Batting & Betting (a Chicago White Sox Scandal Paper)

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Batting & Betting The Story of the notorious “Black Sox”: The Black Sox were a team of the Major Leagues. Eight players from the Chicago White Sox were accused of throwing the series against the Cincinnati Reds. Details of the scandal and the extent to which each man was involved have always been unclear. It was, however, front-page news across the country and, despite being acquitted of criminal charges, the players were banned from professional baseball for life. The eight men included the great "Shoeless" Joe Jackson; pitchers Eddie Cicotte and Claude "Lefty" Williams; infielders Buck Weaver, Arnold "Chick" Gandil, Fred McMullin, and Charles "Swede" Risberg; and outfielder Oscar "Happy" Felsch. 1 The White Sox team was founded in 1900 as an American league franchise, owned by Charles Comiskey. They were originally called the White Stockings. Later Changing their name in 1902. In its first year, they won the league championship. and by 1903 the American & National league made the “World Series.” Throughout 1906 the White Sox ●9-18-1919: Arnold “Chick” Gandil, first baseman for the Chicago White Sox, meets with Joseph “Sport” Sullivan, a gambler, and tells him that the World Series can be bought. ●9-19-1919: Charles “Swede” Risberg, shortstop, Fred McMullin, infielder, and Eddie Cicotte, pitcher, join Gandil in a plot to throw the World Series. ●9-20-1919: George “Buck” Weaver, third baseman, Claude “Lefty” Williams, pitcher, Oscar “Happy” Felsch, center fielder, meet with Gandil, Risberg, McMullin and Cicotte to devise a plan. By some accounts, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, left fielder, was also present. ●9-21-1919: Cicotte runs into William “Sleepy Bill” Burns, a retired baseball player turned gambler, who expresses his interest in the fix. Burns asks Billy Maharg, an ex-fighter, to help him get the money together to

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