Baseball was forever changed by the Black Sox Scandal where several Chicago White Sox team members were indicted for taking bribes on 20 October 1920 to throw the 1919 World Series. The scandal resulted in new rules of player conduct and the creation of a baseball commissioner to rule baseball as a dictator for decades.

 

The White Sox were heavily favored to win the game in 1919 but many players were upset with being underpaid by team owner Charles Comiskey. It is believed that first baseman Chick Gandil may have initiated contact and through intermediaries New York gambler Arnold Rothstein offered money for the players to lose some of the games intentionally. Rumors of game fixing began on the first day of the game (1 Oct 1919). A lot of money was being placed against the Sox, which raised suspicions. The rumors reached the press box which started getting sports writers interested. As the games went on, plays were being watched more carefully and what the players were doing (or rather, not doing right). By Game 5 though, those involved were upset that they had not been paid and won Games 6 and 7. The gamblers struck back, and threats were made against the players and the families. Game 8 was lost by the Sox ending the series. The main conspirators received $5,000 each with Chick Gandil, who was the one who initiated the scheme, receiving $35,000.

Rumors swirled into the 1920 season and newspaper stories of corruption in other ball clubs emerged as well. Finally, what appeared to be a rigged regular season game between the Cubs and the Phillies in August 1920 led to a grand jury being convened in September to investigate the 1919 World Series. Pitcher Eddie Cicotte confessed to his role and signed a waiver of immunity. Shoeless Joe Jackson soon testified to receiving $5,000 from his teammates. Lefty Williams and Oscar Felsch also confessed as well.  In October indictments for conspiracy were handed down for seven members of the White Sox, forever dubbed the Black Sox:

1. Arnold “Chick” Gandil (1^st Base)

2. Eddie Cicotte (Pitcher)

3. Claude “Lefty” Williams (Pitcher)

4. Charles “Swede” Risberg (Shortstop)

5. Oscar “Happy” Felsch (Outfielder)

6. “Shoeless” Joe Jackson (Outfielder)

7. Fred McMullin (Infielder)

8. Buck Weaver (3^rd Base)

The media and the public were unforgiving. Numerous stories appeared on how they sold out baseball and baseball fans over what happened. It was a major public relations nightmare for both the American and National leagues (they were separate leagues back then). As the trial date loomed, the incoming state attorney for Cook’s County, Robert E. Crowe, found that the original grand jury testimony was missing from the file left by his predecessor Maclay Hoyne. It is believed that his secretary, George Kenney, was responsible for the theft. And this is where a certain myth would also come about as well as dramatized in the movie Eight Men Out. In the telling of the story in the movie (and elsewhere), the signed confessions and other documents disappeared dramatically causing the trial to fall back on second-hand accounts to prove the bribery.

That is not what happened. Since sworn confessions are not done with grand juries, they were not there to begin with. Not having the original grand jury testimony though was embarrassing but it was overcome. The shorthand notes taken by the grand jury stenographers were taken to recreate the testimony and it was read to the jury during the trial. Both Eddie Cicotte and Joe Jackson though did recant their testimony given to the grand jury implicating them in the conspiracy. The trial which began on 16 June 1921 where the warm summer heat made the trial unbearable at times, ended on 2 August 1921. The jury returned acquittals of the defendants in three hours.  Bill Lamb, the author of Black Sox in the Courtroom, speculates that the jury stopped paying attention do the stiffing heat in the court room. The transcripts would be used later in a civil trial brought by Joe Jackson against the White Sox and afterwards disappeared completely. What seems most likely to have happened is that they were put box into a box and forgotten. Years later people looking for them found them totally gone leaving just newspaper reports and other accounts about the trial. And since newspapers did not often relay trial proceedings accurately, it would be easy to believe they were missing and never used at trial.

Some documents from the trial have been recovered. A partial copy of the legal transcripts was found in 1988 by a law firm that once employed White Sox team counsel Alfred Austrian. The legal transcripts have Joe Jackson’s testimony to the grand jury. This is neither suspicious nor conspiratorial. It would be common for attorneys connected to the case order copies for their records. In 2007 the Chicago History Museum acquired documents related to the Black Sox Scandal. Within these documents were transcripts from the jury trial of Eddie Cicotte’s testimony. His grand jury testimony is not intact. However, parts if his testimony in Joe Jackson’s lawsuit against the White Sox did survive.

