Wednesday, February 10, 2010

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Charles Comiskey ruined one of the greatest teams in baseball history and destroyed the careers’ of eight ball players. The word that best defines him is “cheap”. Charles Comiskey was without a doubt the cheapest owner in all of baseball. The fact that Comiskey was such a bad owner galvanized the hatred the players had for each other. However the players still won despite the fact that they all despised each other. There were even two players on the team that had not spoken to each other in two years. As previously stated, the players still won despite the fact that they were unhappy. In fact they were so good that they had the best record in the entire American League. Most of the players on the team were very poorly paid which was a result of the cheapness of Charles Comiskey. One of these poorly paid players went by the name of Arnold Gandil but most people referred to him as Chick Gandil. He was the catalyst of the Black Sox scandal of 1919. Chick Gandil slowly convinced his teammates to join in the scandal. The first two to join were Lefty Williams and Ed Cicotte. After the 1919 World Series the owners hired Kenesaw Mountain Landis to help clean up the image of the major leagues. He banned all eight players involved from the Major Leagues for life. All of the players loved the game of baseball although Comiskey was able to drain some of that love from them. Most of them would never get over the fact that they just could not play professional ball again.


The first thing to know about Charles Comiskey is that he was cheap. Charles Comsikey was a former player who ran over his players as if they could not do anything to hurt him. At the beginning of the 1919 season Comiskey promised the players a bonus if and when they won the pennant. When they did win the pennant their “bonus” was a cheap bottle of champagne (The Blacksox). This was not the only example of the cheapness of Charles Comiskey. The team he owned was named the White Sox however the name got a slight alteration when Comiskey refused to pay for the cost of laundering the player’s uniforms. After wearing their unwashed uniforms for two weeks straight they nicknamed themselves the Black Sox from all of the dirt that got onto their uniforms (Ward and Burns 133). In the team photograph that can be found on the cover page Joe Jackson’s (third row far left) pants are almost completely black from all of the abuse they have taken. The best pitcher on the team was named Ed Cicotte. Comiskey promised him a bonus too. He was promised a $10,000 bonus when he won 30 games. When Cicotte won 29 games Comiskey pulled him from the starting rotation just so he would not have to pay him (The Blacksox). Comiskey was so unfair with the players that they started to turn on each other.


There were two cliques on the 1919 team: One was lead by Eddie Collins and the other was lead by Chick Gandil (The Blacksox). Eddie Collins lead the higher paid and more educated group while Gandil lead the lower paid and less educated group. It was Chick Gandil’s clique that threw the series. In fact Chick Gandil had not talked to Eddie Collins for two years (Ward and Burns 133). Most of the players hated Collins as well and no one threw the ball to him in pre-game warm-ups (Ward and Burns 133). In the team photograph Chick Gandil, standing next to Joe Jackson, and Oscar Felsch, who was seated in the second row third from the left, would not even look at the camera. The team picture also depicts half of the players smiling and the other half glaring or not even looking at the camera. This was not the picture of a happy team that got along with each other. This was a picture of a split team most of whom were unsatisfied with each other and with the ownership that was supposed to be leading them. Eddie Collins was quoted as saying, “I thought you couldn’t win without teamwork until I joined the White Sox.” (Ward and Burns 133) Eddie Collins was right, although the team hated each other and got along so poorly they still won ball games. This was mostly due to the fact that they had such great ball players. The best of who was Joe Jackson.


Joe Jackson’s swing was modeled by Babe Ruth who many feel was the greatest baseball player of all time. Hall of Famer Ty Cobb said that Jackson was the best hitter he ever saw. Joe Jackson was truly an amazing player. In fact there is a movie almost entirely devoted to Jackson entitled “Field of Dreams”. Joe Jackson was by far the best player on the team. He only played 12 years in the majors but still has the 3rd highest Batting Average in history (Young). Joe Jackson was near the top of almost every hitting category in 1919 and although Jackson admitted it, some are still skeptical about Jackson’s involvement in the fix. These people are skeptical because Jackson’s statistics in the Series are amazing, Jackson hit .375 with 6 RBI’s, and he scored 5 runs. Joe Jackson was not the only good player that played on the 1919 White Sox. Their best pitcher, Eddie Cicotte, had the most wins, complete games, and was 2nd in Earned Run Average in 1919 (Young). The next best player in 1919 was a pitcher who went by the name of Lefty Williams although his real name was Claude. He was 3rd in the league in wins and 8th in Earned Run Average (Young). These players were the backbone of the White Sox however they were not the only contributors


