Sports Scandals

by Laura Finley; Jeffrey J. Fountain Peter Finley

  A sportswriter named John Halderman, who suspected something was wrong with the Grays, wrote articles that implied the directors of the team knew something. He pressured the players individually until outfielder George Hall unknowingly gave him enough information that he could accuse Grays' pitcher Jim Devlin and outfielder George Hall of crooked play. Halderman, who was also the nephew of the club president, forced the team directors to investigate, threatening that he would ''take the matter into his own hands.''2

  During an interview, Hall was made to believe that Devlin had confessed. Hall came clean about taking money to throw games, and he also pointed a finger at Devlin and reserve player Al Nichols. Once Devlin learned that Hall had confessed, he also admitted to the scheme and placed the blame on Nichols.

  According to Devlin and Hall, it was Nichols who knew a gambler named James McCloud, who paid the three players to throw a few games. The players, however, maintained that none of the games they lost on the 0-7 road trip were thrown. Because the three players had communicated with McCloud through telegraph, the team directors requested that all the players on the Grays give permission to examine their Western Union records. All the players complied with the request except for the shortstop, Bill Craver. His noncompliance forced the directors to banish him from the team even though there was no evidence he threw games.

  The review of telegraphed messages proved that Devlin, Nichols, and Hall were involved in the game-fixing scheme. On October 30, 1877, the Louisville Grays officially expelled the three players for selling games and dismissed Craver for suspicion of misconduct. The league ratifled the expulsions during its annual meeting in December.

  In the end, the scandal actually brought down two franchises. The St. Louis Browns had to withdraw from the 1878 season because it had signed both Devlin and Hall for the following season. Once the league banned the players, the hopes of the financially troubled team were crushed, and it folded. The Louisville Grays were unable to attract enough talented players to the scandalridden team, and the owners also had to withdraw from the 1878 season.

  Devlin and Craver both sought reinstatement and were denied. Each, ironically, became a police officer. Hall also tried to get back into the game and was denied doing so as the fledgling league took a firm stand in handling its first-ever case of crooked players. Clearly, the significance of this case is that it was the first (although unfortunately not the last) to clearly identify the major problem of athletes throwing games. It highlighted the difficulty in clearly discerning where cheating has occurred, and it decimated two teams in the process.

  WORLD SERIES FOR SALE! THE 1919 CHICAGO BLACK SOX

  In 1917 the Chicago White Sox put together an impressive season and easily dominated the competition, winning one hundred games and clinching the pennant race by nine games. The team concluded that season by winning its second championship (the first was in 1906), defeating the New York Giants 4-2 in the best-of-seven series. Unfortunately, the following year was plagued with problems both on and off the field. Battling injuries, the team won only fifty-seven games. The off-the-field problems were related to World War I, and the drop in attendance and revenue as the result of playing a shortened season.

  The 1919 season started amid uncertainty, and owners reduced salaries. Despite the fears of the owners, fans flocked to baseball games looking for happier times after the war. Baseball saw the overall attendance more than double from 3 million in 1918 to over 6.5 million in 1919.

  The White Sox bounced back from their poor 1918 season and went 88-52, taking the American League Pennant race by three-and-a-half games over the Cleveland Indians. The Chicago White Sox faced the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series, which had been extended to a best-of-nine-games series so the owners could capitalize on the increased popularity of the sport that year. The 1919 World Series would go down in history as one of the biggest sports scandals of all time. Some of the accounts have been questioned throughout the years, with regard to specific details of the scandal, as the people involved gave different versions of the story years after the fact. The definitive truth may never be known as to who was involved and to what extent. Nonetheless, by the time it was over, eight players were banned for life from Major League Baseball. The scandal has remained a part of popular culture due to films like Eight Men Out and Field of Dreams.

  Most accounts portray the owner of the Chicago White Sox, Charles Comiskey, as a ''tightwad and a tyrant,'' and his tightfistedness as one of the main reasons why players were underpaid and thus more willing to fix the World Series.3 One example of Comiskey's cheap and abusive tactics of his players revolved around pitcher Eddie Cicotte being benched so he couldn't win his thirtieth game and receive a $10,000 bonus in 1917 (for dramatic effect, this was changed to 1919 in the movie Eight Men Out). While this is a commonly cited story told to illustrate the motives of the players, evidence to the contrary exists regarding Comiskey's tightfistedness and the story of Cicotte's bonus.