During the trial in 1921, White Sox player “Sleepy Bill” Burns gave the most damning testimony when he said that Rothstein was involved and Cicotte had said he would fix the game. White Sox owner Charles Comiskey, who many felt had mistreated his players by not paying his player enough and not paying promised bonuses, was grilled on the stand so hard by the defense counsel that he became enraged. So, the trial did confirm what was told to the grand jury: that players were bribed and the reasons were due to being underpaid by team owner Comiskey. The jury found otherwise and returned acquittals to all. And then they all had a nice dinner with the players thinking that it was all over.

 Baseball Owners Respond

Prior to the jury verdict and even before the scandal broke out, the baseball team owners wanted to change how things were run. A National Commission governed the sport, but they realized things had to change. One suggestion was to get a recognized federal judge to sit on this commission and help direct baseball in a better direction. They looked at noted baseball fan and federal judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, but he demanded that he be made sole commissioner with nearly unchecked powers as commissioner. Although there were misgivings, the baseball owners agreed to his demands and made him the sole commissioner. This was unheard of back then as usually you wanted power vested in a group rather than one person. Landis would rule baseball from 1920-1944 and he would rule it with an iron fist. He would be the first and the last commissioner to have unchecked powers as he did.

Commissioner Landis Sets a New Tone for Baseball

Landis speaking at a church in 1921 is reported as saying he would tolerate any crooks in baseball.

Now that I am in baseball, just watch the game I play. If I catch any crook in baseball, the rest of his life is going to be a pretty hot one. I’ll go to any means and to anything possible to see that he gets a real penalty for his offense.

Landis watched the jury trial like anyone else to see how it would play out. The following morning after the acquittal he stated the following:

Regardless of the verdict of juries, no player that throws a ball game; no player that undertakes or promises to throw a ball game; no player that sits in a conference with a bunch of crooked players and gamblers where the ways and means of throwing ball games are planned and discussed and does not promptly tell his club about it, will ever play professional baseball. Of course, I don’t know that any of these men will apply for reinstatement, but if they do, the above are at least a few of the rules that will be enforced. Just keep in mind that, regardless of the verdict of juries, baseball is competent to protect itself against crooks, both inside and outside the game.

 The eight acquitted players were put on the illegible list barring them from playing in major or minor league baseball. Comiskey released those still under contract to the team. All appeals were denied by Landis, and the Black Sox were forever banned from professional baseball. However, Jackson, Williams, Felsch, and Weaver were able to play in a semi-pro game though sports writers heavily criticized it and the public for attending. The standard that Landis applied still exists to this day in baseball, that ball players who collude with gamblers to throw a game or gamble against their own team do not belong in baseball. The fact they were acquitted did not erase what they testified to the grand jury where they had admitted to taking money. Other baseball players found to have consorted with gamblers or gambled on the game met the same fate was well. Team owners were not immune either if they were found to be involved in any aspect of gambling. Two owners who had purchased a racing horse track had to sell it. And players who also did things like playing baseball out of season for extra money could face being banned unless approved by him.

Babe Ruth found himself ineligible to play for a while because he did not get Landis’ permission to play out of season. After he met with Landis, and the issue was resolved, he was back playing baseball again for the Yankees. While Landis was not a fan of the farm system, he made sure that team owners disclosed their ownership of minor league teams and that they honored their contracts with players. He is severely criticized that he did not allow black players to play in baseball. At the same time, he understood some teams would react badly to a black ballplayer. Landis feared ugly incidents in the club house that would do more damage to the sport than gambling. Integration would not take place until after World War II and Landis’ death.

 Baseball Commissioner Ends Permanent Ban for 16 Deceased Players

In May 2025 baseball commissioner Rob Manfred removed 16 deceased players and one deceased owner from the permanent ban list. “Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game,” he wrote to the attorney seeking the ban lifted on the now deceased Pete Rose. He added: “Moreover, it is hard to conceive of a penalty that has more deterrent effect than one that lasts a lifetime with no reprieve.” The list of those removed are:

Eddie Cicotte	Black Sox Scandal 1921.
William Cox	Owner Philadelphia Phillies 1943. Banned for betting on team’s games.
Cozy Dolan	New York Giants 1924. As coach he conspired with player Jimmy O’Connell to bribe Philadelphia Phillies player Heiner Sand to throw game between both teams.
Phil Douglas	New York Giants 1922. Banned after telling player on St. Louis Browns he planned to spike the pennant race because he hated team manager McGraw.
Happy Felsch	Black Sox Scandal 1921.
Chick Gandil	Black Sox Scandal 1921.
Joe Gedeon	Black Sox Scandal 1921. Played on St. Louis Browns but conspired with gamblers behind the scandal.
Joe Jackson	Black Sox Scandal 1921
Benny Kauff	New York Giants 1921. Banned for selling stolen cars.
Fred McMullin	Black Sox Scandal 1921.
Jimmy O’Connell	New York Giants 1924. He and coach Cozy Dolan offered money to Philadelphia Phillies player Heiner Sand to throw game between both teams.
Gene Paulette	Philadelphia Phillies 1921. Banned for associating with gamblers.
Swede Risberg	Black Sox Scandal 1921.
Pete Rose	Manager Cincinnati Reds 1989. Accepted ban as part of legal settlement for gambling and related issues. Admitted to betting on baseball several years later.
Buck Weaver	Black Sox Scandal 1921.
Lefty Williams	Black Sox Scandal 1921.

Eight baseball players banned by Commissioner Landis in 1921, including Shoeless Joe Jackson, are now off the ineligible list. In a more surprising move, former baseball player and manager Pete Rose was reinstated as well. Rose had accepted a legal settlement which accepted the ban. He had initially denied claims he had bet on games but later in a book admitted he had. He remained popular despite the ban and there were calls over the years to lift it. He passed away at age 83 in 2024.

Manfred made clear that going forward those on the ineligible list will be removed once they pass away. According to current rules, the earliest that these players like Shoeless Joe Jackson or Pete Ross can be eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame is 2028.

Sources

• Andrews, Evan. “What Was the 1919 ‘Black Sox’ Baseball Scandal?” HISTORY. Last modified May 28, 2025. Accessed July 7, 2026. https://www.history.com/articles/black-sox-baseball-scandal-1919-world-series-chicago.
• “Black Sox Scandal.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Last modified June 18, 2026. Accessed July 7, 2026. https://www.britannica.com/event/Black-Sox-Scandal.
• Lamb, Bill. “The Black Sox Scandal.” The Society for American Baseball Research. Last modified September 14, 2022. Accessed July 7, 2026. https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-black-sox-scandal/.
• “The Enduring Myth of the ‘Stolen’ Black Sox Confessions.” Jacob Pomrenke. Last modified May 28, 2018. Accessed July 7, 2026. https://jacobpomrenke.com/black-sox/the-enduring-myth-of-the-stolen-black-sox-confessions/.

Videos

• Tyrannis 07. “MLB Triumph & Tragedy: 1919 White Sox.” Video. YouTube, July 1, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSIwGGgw7BI.
• WTTW. “The Black Sox Scandal – a Chicago Stories Documentary.” Video. YouTube, November 8, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNBnEP5GyNQ.
• PBS NewsHour. “100 Years Since ‘Black Sox’ World Series, New Details Challenge Long-held Story.” Video. YouTube, October 10, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJLapw_J0-M.

Movies

[Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.]

Asinof, Eliot, and John Sayles. Eight Men Out. Orion Pictures, 1989. A semi-fictional account of the Black Sox Scandal. Well worth watching as it does follow much of the real history as to what happened. Considered one of the best baseball movies to watch.

Suggested Reading

William F. Lamb, Black Sox in the Courtroom: The Grand Jury, Criminal Trial and Civil Litigation (McFarland, 2013).

Revision history

This was revised from 2025 to correct grammar and punctuation.  Additionally new information added correcting the misconception that sworn written confessions made to grand jury had been lost.

The 1919 World Series between the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds has been forever tainted by allegations that the game was thrown by some White Sox team members being paid by a gambling syndicate being run by Arthur Rothstein. The scandal changed baseball forever resulting in imposition of new rules of player conduct and putting into power a baseball commissioner who would preside like a dictator over baseball for decades. So, what happened? Let’s find out.