In 1919 Chicago did not play at all like they hated each other. They had the best record in the American League (Young). Although the team was divided they played brilliantly together. The Chicago White Sox were tops in the league in most categories. They had the highest team Batting Average (.287), they had the most hits as a team in the league (1,343), the most runs scored (667), the most stolen bases as a team (150), and they allowed the fewest walks as a team (342) (Young). Eddie Collins called it the best team ever assembled. Most felt that Chicago was a lock the win the World Series. They were 5 to 1 favorites to win the series before it started (Ward and Burns 133). Although they were the best team they were not the best paid.


A surprising fact is that although Joe Jackson was by far the best player on the team he was definitely not the best paid. Eddie Collins was the highest paid player on the team which was another reason why the players despised him. Eddie Collins was paid $15,000 in 1919 while Joe Jackson was only paid $6,000 however Eddie Collins hit only 80 RBI’s (Runs Batted In) and hit .319 in 1919 while Joe Jackson hit 96 RBI’s and hit .351 (Young). The reason for this discrepancy was that Eddie Collins was a far better negotiator and also had a college education which was something that most major league players lacked. This statistic shows another example of Charles Comiskey being deceptive and cheap. If Joe Jackson had a college education he would have known that he could have gotten more money from Comiskey however Jackson did not have a college education and Comiskey used this fact against him and many other players by paying them less than they were worth. Another thing that Comiskey used against the players was that in 1919 there was no players association and there was no free agency. What this means is that the players were forced to stay on the same teams unless they were traded. Therefore Comiskey could keep his players for as long as he wanted to without paying them a fair salary and most players did not receive a fair salary from Comiskey. Eddie Cicotte was only paid $6,000 although he had the most wins in the league (Young). The other players who were convicted were also paid poorly. Buck Weaver was paid $6,000, Swede Risberg was paid $3,250, Fred McMullin was paid $2,750, and Lefty Williams was only paid $2,600 (Young). Happy Felsch and Chick Gandil were both paid $4,000 (Young). All of their low salaries were a factor in why they joined the fix.


Many people are under the common misconception that the 1919 World Series was the origin of throwing baseball games but this is far from the truth. In fact attempts were made to throw the 1903 and 1905 World Series but they failed and according to great manager Connie Mack the Philadelphia Athletics threw the 1914 World Series (Ward and Burns 61). The worst involvement in gambling was a player named Hal Chase who made a career out of throwing ball games and three different managers publicly accused him of throwing games (Ward and Burns 133). So obviously the 1919 World Series was not the origin of the art of throwing ball games.


Anyway, the fixing of this World Series was started by White Sox first baseman Arnold “Chick” Gandil. Gandil was a former club fighter and was on the tail end of his career. This was his last chance to make some real money and he wasn’t going to let it slip away. Gandil got the whole thing started by talking to his old friend Joseph “Sport” Sullivan. Gandil told Sullivan that he and some players were willing to throw the Series for $100,000 (Ward and Burns 133). Sullivan agreed and so while Sullivan started to work on getting the money Gandil worked on persuading the players to join in the fix. Sullivan got the help of Bill Maharg, Abe Attell, and “Sleepy” Bill Burns but most of the money was provided when Sullivan convinced big time gambler Arnold Rothstein to back them (Ward and Burns 135) (Linder). So while Sullivan spread the idea Gandil got the support of the players, the first two that he persuaded were Eddie Cicotte and Lefty Williams (Ward and Burns 134).