  The players involved, each of whom would be banned for life, were pitcher Eddie Cicotte, centerfielder Oscar ''Happy'' Felsch, first baseman Arnold ''Chick'' Gandil, leftfielder Joe ''Shoeless Joe'' Jackson, infielder Fred McMullin, shortstop Charles ''Swede'' Risberg, third baseman George ''Buck'' Weaver, and pitcher Claude ''Lefty'' Williams.

  Although versions vary, the most popular telling of the 1919 World Series scandal centers around first baseman Arnold ''Chick'' Gandil, generally considered the instigator of the fix and the ringleader of the now infamous Black Sox. Accounts described two separate plans to fix the World Series. The first involved professional gambler Joseph ''Sport'' Sullivan's meeting with Gandil, at which Gandil demanded $80,000 up front to get other players to help throw the Series. Gandil then approached star pitcher Eddie Cicotte, who joined the fix for $10,000 up front. Once Cicotte was on board, Gandil set forth to recruit more players, and, on September 21, 1919, a meeting took place in Gandil's hotel room that involved all eight players associated with the scandal. The second plan to fix the World Series involved gamblers Bill Burns and Bill Maharg, who approached Cicotte with their proposal to pay the players to lose.

  Both plans lead back to well-known gambler Arnold Rothstein. Each plan was presented to him because he had the means to bankroll the payments to the players. Rothstein backed the plan by Sullivan and gave him $40,000 up front for the players. He turned down the plan by Burns and Maharg. Rothstein reportedly placed over $270,000 in bets on the Reds once the scheme was in motion. Of the $40,000 Sullivan was supposed to give to the players, he only gave them $10,000, which lead to frustration and anger among the players. However, the players had another place to turn because Abe Attell, an associate of Rothstein, had told Burns and Maharg that Rothstein would back their plan. Attell raised his own money to fix the Series, and the day before the first game, he offered to pay the players $20,000 after each loss.

  Cicotte was the starting pitcher for the White Sox in the Series opener against the Cincinnati Reds. He opened the game by hitting the leadoff batter, which was supposedly a sign indicating that the fix was on. His pitching did not improve and he was pulled by the fourth inning, down 6-1. The Reds easily won the game 9-1. Williams started Game 2 for the White Sox, and during the fourth inning, although he was known for his control, he walked three batters and then gave up a triple to Larry Kopf. The Reds won the game 4-2. After Game 2, Burns delivered $10,000 to Gandil and inquired about Game 3, which Gandil confirmed the team would also intentionally lose.

  However, because they had only received a small portion of the money promised, the players changed their minds and won the home game 3-0. Gandil drove in two of the three White Sox runs. Before Game 4, Gandil demanded $20,000 from Sullivan, threatening to call off the fix. Sullivan produced the $20,000 and the Chicago crowd saw the Sox lose again, 2-0, with Cicotte committing two errors and cutting off a throw home from Shoeless Joe Jackson. Cincinnati had a commanding 3-1 lead in the Series. It is reported that Gandil gave Risberg, Felsch, Williams, and
Jackson each $5,000 after Game 4 and that Weaver did not receive any money. Game 5 was scoreless until the sixth inning, when both Risberg and Felsch committed errors, allowing the Reds to score four runs. Gandil, Risberg, Felsch, Williams, and Jackson were a combined 0-15 at the plate in the game, while Weaver went 2-4. After the 5-0 loss in Game 5, and the Reds ahead 4-1 in the Series, the players became upset because their $20,000 for losing the game was not paid. The players did not throw Games 6 and 7 and the White Sox won both. Rothstein was unhappy and he told Sullivan to make sure the Reds won Game 8. Sullivan contacted a Chicago ''thug,'' who paid a visit to Williams, who was slated to be the Game 8 starting pitcher. Williams was told, ''Don't make it past the first,'' and his family was threatened if he failed to throw the game.4 In Game 8, Williams did not last fifteen pitches, giving up four hits and four runs in the first inning before being pulled. The Reds went on to win the game 10-5 and the Series 5-3.