The White Sox were heavily favored to win the game in 1919 but many players were upset with being underpaid by team owner Charles Comiskey. It is believed that first baseman Chick Gandil may have initiated contact and through intermediaries New York gambler Arnold Rothstein offered money for the players to lose some of the games intentionally. Rumors of game fixing began on the first day of the game (1 Oct 1919). A lot of money was being placed against the Reds, which raised suspicions. The rumors reached the press box which started getting sports writers interested. As the games went on, plays were being watched more carefully and what the players were doing (or rather, not doing right). By Game 5 though, those involved were upset that they had not be paid and won Games 6 and 7. The gamblers struck back, and threats were made against the players and the families. Game 8 was lost by the Sox ending the series. The main conspirators received $5,000 each with Chick Gandil, who was the one who initiated the scheme, receiving $35,000.

Rumors swirled into the 1920 season and newspaper stories of corruption in other ball clubs emerged as well. Finally, what appeared to be a rigged regular season game between the Cubs and the Phillies in August 1920 led to a grand jury being convened in September to investigate the 1919 World Series. Pitcher Eddie Cicotte confessed to his role and signed a waiver of immunity. Shoeless Joe Jackson soon testified to receiving $5,000 from his teammates. Lefty Williams and Oscar Felsch also confessed as well.  In October indictments for conspiracy were handed down for seven members of the White Sox, forever dubbed the Black Sox:

1. Arnold “Chick” Gandil (1^st Base)

2. Eddie Cicotte (Pitcher)

3. Claude “Lefty” Williams (Pitcher)

4. Charles “Swede” Risberg (Shortstop)

5. Oscar “Happy” Felsch (Outfielder)

6. “Shoeless” Joe Jackson (Outfielder)

7. Fred McMullin (Infielder)

8. Buck Weaver (3^rd Base)

The media and the public were unforgiving. Numerous stories appeared on how they sold out baseball and baseball fans over what happened. It was a major public relations nightmare for both the American and National leagues (they were separate leagues back then). The trial took a mysterious turn when signed confessions and other documents mysteriously disappeared from the Cook County Courthouse. Both Cicotte and Jackson retracted their confessions, and without direct evidence what the jury heard were second hand or hearsay accounts. White Sox player “Sleepy Bill” Burns gave the most damning testimony when he said that Rothstein was involved and Cicotte had said he would fix the game. White Sox owner Charles Comiskey, who many felt had mistreated his players by not paying his player enough and not paying promised bonuses, was grilled on the stand so hard by the defense counsel that he became enraged. The jury got the case on 28 Jul and returned with a not guilty verdict three hours later.

 Baseball Owners Respond

Prior to the jury verdict and even before the scandal broke out, the baseball team owners wanted to change how things were run. A National Commission governed the sport, but they realized things had to change. One suggestion was to get a recognized federal judge to sit on this commission and help direct baseball in a better direction. They looked at noted baseball fan and federal judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, but he demanded that he be made sole commissioner with nearly unchecked powers as commissioner. Although there were misgivings, the baseball owners agreed to his demands and made him the sole commissioner. This was unheard of back then as usually you wanted power vested in a group rather than one person. Landis would rule baseball from 1920-1944 and he would rule it with an iron fist. He would be the first and the last commissioner to have unchecked powers as he did.

Commissioner Landis Sets a New Tone for Baseball

Landis speaking at a church in 1921 is reported as saying he would tolerate any crooks in baseball.

Now that I am in baseball, just watch the game I play. If I catch any crook in baseball, the rest of his life is going to be a pretty hot one. I’ll go to any means and to anything possible to see that he gets a real penalty for his offense.

Like everyone else, he watched how the federal trial was going on against the White Sox players. When evidence disappeared requiring some charges to be dropped and new ones added (McMullin was dropped in the new charges), Landis responded by putting all eight on the ineligible list, banning them from major and minor league baseball. Comiskey released the seven who still were under contract, so they were effectively barred from professional baseball. However, Jackson, Williams, Felsch, and Weaver were able to play in a semi-pro game though sports writers heavily criticized it and the public for attending.

The acquittal seemed to end it and everyone in a celebratory mood afterwards. Both players and the jury went to an Italian restaurant and celebrated, it is said, long into the night. Their joy was short lived though. The following day (3 Aug 1921) Commissioner Landis issued the following statement:

Regardless of the verdict of juries, no player that throws a ball game; no player that undertakes or promises to throw a ball game; no player that sits in a conference with a bunch of crooked players and gamblers where the ways and means of throwing ball games are planned and discussed and does not promptly tell his club about it, will ever play professional baseball. Of course, I don’t know that any of these men will apply for reinstatement, but if they do, the above are at least a few of the rules that will be enforced. Just keep in mind that, regardless of the verdict of juries, baseball is competent to protect itself against crooks, both inside and outside the game.

