Backstabber Report

1919 Chicago White Sox – Backstabbers of Baseball

In a unique situation, eight baseball players conspired and succeeded in backstabbing the fans of the most popular sporting event at that time – The World Series.

Even before the Series started on October 1, there were rumors among gamblers that the series was fixed, and a sudden influx of money being bet on Cincinnati caused the odds against them to fall rapidly. These rumors also reached the press box where it was decided among reporters to compare notes on any plays and players that they felt were questionable.

Those repoerter’s reviews of those questionable plays and the players involved provided much of the fuel for the investigation that followed in 1920. That year an official inquiry was held and two players confessed in writing to throwing the Series. Among these was “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, though Jackson later recanted his confession and the written confession disappeared from the courthouse, only to reappear many years later in the possession of the player’s lawyer.

Shoeless Joe Jackson would likely have been one of the first inductees to The Baseball Hall of fame, but his ban from baseball will probably remain in force and his name will never be included among the greatest players.

The extent of Joe Jackson’s participation in the conspiracy remains controversial. Jackson maintained that he was innocent. He had a Series-leading .375 batting average, threw out five baserunners, and handled 30 chances in the outfield with no errors. However, he batted far worse in the five games that the White Sox lost, with a batting average of .286 in those games, although this was still an above-average batting average.

The National and American Leagues hit a combined .263 in the 1919 season and compared to today’s batting averages that earn players millions each year, he would excel above most. Statistics also show that in the other games that the White Sox lost, only five of Jackson’s at-bats came with a man in scoring position, and he advanced the runners twice.

Jackson, generally considered a strong defensive player, was unable to prevent a critical two-run triple to left during the series. (Triples to left field are considerably less common than to right or center field because left field and third base are on the same side of the field.)

One play in particular has been subjected to much scrutiny. In the fifth inning of Game 4, with a Cincinnati player on second, Jackson fielded a single hit to left field and threw home, but was cut off by a teammate, Cicotti. The run scored and the White Sox lost the game 2-0. Cicotte, whose guilt is undisputed, made two errors in that fifth inning alone.

Years later, all of the implicated players said that Jackson was never present at any of the meetings they had with the gamblers. Lefty Williams, Jackson’s roommate, later said that they only brought up Jackson in hopes of giving them more credibility with the gamblers.

Williams, one of the “Eight Men Out,” lost three games, a Series record.

Eight players lost their careers and were banned from baseball completely, even when they tried to form exhibition games. The Commissioner of Baseball, a new position created by the owners in response to the scandal, threatened any team that played them, or ballpark that hosted them with banishment, as well.

Though all the players were never convicted at a trial, the Commissioner of Baseball makes the final determination of a players eligibility. Seven admitted backstabbers, with one remaining, whose label of “backstabber” may be debated for another century.

Thus, was the fate of the 1919 Chicago “Black Sox.”