  Rumors of a possible fix continued through early 1920. Comiskey publicly supported his players and offered $20,000 to anyone with information that proved him wrong. Hugh Fullerton, a Chicago sportswriter, wrote a powerful article demanding that the owners deal with the gambling problem, and it was published during the baseball winter meetings. However, the 1919 fix was not exposed until a grand jury was convened to look at another possible fix involving a Cubs-Phillies game on August 31, 1920.5 New York Giants pitcher Rube Benton testifled in that case that he had seen a telegram the previous September, sent to a teammate, claiming the White Sox would lose the 1919 Series. He further testifled that he learned later that Gandil, Felsch, Williams, and Cicotte were in on the fix. Benton even admitted that he bet on the Series, using the information. He won the bets and was never disciplined by the league.

  A few days later, Maharg provided a reporter with details of the scandal for an article. Cicotte was called to testify and he admitted the Series was fixed.

  Shoeless Joe Jackson admitted he was promised $20,000 and actually received $5,000, but he claimed he did not do anything to throw the games. As Jackson left the courthouse, the famous ''Say it ain't so, Joe!'' line was supposedly uttered by a young boy. A number of sportswriters and historians have claimed that those words were never actually spoken-that it is merely a myth that has grown out of the scandal and has gone relatively unquestioned. Even Jackson adamantly denied that the encounter ever took place.

  The eight players went on trial in September 1920, ending any chance Chicago had of repeating a World Series berth in 1920. That season also saw the owners appoint Federal Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis as Major League Baseball's commissioner. The sworn confessions of Cicotte, Jackson, and Williams strangely disappeared before the trial and the prosecution was not allowed to inform the jury that they ever existed. After only two hours of deliberation, the players were acquitted. Despite the victory inside the courthouse, the newly appointed commissioner banned the eight players for life. To this day, and despite many attempts for reinstatement, especially for Buck Weaver and Shoeless Joe Jackson, none of the eight Black Sox was ever reinstated.

  GAMBLING AND THE EARLY YEARS OF THE NFL

  Gambling scandals have touched every major sport in America including professional football during its early years. In 1946 the Chicago Bears were set to play the New York Giants in the championship game, and the point spread favored the Bears to win by ten points. Then heavy betting reduced the spread to seven-and-a-half points, as word spread about a possible fix. Prior to kick-off, the spread ballooned to thirteen points, as word leaked out that two Giants players would be held out of the game as an investigation began. The police investigation concluded with an interrogation of New York Giants starting quarterback Frank Filchock and fullback Merle Hapes.6 Alvin Paris, a novelty store owner who was under police surveillance, had offered $2,500 to Filchock and Hapes to fix the game. The police learned about the scheme because they had Paris's phone tapped. Both Filchock and Hapes turned down the bribe to fix the championship game; however, they did not inform anyone in the front office or with the league about the offer. Once the investigation became public, the two players faced the wrath of the commissioner. NFL commissioner Bert Bell suspended Filchock and Hapes indefinitely, as the rules of the league required. This forced the issue regarding giving the commissioner more power, and in 1947 the owners gave him the power to suspend ''anyone connected to the league for life if they were involved in crooked operations.''7

  Filchock and Hapes were considered guilty of actions detrimental to the NFL for failing to report the bribe offered by Paris. While this was not a major scandal, it heightened the awareness of possible outside influences by the gambling community. The road was paved for the more publicized gambling problem that occurred in 1963. In 1962 Commissioner Pete Rozelle was investigating ''unusual activity'' of several football teams including the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions. Packer halfback Paul Hornung, a Heisman Trophy winner and first-round draft pick, was under investigation, along with Detroit Lions defensive lineman Alex Karras. On April 17, 1963, Commissioner Rozelle announced that ''there was clear evidence some NFL players knowingly carried on undesirable associations, which, in some instances, led to their betting on their team,''8 and that both Hornung and Karras were suspended indefinitely for wagering on NFL games. Five other Detroit players were fined $2,000 each for wagering on the 1962 championship game.