Claude “Lefty” Williams joined the fix because of his low salary. Eddie Cicotte joined because he needed money but also because of the promise Comiskey made him. As stated in the first paragraph Comiskey promised Cicotte $10,000 when he won 30 games but wouldn’t let Cicotte pitch after he won 29 so that he wouldn’t have to pay him. After Cicotte and Williams joined the others joined. However not all players were so easily persuaded. Joe Jackson would not accept the $10,000 Gandil offered him and when Gandil upped the offer to $20,000 Jackson said that he would think about it. All in all 7 players joined the fix: Chick Gandil, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, Eddie Cicotte, Lefty Williams, Fred McMullin, Charles “Swede” Risberg, and Oscar “Happy” Felsch (The Blacksox). Buck Weaver did not participate in throwing the series but he was banned for life because he knew about the fix and failed to tell anyone about it. Halfway through the series the players decided to win because the gamblers were not paying them the full amount of money that they had requested (The Blacksox). When the series was 4-3 in favor of the Reds Arnold Rothstein was skeptical about the outcome of the series so he sent a thug to Lefty Williams hotel room. Lefty Williams was scheduled to pitch the next day and so the thug Rothstein hired told Williams if he did not blow the game then he would hurt William’s wife (Ward and Burns 140). The series ended 5-3 when Williams gave up 4 runs in the first inning. At the end of the series the players did not get most of the money that they had asked for they had only gotten $60,000 of the $100,000 promised them.


After the Series the players were put on trial for throwing the series but they were all found innocent (The Blacksox). Another very important event happened after the series. The owners decided to change the three person commission that baseball had to a one man commissioner. They considered former presidents, senators, and judges. Their search ended when they named Kenesaw Mountain Landis as the commissioner of baseball (Ward and Burns 143). Landis banned all of the players involved for life in order to restore the public’s faith in baseball (The Blacksox). Although Joe Jackson and Eddie Cicotte are considered to be two of the best players in the history of baseball, they are to this day not allowed to enter the baseball hall of fame. After banning the players were banned Landis was quoted as saying “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 being discussed and does not promptly tell his club about it, will ever play professional baseball” (Linder). Even after Landis had said this and after banning all of the eight players for life the public was still skeptical about the integrity of major league baseball (Ward and Burns 145).


After they were banned Joe Jackson, Eddie Cicotte, and Swede Risberg played in semi-professional leagues under different names (The Blacksox). Buck Weaver was astonished by Landis’ verdict because he himself had not participated in the fix but he had known about it which was why he was banned for life. Weaver tried to get reinstated six times and Landis rejected him all six times. This dedication just goes to show how much the players really loved the game of baseball. These players were not a bunch of mean hearted people, they loved the game of baseball and did not mean for the Series to have such a bad effect on the public. Most of them, apart from Chick Gandil, were ashamed of what they had done to the public. Joe Jackson opened up a bar after his playing days. One day Ty Cobb waltzed into the bar. After Jackson had failed to recognize Cobb he went over to him and said “Don’t you recognize me Joe.” To which Jackson replied “Sure I do Ty” “I just thought no one wanted to speak to me again, a lot of them don’t.” This is an example of just how ashamed Jackson was of himself.


It is very easy to see just how much influence the bad ownership of Charles Comiskey had on his organization and especially the players. From not doing simple things like laundering the player’s clothes and lying to them about bonuses that they were to receive he destroyed the team’s morale and dignity. It is from that tightfistedness that the players turned on him and threw the 1919 World Series. Comiskey turned some of the greatest players of all time, Joe Jackson and Eddie Cicotte, into crooked players. This team should have easily won the World Series; they had the best record in the American League, the highest batting average, most hits, most stolen bases and they were at the top of the league in most statistical categories. Unfortunately because Charles Comiskey was such a bad owner, the team had no other choice but to do something to rebel against him. These player’s were being run like Comiskey’s minions, they could not change teams or negotiate for a higher salary, Comiskey could do pretty much whatever he wanted to with them. Charles Comiskey catalyzed the events that led to the downfall of the 1919 White Sox. First he was cheap which is never a good quality for anyone to have. This cheapness led to the player’s unhappiness which ultimately led to the player’s decision to throw the World Series. It may not have been the best of decisions but the players felt that they had no other choice and that this was their last option to rid themselves of the oppression of Comiskey. Since the players threw the World Series they were thrown out of baseball. So ultimately it was the cheapness of Charles Comiskey that caused this team’s demise and the downfall of two of baseball’s greatest players and “one of the greatest teams of all time.” There have been three movies, and countless websites devoted to this subject and the fact that Charles Comiskey ruined one of the greatest teams in baseball history and destroyed the careers’ of eight ball players.How long does your hair grow when using hair,skin and nails vitamins?
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