2. • The 1919 Chicago White
Sox team had the best
players in major league
baseball
• Some of the players had
the lowest salaries
• Compelled players to take
part in the fix
• The owner, Charles
Comiskey, was reluctant
on giving raises
Players Salaries
Joe Jackson $6000
George Weaver $6000
Eddie Cicotte $5000
Chick Gandil $4000
Oscar Felsch $3750
Claude Williams $3000
Fred McMullin $2750
Charles Risberg $2500
White Sox Salaries
6. Chick Gandil
Eddie Cicotte
Fred McMullin
Fred McMullin
• Famed pitcher
• Relatively new to the White Sox
• Banned from major league
7. Chick Gandil
Eddie Cicotte
Fred McMullin
George “Buck” Weaver
George “Buck” Weaver
• Famed pitcher
• Relatively new to the White Sox
• Banned from major league
8. “Shoeless” Joe Jackson “Shoeless” Joe Jackson
• One of the best batters in baseball in 1919
• Batted a 0.375 average during the 1919 World Series
• Known to be an illiterate
9. “Shoeless” Joe Jackson – A Legend Torn by a
Lie
• Jackson began his career
in 1908
• Helped White Sox win
the 1917 title against
the New York Giants
• Had a batting average of
0.408 in 1915 while
batting for the Cleveland
Indians
• “Shoeless”- sat out a
minor league game and
went up to bat in socks
due to lack of players
10. “Shoeless” Joe Jackson
Claude “Lefty” Williams
Claude “Lefty” Williams
• “Lefty”- left handed pitcher
• Began his major league career in Detroit
• One of the lowest paid players on the team
11. “Shoeless” Joe Jackson
Claude “Lefty” Williams
Oscar Happy Felsch
Oscar “Happy” Felsch
• Took part in military service in 1918
• Played as a center fielder during 1919 World Series
• Dropped out of school at an early age
12. “Shoeless” Joe Jackson
Claude “Lefty” Williams
Oscar Happy Felsch
Charles Risberg
Charles “Swede” Risberg
• Played as a shortstop in the 1919 World Series
• Recruited players into the fixed game
• He was only talented on the defensive
13. The Baseball Game of
Gambling
• Gambling and betting in baseball became popular in the early 1900s
• Fixed games were risky and commonly unsuccessful
• No organization to watch levels of gambling and betting
14. The Four Main
Masterminds
• Former players in
major in league
baseball
• Started take a role in
the gambling
business in baseball
William Burns
and Billy
Maharg
• Gambler in baseball
• From Boston,
Massachusetts
Joseph
Sullivan
• Important figure in
organized crime
• Provided the
$100,00 for the fix
Arnold
Rothstein
15. heFixWilliam Burns and
Billy Maharg bring up
the idea of fixing the
series to Chick Gandil
and Eddie Cicotte.
Gambler Sullivan and
Rothstein, figure of
organized crime,
provides money
Gandil and Cicotte
gathers the players
$100,000 is split
among the eight
players
People bet on the
Cincinnati Reds
White Sox lose the
game
Players get the
money
Gamblers win money
Everyone who betted
earns money
16. The Trial and Effects on
• The outcome of the trial
was that the players be
suspended and banned
from major league
baseball for life
• Debate in society rose
around “Shoeless” Joe
Jackson’s participation in
the fix
• Kenesaw Mountain Landis
was appointed as the first
Commissioner of Baseball
Jackson’s criminal record
17. Connection to Great Gatsby-a twist in
names
• On page __ , Gatsby mentions
that Meyer Wolfsheim took
part in the fix
• Wolfsheim is a fictional
character, but it refers to
Arnold Rothstein
• The reaction from the society
towards the fixed game can be
seen in Nick’s narration
• Connects to the theme of the
superficiality of the rich, in
money overshadows reason
“He ‘s the man who fixed the
World Series”- Gatsby
“…with the singlemindedness of a burglar blowing a safe.”- Nick
