The 1919 Chicago White Sox season was their 19th season in the American League. They won 88 games to advance to the World Series but lost to the Cincinnati Reds. More significantly, some of the players were found to have taken money from gamblers in return for throwing the series. The "Black Sox Scandal" had permanent ramifications for baseball, including the establishment of the office of Commissioner of Baseball.
Regular season
In 1919, Eddie Cicotte led the majors with 29 wins and 30 complete games, going 29–7 for the season with a 1.82 ERA and 110 strikeouts. He also led the AL in innings pitched with 240. Right fielderJoe Jackson hit.351 with 7 home runs, 96 RBIs and had 181 hits. Shoeless Joe headed an offense that scored the most runs of any team.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Roster
Player stats
Batting
Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
Pos
Player
G
AB
H
Avg.
HR
RBI
C
131
394
111
.282
0
34
1B
115
441
128
.290
1
60
2B
140
518
165
.319
4
80
3B
140
571
169
.296
3
75
SS
119
414
106
.256
2
38
LF
139
516
181
.351
7
96
CF
135
502
138
.275
7
86
RF
122
434
131
.302
0
26
Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
Player
G
AB
H
Avg.
HR
RBI
60
170
50
.294
0
19
63
179
50
.279
0
4
29
66
15
.227
0
4
30
35
17
.486
0
5
11
19
3
.158
0
1
7
12
4
.333
0
1
Pitching
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player
G
IP
W
L
ERA
SO
40
306.2
29
7
1.82
110
41
297
23
11
2.64
125
39
212.1
13
7
2.88
79
25
162.1
11
9
3.83
45
1
6
0
0
7.50
4
1
2
0
1
9.00
1
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Player
G
IP
W
L
ERA
SO
20
96.2
5
5
2.79
43
8
35
1
3
5.14
10
6
23.2
1
3
8.37
9
5
39.1
3
2
2.52
11
4
22
1
1
2.05
5
4
15
0
1
4.20
9
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
The Black Sox Scandal refers to a number of events that took place around and during the play of the 1919 World Series. The name "Black Sox" also refers to the Chicago White Sox team from that era. Eight members of the Chicago franchise were banned from baseball for throwing games.
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 infielderFred McMullin was not 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. In reality, however, Cicotte started the White Sox's last game of the season, September 28th against the Tigers. But, with a 1-0 Chicago lead, Chicago manager Kid Gleason took Cicotte out of the game following the second inning, which assured Cicotte could not get his 30th win.
