Godfather II, Hyman Roth states that he's liked baseball since Arnold Rothstein fixed the 1919 World Series.Further Information

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