The 1919 World Series Fix that Tarnished America's Pastime

The Chicago White Sox were heavy favorites going into the 1919 World Series. But they were defeated by the Cincinnati Reds - and it soon became clear that the game was rigged.
From the Series: America in Color: Organized Crime bit.ly/2zmE8HI

[@wesleyhicks9414]

The scoreboard in Times Square was really amazing

[@bobanderson6656]

There was one similar to that in Richmond, VA. Updated by telegraph and adjusted by hand

[@Jacobthekid28]

The fact that this footage is in color makes it so much better

[@WitchKing-Of-Angmar]

Yes, autochrome. Not colorized either.

[@jt6759]

It's strange to note that everyone in the stands is now dead.

[@luckyowl9593]

I thought of that as well. Also thought about how people a hundred years from now might have the same thought that we're having, except about the 2019-2020 season.

[@acousticshadow4032]

I agree - very strange to note that. So, why did you do it?

[@gilgamars]

I’m not dead!

[@jacktaliasteinberg9681]

@@gilgamars so you’re at least 102 then. P.s. i know this is a joke

[@WitchKing-Of-Angmar]

@@acousticshadow4032 thank you exactly.

[@mr.blonde1709]

Houston showed the world how to cheat properly. win the big game, no players punished. like it never happened. MLB: "look! home runs!"

[@flyingchimp12]

nobody was cheating in this situation...

[@danielcorreard3746]

yes and so did the yankees of the 90s how many of them were on steroids like 7 or 8 last I heard using steroids was cheating but I guess since it's the yankees it's not considered cheating

[@tonyanthonyfowler]

1951 giants....your thoughts

[@LesterMoore]

It's been repotted in 1951 pennant playoff game, the NY Giants were stealing signs via binoculars from the scoreboard and relaying the advance knowledge to Bobby Thompson for his "shot heard 'round the world." Humanity is cursed with steam shovel full loads of dishonest people.

[@jaydentorres254]

almost everyone In that time period was doing steroids. If most people are doing it, then it’s a lot harder to justify punishing one team.

[@samlsn]

My great granddad Shano played in this series for the Sox! He was also on the team in '17 when they won it all

[@daniellinehan63]

Should have won in '20 also

[@shanetrimble9265]

Wow. Have any photos or any other materials from his career?

[@samlsn]

@@shanetrimble9265 I have half a dozen old black and white pics of him and Joe Jackson and Lefty and all the guys out on the field together and a reproduced baseball card. Pretty cool stuff. His grandson Bob Gallagher(my uncle) also made it to the majors on the 70's but didn't have the same success

[@shanetrimble9265]

@@samlsn I would love to see those photos

[@ethanweeter2732]

BTW, Reds were 96-44 that year. They were not an underdog record wise as they won 8 more games than the White Sox that regular season. They also had a deeper pitching staff, the batting title champion, and the better pitching statistics.

[@g.t.richardson6311]

Agree They were basically the underdog because the American League had won the series almost all of the decade , bill James has documented this

[@shanetrimble9265]

Story goes, the White Sox were throwing games in 1919 and could have won many more but stayed far enough ahead of the Indians.

[@jeffreychavey4161]

The oddsmakers of the day thought differently; only until Sport Sullivan and Rothstein got involved did the odds even out

[@shanetrimble9265]

@@jeffreychavey4161 Yeah I believe Rothstein. Sullivan, Nat Evans and Hal Chase got the first money down and won the most because of better odds

[@soundoflegend9854]

Astros followed suit.

[@stenbak88]

Bano didn’t even apologize like they claimed they did

[@joeshittheragman6252]

@BanoPretty sure a lot of people lost their jobs

[@flyingchimp12]

not even the same thing but ok

[@christiancharles2866]

@@joeshittheragman6252 And they deserved to lose them. Their title is tarnished.

[@15allnite]

My only issue with the ban is that it was after the trial. Same problem I have with suspensions and probations today. They were acquitted by the court….whether justly or not…yet Landis, a judge, overrules another judge with this ban. The rules of gambling in baseball had not even been established until he decided to issue the ban.

[@stevenomes9689]

yeah i mean essentially they were made example of even though the liftetime ban rule was not in place until after it happened and before that it was well known players involved with fixing games with little consequence.

