375 with twelve hits in the series, and committed no errors in the field. He told Gandil, “Somebody is getting a little jazz, everybody is crossed.” Despite the fact that Jackson had initially agreed to be part of the fix, he did not personally throw any of the games. He felt that the players were being double-crossed by the gamblers, and refused to take the envelope. After the fourth game, Jackson received an envelope with $5000. He agreed to take the money, once he was convinced that all his teammates were on board. When he was approached by Gandil-and according to later testimony-Jackson was promised $20,000 to participate. And this brings us back to Shoeless Joe Jackson. Gandil recruited at least seven teammates to join him in the fix. Comiskey had even posted signs in his stadium that said, “No Betting In This Ball Park.” And Chicago being a hotbed of organized crime, there were certainly plenty of hustlers skirting around the White Sox organization. Gambling had been part of major league baseball since its beginnings in the 1860s. Gandil, who was 33 years old and ready to retire, saw this as a way to get out of the game with some big money. It guaranteed that the White Sox would lose to the Reds. The set-up was that each player would receive $10,000 for giving less than their best over the first three games. Sullivan was connected with several gangsters in Chicago. It was Gandil who reportedly approached a gambler named Joe Sullivan about the idea of fixing the Series. Gandil's were less polished, and underpaid. Collins' guys were more educated and sophisticated and had negotiated higher salaries for themselves. The team was divided into two opposing factions-one led by second baseman Eddie Collins, the other by first baseman Chick Gandil. So too did the dissension in the ranks of the White Sox. And their bitterness towards him set the stage for what happened in the World Series.
But his abrasive personality rubbed his players the wrong way. For all that, Comiskey wasn't much worse than any other general manager. Further, there was no union to protect players' interests. Players had what was called a “reserve clause” in their contracts that prevented them from changing teams without the permission of the owners.
#Roger daltrey say it ain t so joe free#
Of course, baseball in 1919 was nothing like it is today, with free agents and million dollar contracts.
When Comiskey decided to save money by reducing the number of times uniforms were laundered each week, his team got the nickname “Black Sox.” But as a manager, he underpaid his players and cut corners in every aspect of running the franchise. A former ball player himself, Comiskey was credited with being the first person to train players to change their field positions according to a batter's hitting habits. But they were also saddled with a tyrannical and miserly general manager named Charles Comiskey. In 1915, he was dealt to the Chicago White Sox.Īs depicted in the acclaimed film Eight Men Out, the White Sox were one of the best teams in baseball. 408, the highest average ever for a rookie. Later that year, Jackson started playing in the majors, first with the Philadelphia Athletics, then with the Cleveland Naps. The story goes that after he hit a triple and pulled into third base in his bare feet, someone in the stands yelled, “You shoeless son-of-a-gun!” Though that was the only time Jackson ever played a game without shoes, the nickname stuck. During a double-header, he was wearing a new pair of spiked shoes that wore painful blisters on his heels. In 1908, Joe started playing semi-pro ball with the Greenville Spinners. And he could hit anything that was thrown at him, and hit it far. He could make spectacular diving catches in the field. His natural gifts for the game were such that by the time he was thirteen, he was playing on a local team alongside men twice his age. Born in 1888 to a poor South Carolina family, Joseph Jefferson Jackson fell in love with baseball at a young age.
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