1919 World Series: The 1919 Black Sox Scandal

The 1919 World Series matched the Chicago White Sox against the Cincinnati Reds. Although most World Series have been of the best-of-seven format, the 1919 World Series was a best-of-nine series . Baseball decided to try the best-of-nine format partly to increase popularity of the sport and partly to generate more revenue. The series is often associated with the Black Sox Scandal, when several members of the Chicago team conspired with gamblers to intentionally lose the World Series games. The 1919 World Series was the last World Series to take place without a Commissioner of Baseball in place. In 1920, the various franchise owners installed Kenesaw Mountain Landis as the first "Commissioner of Baseball." In August 1921, eight players from the White Sox were banned from organized baseball for fixing the series. This caused many forms of controversy a lot of people had money riding on this game on …show more content…
According to Eliot Asinof account of the events, Eight Men Out, Cicotte was out for the season's final two weeks after reaching his 29th win presumably to deny him the bonus, but the truth may be more complex. Cicotte won his 29th game on September 19, had an ineffective start on September 24 and was pulled after a few innings in a tuneup on the season's final day, September 28. Although rumors were swirling among the gamblers (according to Tom Meany in his chapter on the 1919 Reds in "Baseball's Greatest Teams," "Cincinnati money was pouring in" even though the White Sox were regarded as the overwhelming favorite) and some of the press, most fans and observers were taking the Series at face value. On October 2, the day of Game 2, the Philadelphia Bulletin published a poem which would quickly prove to be