The Black Sox: Eight Men Who Threw the World Series

In the autumn of 1919, eight members of the Chicago White Sox conspired with gamblers to intentionally lose the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. The scheme was organized by gamblers connected to the New York underworld. Most of the players were paid between $5,000 and $35,000 each — a fraction of what the gamblers made — while Buck Weaver received nothing. The "Eight Men Out," as they became known, included star outfielder Shoeless Joe Jackson, whose .375 batting average in the series undermined the prosecution's case that he had played to lose. All eight were acquitted in a criminal trial in 1921 after key evidence mysteriously disappeared. But Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis banned them all from baseball for life — a ban that stood for more than a century, until MLB ruled in May 2025 that permanent bans end at death, restoring eligibility to all eight, including Jackson, whose career statistics would make him a first-ballot Hall of Famer by any modern measure. The scandal introduced the concept of a "fixed" sporting event into popular consciousness and led to the creation of baseball's commissioner system. Old Comiskey Park, where the 1919 White Sox played their home games, was demolished in 1991. The site is now a parking lot at 35th and Shields, across the street from the current Rate Field.