 With that statement, Landis set a standard that still applies to this day. No ball player who colludes with gamblers or promises to throw a ball game is going to find a home in baseball. And even if a jury acquits them, baseball is the final arbiter of who can and cannot play. Now one can argue that if a person is legally acquitted of a crime of conspiracy to throwing a game, he should be welcomed back. Except that Landis knew, as did others, that there were signed confessions out there that mysteriously disappeared, and they recanted confessions after they vanished. The jury never got to see those confessions, which likely would have made a difference in the outcome. Unlike someone who steadfastly says he is innocent and is proven at trial that someone else was, the evidence here was certainly conclusive that they had conspired to through the game for gamblers.

Landis refused to reinstate any of the eight even with a lot of support and statements that perhaps they had been misled, their baseball stats from the games showed they had not thrown the games, or other reasons. To this day their expulsions stand despite sympathy for Jackson and Weaver. Landis moved to crack down on any association with gambling. Two team owners who had purchased a racing horse track had to sell it. Other baseball players who associated themselves in any way with gamblers or gambled on the game were struck off and out of the game. Also playing baseball outside of the season for pay was discouraged without permission from Landis.

Babe Ruth got into hot water with Landis for not getting his permission and for a while made him ineligible to play again for the Yankees until Landis met with him. Landis was also strict with the team owners making them disclose holdings they had in minor leagues and to honor their contracts with players. He was not a fan of the farm system, but it has become the way most teams develop promising players for the major leagues. While apparently a liberal on racial matters, he upheld the unofficial ban on black ballplayers playing in professional baseball and forbade teams from playing black baseball teams (though it was done unofficially). While it is debatable how racist Landis was, there were indications many players were and would not tolerate nor accept a black ballplayer. Perhaps, and this is not an excuse for his actions, Landis feared ugly incidents in the club house that would do more damage to the sport than gambling did.

Update 2025

In May 2025 baseball commissioner Rob Manfred removed 16 deceased players and one deceased owner from the permanent ban list. “Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game,” he wrote to the attorney seeking the ban lifted on the now deceased Pete Rose. He added: “Moreover, it is hard to conceive of a penalty that has more deterrent effect than one that lasts a lifetime with no reprieve.” The list of those removed are:

Eddie Cicotte	Black Sox Scandal 1921.
William Cox	Owner Philadelphia Phillies 1943. Banned for betting on team’s games.
Cozy Dolan	New York Giants 1924. As coach he conspired with player Jimmy O’Connell to bribe Philadelphia Phillies player Heiner Sand to throw game between both teams.
Phil Douglas	New York Giants 1922. Banned after telling player on St. Louis Browns he planned to spike the pennant race because he hated team manager McGraw.
Happy Felsch	Black Sox Scandal 1921.
Chick Gandil	Black Sox Scandal 1921.
Joe Gedeon	Black Sox Scandal 1921. Played on St. Louis Browns but conspired with gamblers behind the scandal.
Joe Jackson	Black Sox Scandal 1921
Benny Kauff	New York Giants 1921. Banned for selling stolen cars.
Fred McMullin	Black Sox Scandal 1921.
Jimmy O’Connell	New York Giants 1924. He and coach Cozy Dolan offered money to Philadelphia Phillies player Heiner Sand to throw game between both teams.
Gene Paulette	Philadelphia Phillies 1921. Banned for associating with gamblers.
Swede Risberg	Black Sox Scandal 1921.
Pete Rose	Manager Cincinnati Reds 1989. Accepted ban as part of legal settlement for gambling and related issues. Admitted to betting on baseball several years later.
Buck Weaver	Black Sox Scandal 1921.
Lefty Williams	Black Sox Scandal 1921.

Eight baseball players banned by Commissioner Landis in 1921, including Shoeless Joe Jackson, are now off the ineligible list. In a more surprising move, former baseball player and manager Pete Rose was reinstated as well. Rose had accepted a legal settlement which accepted the ban. He had initially denied claims he had bet on games but later in a book admitted he had. He remained popular despite the ban and there were calls over the years to lift it. He passed away at age 83 in 2024.