[@michaelcorcoran8768]

Yeah but there's a reason courts have such a high burden of proof. Reasonable doubt burden in a criminal court is extremely high but in a civil court you just need preponderance of the evidence. I don't have a strong opinion about the particulars of this I'm just saying that it would be unusual for a disciplinary in sports to have the same burden of proof as a criminal trial. Assuming it was a criminal trial I guess it could have been some kind of civil trial and I don't know the history well enough.

[@acousticshadow4032]

Base Ball did not have to observe the court's findings. Gambling was out of control. Landis saved the game with Eight Men Out.

[@mikez3114]

Shoeless joe should be in the hall of fame. His statistics during the series tells the story.

[@reactingtoacting]

That's debatable. Most available evidence indicates he was part of the fix.

[@mikez3114]

You know anyone else who had stats like his during that World Series? No. He was the best player on the field during every game. That is not debatable.

[@NankerPhelge65]

Pete Rose too

[@TC-dw6wg]

Supposedly he admitted to taking money, but never admitted to throwing the games.

[@g.t.richardson6311]

The triple by the pitcher, in the left field corner??? Purposely misplayed. 99.9% of balls in baseball history into the left field corner will be doubles. It doesn’t matter if your left fielder is shoeless Joe Jackson., Barry Bonds, Willie Stargell, or 40 who won the gold glove or bad leftfielders like Greg, Luzinski or Lonnie Smith. He was part of the fix

[@osvie0167]

The first World Series was best of nine. I believe the Pirates' Deacon Phillippe is the only pitcher to win 3 games for a losing side.

[@ricktaylor749]

Amazing footage

[@bingothanjon]

Arnold “the Brain” Rothstein was behind this. Players were made offers they couldn’t refuse.

[@RobDale]

Actually the players approached the gamblers.

[@dontalee8140]

Facts thou A.R rip bro

[@williamgregory1848]

The influence of gamblers on baseball had been a problem for several years. Baseball had for some time been living uneasily in the knowledge that bribes were being offered by gamblers, and that some players were accepting them. The players knew it was going on, and the owners knew it was going on. But more important, the players knew that the owners knew-and they knew the owners were doing nothing about it for fear of a scandal that might damage organized baseball. Under such conditions it quite obviously did not pay to be honest.

[@g.t.richardson6311]

There were about 15/20 other players banned in addition to the 8 during this era. And 3/4 recently retired players banned as well, or persona non grata. This does not include dozens who had some knowledge of things going on Well documented Well known players were accused of knowledge of thrown games or even participating in one game thrown… Cobb, Speaker, Frisch, Kelly, Merkle, Dutch Leonard, Smokey joe wood, Ross young’s,, acquitted Lots of bs going on

[@viralocity_oficial]

It’s seriously such a shame that MLB isn’t doing enough with the 2017 Asterixs... the commissioner has an open window now that the virus 🦠 has given him more time, to correct and regain order an dignity to the game. Take away the trophy 🏆.. regardless, nobody recognizes them as champs.

[@thomasmoncrief883]

The reason mlb didn't was because the Yankees and Red Sox cheated that year too. Beltran said the Yankees have been cheating for years . Most of the Yankees were juiced during their ws run . So does baseball take their ws away . 2019 boston cheated . do they take their WS away . MLB knows their are a lot of cheaters . That is why MLB did not take Astros WS away .

[@justinyerkes7675]

I do. They still won and have proven they are good and all teams cheated at some point

[@alexmacdiarmid4704]

@@justinyerkes7675 i think as time goes on more and more people give the hate up especially with new details coming in about the red sox cheating and about altuve being proven to have not done anything

[@donluego9448]

​@@justinyerkes7675,,They didn't cheat the way the Astros did. The Astros were sure good at it.

[@itsenzo3000]

Arnold me boy, what say you about another game? Nucky's going to be there!

[@danielr4640]

1919. Spanish Flu was around then but still the best days in baseball from the past to the present

[@tp10488]

I believe they have one of those players wrong. The guy in the middle row, third from the left is not one of the accused. Maybe they've mistaken him for Swede Risberg, who is center left in the top row, next to Fred McMullin. i think the player they have circled is reserve catcher Byrd Lynn. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[@shanetrimble9265]

I'm not sure who it is. It isn't one of the accused or Byrd Lynn. Lynn is front row all the way to the right.

[@jewswhoswingssnakes923]

I wonder how the Astros would have done in 1919?

