The Black Sox Scandal is a documentary film which premiered on US television (PBS) in 2024.
It is an episode of the series Chicago Stories. In 2025, it was shown on the series American Stories.
The topic is the biggest scandal in the history of American baseball: the Black Sox Scandal of 1919.
Here is some basic information about this drama:
** Executive producer: Anna Chadwick Gardner
** Producer: Eddie Griffin
** Writers: Eddie Griffin and Michael Harvey
** Narrator: Anthony Fleming III
** Run time: 54 minutes
Several persons are interviewed in this film.
Here are the names of the participants.
Listed in alphabetical order:
** Patricia “Patti” Rigney Bellock (born 1946) – great-granddaughter of Charles Comiskey
** Charles Fountain – author and assistant professor of journalism at Northeastern University
** Maddie Lee – staff reporter, Chicago Sun-Times
** Rich Lindberg – a sports historian
** Miker Miller – Shoeless Jackson Museum
** Mike Nola – Shoeless Jackson Museum
** Mary O’Malley – an author
** David Pietrusza – author and historian
** Jacob Pomrenke – Society for American Baseball Research (SABR)
** Bill Savage – North Western University
** Colette Alison Woghiren – an attorney
In 1919, when the Chicago-based team The White Sox was expected to win the World Series, some professional gamblers had an idea. They contacted some members of the team and persuaded them to throw the game, that is to lose the game on purpose.
The gamblers offered them money. Since many players felt they were underpaid by team owner Charles Comiskey, some of them were easy targets.
Once the fix was in, the gamblers would place their bets on the team that was expected to lose. When this team would win, the gamblers would win a lot of money.
Unfortunately for the gamblers, the players were not very good at losing. It was obvious what was going on. It was easy to see that some players did not really want to win. They were openly sabotaging their own team.
When the White Sox lost the World Series, there were many suspicions of foul play. Too many to ignore. In 1920, there was an official investigation into the case.
The name of the team was the White Sox. Since some members of this team had taken bribes to throw the game, the case became known as the Black Sox Scandal.
In 1921, eight players were charged with a crime. The charge was conspiracy to defraud the public.
But when the case began, only seven were present in Chicago. One player was in California and he never showed up.
All eight players were found not guilty by the jury. When this happened, the players thought they were saved. They were wrong!
The newly-appointed baseball commissioner K. M. Landis ignored the verdict of the court and banned all eight players from professional baseball for life.
This film covers the whole case from the beginning in 1919 to the end in 1921.
This film also studies the legacy of the case which happened more than one hundred years ago.
What do reviewers say about this film?
On IMDb it has a rating of 74 percent. This rating is quite good. But in my opinion, it is not good enough.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
RESOURCES
# 1. Film and video
Eight Men Out
A historical drama
(1988)
# 2. Books
Eight Men Out:
The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series
By Eliot Asinof
(1963 = hardcover)
(2000 = paperback)
The Fix Is In:
Baseball Gambling and Game Fixing Scandals
by Daniel E. Ginsburg
(1995)
Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series
by David Pietrusza
(2003)
Burying the Black Sox
by Gene Carney
(2007)
The Wrong Man Out
By Kenneth J. Ratajczak
(2008)
Turning the Black Sox White: The Misunderstood legacy of Charles A. Comiskey
By Tim Hornbaker
(2014 = hardcover)
(2019 = paperback)
The Betrayal: The 1919 World Series and the Birth of Modern Baseball
by Charles Fountain
(2015)
Double Plays and Double Crosses:
The Black Sox and Baseball in 1920
by Don Zminda
(2021)
*****
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