Manfred made clear that going forward those on the ineligible list will be removed once they pass away. According to current rules, the earliest that these players like Shoeless Joe Jackson or Pete Ross can be eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame is 2028.

Sources

Evan Andrews, “What Was the 1919 ‘Black Sox’ Baseball Scandal?,” History.Com, last modified May 28, 2025, accessed July 2, 2025, https://www.history.com/articles/black-sox-baseball-scandal-1919-world-series-chicago.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Black Sox Scandal of 1919 | Summary, Trial, Players, & Facts,” Encyclopedia Britannica, last modified May 13, 2025, https://www.britannica.com/event/Black-Sox-Scandal.

Bill Lamb, “The Black Sox Scandal,” The Society for American Baseball Research, last modified September 14, 2022, accessed July 2, 2025, https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-black-sox-scandal/.

Wikipedia contributors, “Black Sox Scandal,” Wikipedia, last modified June 15, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sox_Scandal.

The 1919 World Series between the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds has been forever tainted by allegations that the game was thrown by some White Sox team members being paid by a gambling syndicate being run by Arthur Rothstein. The scandal changed baseball forever resulting in imposition of new rules of player conduct and putting into power a baseball commissioner who would preside like a dictator over baseball for decades. So, what happened? Let’s find out.

The White Sox were heavily favored to win the game in 1919 but many players were upset with being underpaid by team owner Charles Comiskey. It is believed that first baseman Chick Gindil may have initiated contact and through intermediaries New York gambler Arnold Rothstein offered money for the players to lose some of the games intentionally. Rumors of game fixing began on the first day of the game (1 Oct 1919). A lot of money was being placed against the Reds, which raised suspicions. The rumors reached the press box which started getting sports writers interested. As the games went on, plays were being watched more carefully and what the players were doing (or rather, not doing right). By Game 5 though, those involved were upset that they had not be paid and won Games 6 and 7. The gamblers struck back, and threats were made against the players and the families. Game 8 was lost by the Sox ending the series. The main conspirators received $5,000 each with Chick Gandil, who was the one who initiated the scheme, receiving $35,000.

Rumors swirled into the 1920 season and newspaper stories of corruption in other ball clubs emerged as well. Finally what appeared to be a rigged regular season game between the Cubs and the Phillies in August 1920 led to a grand jury being convened in September to investigate the 1919 World Series. Pitcher Eddie Cicotte confessed to his role and signed a waiver of immunity. Shoeless Joe Jackson soon testified to receiving $5,000 from his teammates. Lefty Williams and Oscar Felsch also confessed as well.  In October indictments for conspiracy were handed down for seven members of the White Sox, forever dubbed the Black Sox:

• Arnold “Chick” Gandil (1^st Base)
• Eddie Cicotte (Pitcher)
• Claude “Lefty” Williams (Pitcher)
• Charles “Swede” Risberg (Shortstop)
• Oscar “Happy” Felsch (Outfielder)
• “Shoeless” Joe Jackson (Outfielder)
• Fred McMullin (Infielder)
• Buck Weaver ( 3^rd Base)

The media and the public were unforgiving. Numerous stories appeared on how they sold out baseball and baseball fans over what happened. It was a major public relations nightmare for both the American and National leagues (back then they were separate unlike today). The trial took a mysterious turn when signed confessions and other documents mysteriously disappeared from the Cook County Courthouse. Both Cicotte and Jackson retracted their confessions, and without direct evidence what the jury heard were second hand or hearsay accounts. White Sox player “Sleepy Bill” Burns gave the most damning testimony when he said that Rothstein was involved and Cicotte had said he would fix the game. White Sox owner Charles Comiskey, who many felt had mistreated his players by not paying his player enough and not paying promised bonuses, was grilled on the stand so hard by the defense counsel that he became enraged. The jury got the case on 28 Jul and returned with a not guilty verdict three hours later.