[@flyingchimp12]

considering every team is way better now than back then they all would've done good.

[@Zenigundam]

They wouldn't have been allowed to use Brantley or Gurriel.

[@christiancharles2866]

@@Zenigundam Or Altuve

[@checkadime8779]

@@Zenigundam or bregman

[@riseofthebon3951]

I believe this was the second of four 9 game series… 1st World Series (1903) was also a 9 game where Cy Young and the Boston Americans beat Honus Wagner and the Pittsburgh Pirates 5 games to 3.

[@austint19]

The nicknames back then were so cool. If you were named “First Name “The ______”Last Name”, you were dope.

[@greysongaming0845]

happy felsch

[@starfighter1043]

Big bird was one of my all time favorites!

[@starfighter1043]

Oh and this guy named Shotime! 🙄

[@ascetic3312]

"If you build it, he will come."

[@jamesbrown6020]

They!!!!! Lol

[@ascetic3312]

@@jamesbrown6020 No. It's "he." Remember they were really talking about his father, not everyone else.

[@jamesbrown6020]

Oh I'm from an alternative time line where it was they, ya Mandela effect and all that haha

[@Playamade1028]

Great video

[@justinperez4117]

What’s worse? Throwing a World Series game for money? Or cheat to win the World Series?

[@Goldie_Hawn_Solo]

Throwing by far. Not really a hard one to figure out.

[@SheckleRFan715]

Im surprised that there was a baseball game and audience during that pandemic time

[@emil246]

@@adolfom9042 really?

[@derelict8715]

Dwight Dunn Hill The flu pandemic had subsided by then.

[@robertlackage7492]

@@derelict8715 Please, 17-50 million deaths worldwide, 2 billion world population. We evolved into sheep.

[@dingersonlyy7879]

@@adolfom9042 it was the flu pandemic too. killed 20 mil

[@usssanjacinto1]

@@derelict8715 No it didn't, it ended in 1920

[@bluehorseshoe444]

98 years later a team from Texas would commit a greater sin against the game.

[@OfficalMrBlue]

....and not 1 player got a single suspension/ban.

[@flyingchimp12]

every team "bends" the rules in one way or another.

[@josecarranza7555]

No, no. Losing on purpose is a different thing and much worse than cheating to win.

[@ryanpmcp]

As much as I wish they didn’t do it, I completely disagree that it’s worse than this

[@Mr1stcat]

Cheating is cheating no matter the circumstances im glad the Astros will forever be infamous just like the black sox

[@MrCuba]

The lifetime band is justified

[@glib683]

Shoeless Joe didn't do anything

[@TheJETSFANSINCE96]

Not for the players that didn’t participate though

[@christiancharles2866]

@@glib683 He was dealt a bad hand but the others were dirty.

[@daniellinehan63]

Gambling was going on since 1869

[@NevadaLamb]

Shoeless Joe was innocent. He even played the following season and was found innocent, but the commissioner wanted to send a strong message and banned all eight.

[@thewiseowl3672]

...but today the players are given immunity for cheating. How corrupt we’ve become as a society.

[@johnfroelich8554]

And now we have Alex Rodriguez and Roger Clemens

[@shah_dhwany]

I came here after Astros cheating scam

[@blinksstayfresh2524]

Smithsonian is the best when it comes to vintage footage

[@alvizothegreat8096]

1903 world series was a best of 9

[@DonutSwordsman]

this footage was found buried in ice funfact, also smh for this video not including it

[@robertweingartner2055]

Is this a new documentary on the 1919 World Series?

[@BrassLock]

The footage shows a great similarity to the Black and White film taken by British Pathe, even including the aerial shots. The voice-over and colourisation seem to have been done a little later. Additional clips of the jury and adjudicator's decision were not shown in the Pathe film.

[@villagranvicent]

The ending was a little abrupt

[@jerryhamer]

This is a beautiful video.... Go Reds

[@acousticshadow4032]

First crowd shot has everyone fanning the heat, but game 1 was Octoboer 1st and both teams are wearing longsleeve undershirts...ahem.

[@shanetrimble9265]

The game they show on the scoreboard at Times Square is game 4.

[@Alexjacinto831]

They never stopped rigging

[@bobwhite2]

Oh, some things are still fixed. Example the 2016 WS.

