The Side Nobody Knows About Baseball is considered as Americas greatest pastime.

We consider the definition of baseball to be inclined toward or suggestive of the feeling of the excitement and mystery of love. That describes the attitude of most serious baseball fans. The players were paid a tremendously low and they needed the extra cash. Playing professional baseball was not enough for them to make a living back then. Throwing the World Series was a big decision because of the amount of money they were given if they came through with the deal. The amount of money that they were giving for throwing the World Series was the same as playing about five seasons. The event exposed the willingness of players to sell themselves out of a world championship for a few thousand dollars. Baseball is 172 years old and more popular than ever. It was called "America's Pastime" because during the late 19th and early 20th century it was probably the most widely played sport in the country. Baseball was important to national moral during the Great Depression. Radio had began to broadcast baseball games during the 1920s bringing action to fans who couldnt make it to the ballpark for afternoon games. After their seasons ended players needed second jobs. The players got jobs such as laborers and farmers to salesmen and shopkeepers. Boxing, Baseball, and horse racing were the three most popular sports to bet on. Comiskey was the cheapest Major League coach of his time. The White Sox had the filthiest uniforms in the league because Comiskey wanted to cut laundry bills. He had promised his team a bonus if they won the 1917 pennant, but all they received for their victory was a case of cheap champagne. When attendance in Chicago went up, Comiskey refused to bring salaries back to normal. Comiskey had some of the best players in the

country on his team, but paid them all far below what players of comparable talent were earning elsewhere. (PETERSON). A player had to accept what his team offered or not play at all. After winning an amazing season the Chicago White Sox made it to the World Series of 1919. Two men approached two of the White Sox players, Pitcher Ed Cicotte and First Baseman Arnold "Chick" Gandil, about fixing the World Series. After speaking to a few of their teammates they added six more players, Pitcher Lefty Williams, Centerfielder Happy Felsch, Shortstop Swede Risberg, Third baseman Buck Weaver, Utility man Fred McMullin, and Leftfielder "Shoeless" Joe Jackson. In the end, the gamblers bet nearly half a million dollars on the Reds, while agreeing to pay the players $100,000 to split. There was no one single mastermind behind the idea of the fix; it was more a collaboration of ideas. The Chicago White Sox were 3-1 betting favorites to whip the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. Game 8 of World Series: The Reds led the series 4-3. Williams was approached before Game 8 and told in no uncertain terms that he was not to last the 1st inning or he and his wife would be in grave danger. He complied by giving up four hits and three runs to the Reds before being removed with one out in the 1st inning. The reds won 10-5 to with the World Series 5 games to 3. (Article) The Scandal couldn't have come at a worse time. On June 27, 1921, the case of State of Illinois vs Eddie Cicotte et al opened in the Chicago courtroom of Judge Hugo. The Official Encyclopedia of Baseball says, "Baseball suffered a near-fatal blow upon the revelation that the infamous Chicago 'Black Sox' had thrown the 1919 Series." (Pollak) The first commissioner of baseball, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, suspended each of the players, and promised them reinstatement if they were found not guilty.. (Pollak). A Chicago sportswriter, published in New York World a story headlined Is Big

League Baseball Being run for Gamblers, With Ballplayers in the Deal? Lefty Williams became the third White Sox player to tell his story to the Grand Jury. Then Oscar Felsch said, "I got $5000. I could have got just about that much by being on the level if the Sox had won the Series. And now I'm out of baseball the only profession I know anything about, and a lot of gamblers have gotten rich. The joke seems to be on us." (Anderson) The day after the jury's verdict, the new Commissioner of Baseball, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, released a statement to the press: "Regardless of the verdict of juries, no player who throws a ballgame, no player that undertakes or promises to throw a ballgame, no player that sits in conference with a bunch of crooked players and gamblers where the ways and means of throwing a game are discussed and does not promptly tell his club about it, will ever play professional baseball." (Rose) Still, in present day, nearly 80 years after the fact, baseball fans talk about the Black Sox scandal with a lowered voice and an embarrassed look in their eyes. It's a stain on the revered game that even time is having a problem washing away. The scandal even left its own legacy that is still inciting arguments among fans today. Baseball today will never have the problems that baseball in the 1920s had because of the amount of money that athletes make nowadays. It is not worth it for athletes to gamble $50,000 and possibly lose their job when they are already making millions. Gambling is still big to this day but a professional athlete already has everything he needs. Professional athletes now days want to win the champion ship or World Series they would never risk anything to lose it. Till this day we will never know who the real Champion of the 1919 World Series is.