The 1919 Black Sox Scandal
 

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As a Black Sox expert, the first thing that needs to be said about that entire situation is that there are many things about the entire affair that nobody will ever know for sure (including myself.)

That said, both Shoeless Joe Jackson and Buck Weaver very likely played to win. In fact, Jackson set what was then a World Series record with 12 hits, batted .375 for the series, hit the only home run of the series for either team, and did not make an error on defense. Similarly, Weaver batted .324, did not make an error on defense, and by all accounts played his best to win (not easy to do, knowing that 6 of your teammates are intentionally throwing games.)

Weaver never took a dime, repeatedly asked for a separate trial from his teammates to prove his innocence (of which he was denied), and appealed to the MLB commissioners (Kenesaw Landis, Happy Chandler, and Ford Frick) every year until his death in 1956 to have himself reinstated (all of his appeal were denied.)

Jackson was given $5,000 in an envelope by his best friend and teammate (Lefty Williams) ........ money that he never asked for, and that he did not want. In fact, he even tried to give the money to the team owner (Charlie Comiskey) and report the entire scandal to him but he was intercepted by Harry Grabiner (Comiskey's secretary), who told Jackson that Comiskey had nothing to say to him (even though he had offered a $10,000 reward for anyone giving him any information on the fix.) At that point, Jackson decided that he simply wasn't going to play in the series because of the fix that he knew that his teammates were complicit in. His manager (Kid Gleason) screamed at Jackson that he would play ....... Gleason's statement was not a prediction or a request, it was a threat. The uneducated, illiterate Jackson buckled under the pressure of his manager and owner, and played all 8 games of the series to the best of his ability, but (like teammate Buck Weaver) was not comfortable in doing so.

As stated before, there are still many aspects of the entire affair that people do not know, and will never find out. However, based on the numerous books, articles, and films that I have read and seen, and the people that I have spoken with (I actually called a man named Gardner Stern on the telephone just before he died in 1996 who lived in Chicago his entire life, and who was 16 years-old at the time of the fix, and I spoke extensively with him about it), Jackson and Weaver both played to win, in spite of the pressure of the situation that was on them.



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Me and Gardner Stern


In regard to Gardner Stern, this man ......


A. ) Saw the first game ever at THE ORIGINAL Comiskey Park in April of 1910, when he was 6 and-a-half years old.

B. ) Had his heart broken when it was found out that his beloved White Sox had thrown the 1919 World Series (he in fact went to one of those World Series games against the Reds.)



As I said earlier, his name was Gardner Stern. He was born in 1904, was a life-long White Sox fan, and was a guest in Ken Burns' baseball documentary.

I simply called information for Chicago, Illinois (in 1996), asked for his phone number, and he was nice enough to talk to me for about 20 minutes about the entire Black Sox scandal, plus his lifelong fandom of the White Sox.

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Shoeless Joe should be in the Hall.

He bet on baseball. He tainted the game. Even if he did play hard, he KNEW games were thrown.

MLB is done is the outcomes are predetermined. Its not WWE. Oh, who was a guest on wrestling, Big donnie being a bad guy.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NsrwH9I9vE

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Joe Jackson never bet on baseball games, nor was he ever accused of betting on baseball games.

And if you read my OP, you would see that he not only did not want to play in the World Series when he found out that it was fixed (he was coerced into playing by his manager), but he also tried to give the $5,000 that he received from his teammate Lefty Williams (money that he didn't ask for, and that he didn't want) back to Charlie Comiskey (the team owner) and tell him all about what happened and what his teammates had done, but Comiskey had his secretary (Harry Grabiner) intercept him at the door and refused to see him or talk to him ...... even though Comiskey had made a public announcement that he was giving a $10,000 reward for anybody with any knowledge of the fix.

Meanwhile Comiskey himself, whose abusive treatment of his players set the tone for the fix in the first place, and who ignored pleas (and information) from Jackson himself in regard to the fix, is in the Hall-of-Fame.

Also, Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker were permitted by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis to resign from their player-manager posts near the end of the 1926 season after former pitcher Dutch Leonard charged that Cobb, Speaker, and Smoky Joe Wood had joined him just before the 1919 World Series in betting on a game they all knew was fixed. Leonard presented letters and other documents to Commissioner and AL President Ban Johnson, and Johnson thought they would be so potentially damaging to baseball in the wake of the Black Sox scandal that he paid Leonard $20,000 to have them suppressed. Landis, who proposed to have a "zero tolerance policy" when he was hired as the Commissioner of MLB in direct response to the Black Sox scandal, did everything that he could to cover up and gloss over the Ty Cobb/Tris Speaker/Smoky Joe Wood incident for fear that the American public would be completely disillusioned about the authenticity of the game, because it would have been the second major game-fixing scandal in the same time period of time.

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I understand. But if you give a cheater an out, others see a way around the rules.

They hold back players like Gil Hodges, who played the game right, and was a great teacher of the game

are you always a moron?

You dont bet on baseball if you are a player. Are you learning impared?

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If you read anything that I wrote, you would see that Joe Jackson and Buck Weaver were not cheaters (particularly Jackson, who did everything that he could to report the fix to the team owner, and tried to give the unsolicited $5,000 that he received to them.)

On the other hand, Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker WERE both documented cheaters whom were involved in fixed games that same season, yet they were both inducted in the Hall-of-Fame.

o

He never bet on baseball.

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Speaking of somebody l WHO DID l bet on baseball games ......