[@chadwilliams9141]

Honestly this to me wasn't even a scandal these guys were doing it for money they weren't getting paid when you have to cheat to prove you deserve more than you are getting that is out of the realms of baseball its America intuition.

[@RobDale]

They were some of the best paid players in all of baseball. That’s not why they did this.

[@Tanamarito]

@@RobDale The players wanted more money, just like in the present day, but to say they were underpaid is wrong. Surprisingly, Cincinnati players got paid much lower salaries. A look at the salaries of those days will settle this issue,

[@Tanamarito]

@@inghamcountysheriff9284 My comment was in reference to Mr. Dale's comment. Sorry.

[@RobDale]

@@Tanamarito “best paid” is not the same as “underpaid” :)

[@speedraser2605]

they put them in that snitchuation

[@bobwhite2]

A crumb or corruption next to todays mountains.

[@six-manfilms6524]

some series errors are made in this piece, but cool to see the colorized film

[@herbpetrillo163]

Is this actual footage?

[@shanetrimble9265]

Several

[@Playswithsquirrels311]

Guys the first World Series was best of 9

[@aussieraver7182]

If it happened before, it'll happen again. 100% professional sports is fixed. They're all part of one big business.

[@bronxtours4193]

5k in 1919 is only 83k now .. maybe Arnold Roth . Had gangsters talk to them

[@bobbyjohnson2932]

Plane: *Crashes* Smithsonian Channel: **Its brighter here**

[@jameswest7945]

All games even today are fixed

[@bobwhite2]

Plenty of fixes today.

[@acousticshadow4032]

At the Veterinary Clinic?

[@loudpackmen024]

Channel 5 talked out this

[@benwillard6751]

8 Men Out was a decent movie. But I hate when the actors have zero athleticism. The guys who played the pitchers were horrible at trying to look like they played. Some of them looked like they've never even run!!!!

[@camnewton-sd5ht]

why these dudes smiling...lol why i hate betting!!

[@cev12]

Was the $5,000 worth it back then? Seems like they would've been better off to continue playing and making a salary?

[@Dre_]

considering the average yearly income was around $3k at that time, I would say it was worth it. Back then those pro athletes weren’t playing for much hence why it was so easy for big money to manipulate it.

[@jameswalton3930]

​@@Dre_plus they could and would blackball you, and only the elite of the elites got multi year contracts your job was at jeopardy constantly. "A bird in the hand is better than two in the brush".

[@coachleif]

the 5k represented almost double their salary, and collectively the 8 had been offered 100k by gamblers when they initially accepted. Game fixing was also extremely common at the time, so the sentiment among the players was this was low risk, high reward. It would be a way to bring in 2-3 seasons worth of money for a single weeks work, and no one had ever really gotten in trouble for it before.

[@cev12]

@@coachleif hmm, glad they got their comeuppance. Thanks.

[@shadowcappi7475]

$5000 is a lot of money back then

[@rolandoflores4829]

gave up five runs in the 4th inning the pitcher had a triple. should have know the fix was in when that happened lol

[@jameswalton3930]

Not necessarily, it happens somewhere in the majors all season, it called "a bad inning. Like the football movie tile "Any given Sunday" any major leagues can beat another. The Reds didn't get to WS by just showing up. Could have been one of those odd innings, though I personally myself also doubt it; but, that's after the facts that we know what happened. otherwise, just another overlooked "bad inning" in the course of a ballgame. This happen to happen in the glare of a big game.

[@shanetrimble9265]

That triple was probably legitimate

[@flame-sky7148]

Didn’t Shoeless almost hit .400 in the series. I guess his sox were “black”

[@acousticshadow4032]

.375 to be exact. Accordingly, he was promised $20K, but only received $5K - so he swung away.

[@bronxtours4193]

Who’s the guy that was sick he was a player on the white socks ,and he had to be out for the season or something like that . They said if he wasn’t sick that this never would of happened

[@Tanamarito]

Urban Faber,

[@marys5876]

Mahoney doesn’t want Revenge for this lie

[@glib683]

This is bad but in Taiwan the league almost folded multiple times after MULTIPLE game-fixing scandals in a decade

[@daniellinehan63]

Really

[@G3Etchart-cp3rk]

No intel

[@G3Etchart-cp3rk]

It’s by choice

[@mariocisneros911]

Colorized makes it more realistic and accepting to a modern audience who say none or few black and white FILMS , not video .

