European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 07, 1964, Darmstadt, Hesse                                It i Hack \ra8bau top Eddo och a Oval Chick Gandil  Londt by Frank x. Wamsley staff Wal Ltd the goad ship baseball lists to port us ancient Hull is leaking ii trembles when the wild winds snort. Its most and spars Are  owners gather weak and wan and gaze upon the weather they la slap a coat of Whitewash on and Hope it holds together. George Pharr Chicago Herald and examiner oct. 19, 1920 fixing the world series Wouldhave to be put in the same cons with robbing orphans or defiling churches. So much a part of american tradition and heritage is baseball that the very thought Borders almost on the scroll pious. It s a very special event sacred to millions of sports fans the nation Over. On the other hand this very fact could make such a fix fantastically Reward  temptation proved too much for one Joseph sport Sullivan when the up photos possibility was broached to him one fall Day in u19. By Trade a Bookie and Gambler he was still a bit horrified by the implications when the Chicago first baseman Chick Gandil whom head met in a Pool Hal said the world series could be bought for 180,000. The two discussed the fix in a hotel room in Boston three weeks before the season ended when it was apparent that the Chicago White sox would win the american league Pennant. That meeting was the beginning of Italy. The game that is As american As the hot dog that has developed idols rivalling the most illustrious of the coun try s heroes that had contributed so much to everyday language ill take a Rancheck on that seventh inning stretch foul Ball had finally struck out. The Black sox scandal As the affair came to be known got its Start in that Boston hotel room but it was the culmination of a corrupt situation that had steadily grown worse. Elliot Asinof in his Book eight men out published last year by Holt Rene Hart and Winston describes the deteriorating condition of the game in de Tail. Although the game had gone through a period of great corruption in its Early years players on the payroll of gamblers and bribes As common As base hits by 1917, it was a respectable and popular pastime. In fact it was the nation s no. 1 Spectator sport. Then along came the first world War and the government closed Down race tracks. Like lemmings gamblers began Locking to. The ballparks. Within two years some of them were boasting that they could control games. Baseball officials themselves did Noth ing to clean up the game. Abuses were rampant and when some Nasty Little bit was exposed officials simply turned i their backs on it and it usually  this sort of an atmosphere which the players were aware of but the Public was not a fix was not an unnatural thing. In fact there were cases when teams look up collections to pay Oil other teams for winning or laying Down for certain games. Players also were being victimized by owners Druwing salaries in some cases that were Only a fraction of what the were Worth. This was the Case with to most of the White sox who teamed to. Gather to throw the 1919 world series. Who were these men they winsome of the finest Ball players Ever to tread a Diamond shoeless Joe Jackson the mightiest slugger of his time Pitcher Eddi Cicotte who won 29 games in 1919 George Buck Weaver another so hitter and one of the Best third base men in the business Claude lefty Williams the sox no. 2 hurler a 2j game Winner in 1919 Charles swede Risberg a Brilliant shortstop Arnold Chick Oiin dil an exceptionally Strong and reliable first Sacker Oscar Happy Felsch. A Veteran outfielder an respected hitter and Fred Mcmullen Utility infielder who overheard the plot and had to be included. Those were the men whom Gandil banded together in an agreement to throw the series. They were a  of Mon who haled others on the team for personal reasons but they had one common enemy Penny pinching tyrannical Charles a.  reasons Are perhaps apparent when one inspects their , Jackson and Weaver were paid 12 the stars and stripes a in if