Baseball Owners Respond

Prior to the jury verdict and even before the scandal broke out, the baseball team owners wanted to change how things were run. A National Commission governed the sport, but they realized things had to change. One suggestion was to get a recognized federal judge to sit on this commission and help direct baseball in a better direction. They looked at noted baseball fan and federal judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, but he demanded that he be made sole commissioner with nearly unchecked powers as commissioner. Although there were misgivings, the baseball owners agreed to his demands and made him the sole commissioner. This was unheard of back then as usually you wanted power vested in a group rather than one person. Landis would rule baseball from 1920-1944 and he would rule it with an iron fist. He would be the first and the last commissioner to have unchecked powers as he did.

Commissioner Landis Sets a New Tone for Baseball

Landis speaking at a church in 1921 is reported as saying he would tolerate any crooks in baseball.

Now that I am in baseball, just watch the game I play. If I catch any crook in baseball, the rest of his life is going to be a pretty hot one. I’ll go to any means and to anything possible to see that he gets a real penalty for his offense.

Like everyone else, he watched how the federal trial was going on against the White Sox players. When evidence disappeared requiring some charges to be dropped and new ones added (McMullin was dropped in the new charges), Landis responded by putting all eight on the ineligible list, banning them from major and minor league baseball. Comiskey released the seven who still were under contract, so they were effectively barred from professional baseball. However, Jackson, Williams, Felsch, and Weaver were able to play in a semi-pro game though sports writers heavily criticized it and the public for attending.

The acquittal seemed to end it and everyone in a celebratory mood afterwards. Both players and the jury went to an Italian restaurant and celebrated, it is said, long into the night. Their joy was short lived though. The following day (3 Aug 1921) Commissioner Landis issued the following statement:

Regardless of the verdict of juries, no player that throws a ball game; no player that undertakes or promises to throw a ball game; no player that sits in a conference with a bunch of crooked players and gamblers where the ways and means of throwing ball games are planned and discussed and does not promptly tell his club about it, will ever play professional baseball. Of course, I don’t know that any of these men will apply for reinstatement, but if they do, the above are at least a few of the rules that will be enforced. Just keep in mind that, regardless of the verdict of juries, baseball is competent to protect itself against crooks, both inside and outside the game.

 With that statement, Landis set a standard that still applies to this day. No ball player who colludes with gamblers or promises to throw a ball game is going to find a home in baseball. And even if a jury acquits them, baseball is the final arbiter of who can and cannot play. Now one can argue that if a person is legally acquitted of a crime of conspiracy to throwing a game, he should be welcomed back. Except that Landis knew, as did others, that there were signed confessions out there that mysteriously disappeared, and they recanted confessions after they vanished. The jury never got to see those confessions, which likely would have made a difference in the outcome. Unlike someone who steadfastly says he is innocent and is proven at trial that someone else was, the evidence here was certainly conclusive that they had conspired to through the game for gamblers.

Landis refused to reinstate any of the eight even with a lot of support and statements that perhaps they had been misled, their baseball stats from the games showed they had not thrown the games, or other reasons. To this day their expulsions stand despite sympathy for Jackson and Weaver. Landis moved to crack down on any association with gambling. Two team owners who had purchased a racing horse track had to sell it. Other baseball players who associated themselves in any way with gamblers or gambled on the game were struck off and out of the game. Also playing baseball outside of the season for pay was discouraged without permission from Landis.

Babe Ruth got into hot water with Landis for not getting his permission and for a while made him ineligible to play again for the Yankees until Landis met with him. Landis was also strict with the team owners making them disclose holdings they had in minor leagues and to honor their contracts with players. He was not a fan of the farm system, but it has become the way most teams develop promising players for the major leagues. While apparently a liberal on racial matters, he upheld the unofficial ban on black ballplayers playing in professional baseball and forbade teams from playing black baseball teams (though it was done unofficially). While it is debatable how racist Landis was, there were indications many players were and would not tolerate nor accept a black ballplayer. Perhaps, and this is not an excuse for his actions, Landis feared ugly incidents in the club house that would do more damage to the sport than gambling did.

Sources

Andrews, E., & Andrews, E. (2023, August 24). What was the 1919 ‘Black Sox’ baseball scandal? HISTORY. https://www.history.com/news/black-sox-baseball-scandal-1919-world-series-chicago

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2024b, June 21). Black Sox Scandal of 1919 | Summary, trial, players, & facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Black-Sox-Scandal

Lamb, B. (2022, September 14). The Black Sox scandal. https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-black-sox-scandal/

Wikipedia contributors. (2024b, June 26). Black Sox scandal. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sox_Scandal