Pete Rose to Appear on Field in Philadelphia Next Month

(Associated Press)

https://www.inquirer.com/wires/ap/pe...-20220724.html

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Shouldnt be allowed to sell peanuts there let alone be on the field

o


In terms of guilt, Pete Rose is the anti-Buck Weaver/anti-Shoeless Joe Jackson ...... whereas Weaver and Jackson were very likely not guilty of what they were accused of, Pete Rose' guilt grew more and more as time went by. First he said that he never bet on baseball games ...... then he admitted that he bet on baseball games, but insisted that he never specifically bet on Reds games when he played and managed the team ...... then he admitted that he specifically bet on Reds games WHILE he was playing and managing the team. And the only reason why continually made these concessions is because there was literally a paper trail proving that he was indeed guilty of all of these transgressions that he could no longer deny.

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I wont argue. If a pro game is questioned, then are results are tainted.

If you know, but do nothing, you are guilty.

Dont give Belicheat cover.

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This has nothing to do with my post about Pete Rose. Rose bet on games that he was playing in, and managing in. Shoeless Joe Jackson did everything that he possibly could to not participate in the fixed 1919 World Series (including reporting the entire situation to the team owner, trying to give him the money that was given to him that he didn't ask for in the first place, and telling his manager that he didn't want to play at all in the series before the manager coerced him into playing.) Buck Weaver specifically asked for a separate trial (and was denied) from the other accused players because he wanted nothing to do with the fix, and never took a dime from anyone.

If you are insinuating that a couple of uneducated baseball players in 1919 playing in a time when they had no rights whatsoever in terms of free agency and arbitration should have necessarily immediately gone to the press and made statements about the rumors that they heard about what their teammates were planning and hired lawyers to represent them on the spot, you're living in an extremely unrealistic world.

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White Sox Extend Winning Streak to 5 With 4-0 Victory ...... ‘These Guys Believe in Themselves’

(By Lamond Pope)

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/...-diego-padres/



SAN DIEGO — Sean Burke enjoys pitching at Petco Park.

The Chicago White Sox starter allowed one run over six innings in a Sept. 2024 start at the ballpark. And he was even sharper Saturday, pitching 6 scoreless innings while leading the Sox to a 4-0 victory against the San Diego Padres.

“I just love playing here,” Burke said. “I love San Diego, the environment here, the atmosphere. The stadium being right downtown and right by the water. I just enjoy it here. Good mounds, good crowd. It’s always a good team too. When you are playing a good team, you are playing some of the best in the game and you elevate yourself.”

Burke continued a strong series for Sox starters, following up Noah Schultz’s six scoreless innings Friday with six scoreless of his own. Burke allowed four hits, struck out eight and walked one in the 88-pitch outing in front of the sellout crowd of 42,758, helping the Sox (16-17) extend their season-high winning streak to five games.

“Just a lot of strikes,” manager Will Venable said. “Today was the slider early, got a ton of swing and miss. Had a really nice fastball that got him through the backend of his start. Eighty-eight pitches and 66 strikes, he was in the zone all day, kept them off-balanced. A great job.”

The 8 strikeouts are a season high for Burke, one of which came during a pivotal 5th inning. The Padres were threatening to break a scoreless tie with runners on first and second with one out. Center fielder Tristan Peters made a nice running catch to track down Ramón Laureano’s liner. Burke then struck out Fernando Tatis Jr. to get out of the jam.

“We talked about if we got to that at-bat, we hadn’t shown him anything up and in too much,” Burke said. “We wanted to go spin early because he would probably be aggressive. I tried to get that second fastball a little more up than it did. I saw him swing through it middle so I knew I had room to climb up. I was able to execute that third one.”

White Sox 3rd baseman Miguel Vargas broke the scoreless tie with a 2-run single in the 6th inning.

Peters began the rally in the sixth with a one-out walk. Designated hitter Andrew Benintendi reached on a bunt down the third-base line. Both runners advance on a Munetaka Murakami groundout to first.

With two outs, Vargas blooped a single to right field which brought home Peters and Benintendi.

The Sox tacked on 2 more runs in the seventh inning. Second baseman Chase Meidroth singled and advanced to third on a Sam Antonacci double, the 2nd hit of the night for the left fielder.

The Padres brought the infield in, and catcher Edgar Quero singled to right. Meidroth scored on the hit, making it 3-0. Peters executed a safety squeeze later in the inning, bringing in Antonacci to extend the Sox lead to 4-0.

“You love the longball, but you know you’re not always going to have it,” Venable said. “Today was a great example of that where we grinded at-bats. The bunt was in play there, led to a couple of runs there with the Vargas blooper.

“Had the safety (squeeze) there (in the 7th) and some good situational hitting with Quero as well. Awesome job by the guys to continue to find ways to score.”

The Sox survived a scare in the 9th. The Padres loaded the bases with no outs. Grant Taylor struck out former Sox first baseman/outfielder Gavin Sheets looking following a challenge from Quero in which the call was reversed from a ball to strike 3.

“I knew for sure it was there,” Quero said.

Closer Seranthony Domínguez got Miguel Andujar to fly out to shallow right field and struck out Luis Campusano swinging for his 8th save.

The Sox have had an impressive series, winning the first 2 against one of the top teams in the National League.

“I think for us it’s not about who we’re playing, it’s about playing our game, it’s about committing to the things we believe are important,” Venable said. “These guys continue to bring energy on a daily basis and are able to get good results. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, these guys believe in themselves and believe in their ability to go out and be competitive."

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