  The punishment proved to be less than severe, however. Only eleven months after suspending Hornung and Karras, Rozelle reinstated both of them.

  Rozelle was named ''Sportsman of the Year'' by Sports Illustrated, the first time an executive was given the honor.

  WIDESPREAD ''GAME FIXING''-1951 COLLEGE BASKETBALL

  In spring 1950 City College of New York (CCNY) had the best college basketball team in the country. During this time in college basketball history the city of New York was host to some of the best teams in the country, including Fordham, Long Island University, Manhattan College, New York University, and St. Johns. CCNY topped them all. With its starting lineup of hometown players, CCNY was just as popular as the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers, and helped get 18,000 people into Madison Square Garden to watch doubleheader basketball games. CCNY became the only college basketball team ever to win both the NCAA championship and the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in the same year, at a time when the NIT was considered the more prestigious tournament. Unfortunately, a year later the team would be at the forefront of one of the largest point-shaving scandals in history, forever tarnishing the 1949-50 team's spot in history On January 18, 1951, sports editor Max Kase of the New York Journal American reported the first of many stories about point shaving in college basketball during the late 1940s and early 1950s, thanks to a tip from district attorney Frank Hogan. Hogan arrested two former basketball players from Manhattan College and three bookmakers. They were all charged with bribery and conspiracy. The arrested former players were Manhattan College's Henry Poppe, the school's career-scoring leader, and Jack Byrnes. In the 1949-50 season, each player had received over $5,000 to shave points in basketball games against Siena, Santa Clara, Bradley, St. Francis College, Brooklyn College, and New York University.

  The scandal began on January 11, 1951, when Poppe approached Junius Kellogg, the first black player in Manhattan College history, offering him $1,000 to shave points. Kellogg informed his coach of the offer. The coach, in turn, informed the president of the college. Subsequently, the police were informed. The police had Kellogg accept the offer to fix the January 16 game against DePaul. Poppe informed Kellogg courtside before the game that the team could win the game, but not by more than ten points. After the game, Poppe was arrested and implicated Byrnes in the scheme. Byrnes was arrested a few hours later.

  District Attorney Hogan continued his pursuit of point shavers. One month after the Manhattan College scandal, the other shoe dropped on CCNY.9 On February 18, three CCNY players were arrested; they admitted throwing three games during the 1950-51 season, for which ea
ch player received a few thousand dollars. Within days of the arrests of these CCNY players, sixteenth-ranked Long Island University (LIU) saw three players arrested and admit to receiving $18,500 to fix seven games. Among them was Sherman White, who had been named Player of the Year by Sporting News only one day prior, and was merely seventy-seven points shy of the all-time collegiate scoring record.

  Newspapers then carried stories of other accounts of players involved in point shaving, including more CCNY players. At first, most basketball fans in the country concluded that the point shaving was confined to the New York area and the sleazy underworld of the big city. That belief was shattered when players from the University of Toledo and the University of Kentucky were implicated as well. ''They couldn't reach my boys with a ten-foot pole,'' Kentucky's legendary coach Adolph Rupp said. Unfortunately, he was wrong, and Kentucky's basketball program was suspended for the 1952-53 season.10 In total, thirty-two basketball players from seven schools (CCNY, LIU, Bradley, NYU, Kentucky, Manhattan, and Toledo) were named in the point-shaving scandal of 1951. Most players received suspended sentences, with a few serving several months in jail. Eight players were either acquitted or had the charges dropped. The harshest punishments were reserved for the gamblers who enticed the players. Nine men classifled as fixers or gamblers behind the pointshaving schemes were also arrested. Salvatore Sollazzo received the longest sentence-eight to sixteen years in state prison.

  GAME FIXING CONTINUED-1961 COLLEGE BASKETBALL

  If fixing basketball games could be considered an art form, Jacob (Jack) Molinas would be Pablo Picasso. Instead, it is a crime and his work to master the craft would land him in prison. Both an outstanding player and a career gambler, Molinas was as intrigued with the challenges of shaving points and not getting caught as he was with breaking down the opposition's defense and scoring at will. And while many point shavers want to win the game, albeit by a closer-than-expected margin, Molinas would lose a game outright as long as he felt the financial score was sufficient.