[@WitchKing-Of-Angmar]

Your be happy to know that this isn't colorized. As I told the other lad, this is autochrome.

[@vinayakpujar6998]

Super

[@G3Etchart-cp3rk]

Business men wear black Sox white color black Sox

[@anthonystavola1192]

i CAN BE LONG ISLAND ICE-T OR TONI SMITHSONIAN AND THE TOMMY IOMIAN MODES

[@marys5876]

Follow Mindy from Mork

[@G3Etchart-cp3rk]

Do like I told you stay away from me

[@e-rab_malibu34]

Let's bring Back the best of nine series

[@anonymouslux]

I don’t even watch baseball, why am I here

[@coachleif]

This story isn't about baseball, it's about human nature

[@hesavedawretchlikeme6902]

If we knew the scandals that have happened since then, that we know virtually nothing about in sports alone, we would be shocked.

[@tophat2002]

Shoelace joe Jackson lifetime ban??

[@thebandit0256]

The Cubbies wouldn't take the money the Mob would know that but their little brother will always take the money

[@daniellinehan63]

Many say '18 Series was fixed by both Cubs and Red Sox

[@Tanamarito]

The Cubs are nothing.

[@trevor6343]

Shoeless Joe Jackson didn’t deserve that ban

[@Goldie_Hawn_Solo]

Sure.

[@hhill5480]

Read his grand jury testimony he 100% admitted to it

[@coachleif]

Then he has another where he goes fully against it, and we know as a society there is strategy involved in court in order to get a favorable outcome. I am not saying I disagree, but I am saying you can't use that reason as definitive given the context and what we know, and the fact he directly contradicted that in court (Even if no one believed it) the point stands, if he can lie in court one time for a favorable outcome, he could have lied in court twice for a favorable outcome.

[@runawayuniverse]

Buck Weaver was innocent.

[@olivercrangle7160]

The 2020 elections will be looked upon the same way.

[@normanalvarez5751]

Most definitely

[@chrisj6773]

Not as bad as the Astros cheating scandal.

[@ryanpmcp]

There are a couple of comments that claim otherwise

[@jonathanrizo7152]

@Haro19 OG nope

[@christiancharles2866]

@Haro19 OG didnt happen

[@christiancharles2866]

Cheating scandal was bad but fixing is worse.

[@kennethcurtis1856]

Is that a minor league team?

[@wesleysimon955]

But the queen of England out lasted them all .lol

[@edgar-kk6qb]

🫰

[@JM-lo4hn]

Why did the players look old rusty n dusty back then? All pale asf too!

[@shanetrimble9265]

Hard times. Hard men. People are soft now

[@stenbak88]

Not all of them were in on it who they said were involved including shoeless, joes wife took care of everything minus ball playing. There was no evidence joe was involved

[@RobDale]

Joe admitted taking the money. That’s ample evidence.

[@coachleif]

Not really. Unless you know why he thought he was accepting that money, we don't really know the full story. I am not defending Joe, or saying he wasn't fully involved either way, I don't know, but the fact of being given money alone isn't proof he was in on a fix. You could make the argument he's aware of what his teammates were doing, and figured he could take the money, and still play his best baseball, effectively conning the gamblers out of their money. What you can say though is that Joe knew about the fix and he allowed it to happen without taking a stand against it, regardless of his stance on it. Maybe that alone warrants the punishment, but even though the Sox are Black and White, there is still grey area regarding the motivations of the individuals, and you can't accurately claim they all saw the situation the same, especially as it happened game by game and the conditions changed.

[@shanetrimble9265]

​@@coachleifgood point

[@americanoutdoorsman_1133]

Shoeless Joe Jackson didn’t do anything!! “Say it ain’t so Joe”!!!!

[@Tanamarito]

He willingly admitted he the 5ks that a teammate left under his pillow,

[@shanetrimble9265]

​@@Tanamaritono no. That was Cicotte and it was probably not simply placed under a pillow

[@1ordmag]

No masks🧐😑

[@ControllingAnxiety]

I enjoyed the video but could do without the braided beard, yuck!

[@flyingchimp12]

""but the astros" they are not even the same situation... one is intentionally trying to lose while the other was trying to win. Stop comparing them.

[@christiancharles2866]

They both destroyed the integrity of the game

[@Mr1stcat]

Cheating is cheating im glad that stain of being cheaters will follow the Astros forever just like the black sox