Greed: The 1919 Baseball Scandal

“Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction” (Fromm Web). Money may be enticing but how far will some people go for money. What would they risk? Are there lives less important than their worldly need for vast amounts of money? In the event of the 1919 Baseball World Series, 8 White Sox Players, Eddie Cicotte, Oscar Felsch, Arnold Gandil, Joe Jackson, Fred McMullin, Charles Risberg, George Weaver, and Claude Williams were all tried in court, shamed, and permanently banned from the game of baseball for the rest of their lives.
Cool Cincinnati October air, the roars of thousands of baseball fans fill the Famous Crosley Stadium. Cincinnati Reds pitcher at the mound and a White Sox player at the home base ready to hit a ball. The perfect setting for a sneaky scandal. Imagine the White Sox player purposely missing the pitch just to lose out at his run. That is the overall idea behind this infamous scandal. These eight men apparently made their team “The White Sox” lose the 1919 World Series for money.
Back in these days, which was not too long ago,

large bidding and investments went into the baseball league. It was the biggest sport in America, until football came around. These big investors would spend huge amounts of money on professional athletes. This may seem a lot like the football league nowadays, but then it was easier and more common for these “deals” to be illegal. A lot of these “professional athletes” would sell their souls by lying and cheating their way to stardom while these investors were sitting back and getting rich off these athletes greed.
While the start of this conspiracy is unknown, it appears, vaguely, that there were two different plans to alter the 1919 World Series. One of them included the Boston gambler Joseph "Sport" Sullivan, while the other included the retired pitcher "Sleepy" Bill Burns and his partner in crime, Billy Maharg, a previously known boxer. These two gambling groups were approached between July-September 1919 by The White Sox first baseman Arnold "Chick" Gandil and White Sox pitcher Eddie Cicotte. During the season, The White Sox was known to be the best team in the league.
Gandil, Cicotte and six other teammates - pitcher Claude "Lefty" Williams, outfielders Shoeless Joe Jackson and Oscar "Happy" Felsch, and infielders Swede Risberg, Buck Weaver and Fred McMullin were involved in the big hoax.

It is greatly agreed by historians and researchers that Weaver removed himself out of the plan before the Series actually started, and it is for sure that he received no compensation from these con-men. Per the statements of Burns and Maharg at the trial, which was held in 1921, Jackson did not attend any pre-Series get togethers where the plan was discussed, although he did intake $5,000 at some point during the Season. Before the Season started, both Sullivan and Burns or Maharg came up to the wealthy New York gambler Arnold Rothstein to give him the money for the players, who were promised a huge total of

$100,000.
The National Commission was greatly embarrassed about all the rumors of a purposely ruined season, and tried its very best to silence them, pretending that nothing happened. But little did they know the rumors had already spread The White Sox dugout throughout the 1920 season. Finally, in September 1920, a grand jury was interfered to investigate the situation.
While the investigation was taking place, two of the players, Cicotte and Jackson, came forward, and then the eight players were tried for their role in the hoax. A couple of the underworld regulars were also called to court to testify, including Arnold Rothstein, but their roles only served as little pieces of the complicated puzzle. Before the trial, key evidence went missing from The Cook County Courthouse, which included the signed confessions of Cicotte and Jackson, who presumingly referred their statements. The players were discharged. In later years, the missing confessions finally showed up in the hands of Comiskey's lawyer.
The Leagues on the other hand were not so forgiving. After Federal Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was called in to investigate the hoax, all eight players were banned from pro baseball for life, and Landis was selected as the inaugural Commissioner of Baseball. After this ordeal baseball was looked at under a larger magnifying glass. Some teams started to worry about if similar things may be going on within their organizations. This was a big deal for a lot of baseball fans and players. As you see the mistakes of a few can affect more than just themselves. Always keep in mind how much your life and future mean, when it comes to choosing it over material things.