Peddling America's Pastime

Peddling America’s Pastime In 1919 a gambling scandal forever tarnished the credibility of baseball. I myself, am a huge fan of baseball at any level, however, the scandals that surround the sport undeniably cast a black cloud over America’s pastime. Like fried chicken and apple pie, baseball is woven into the fabric that is the United States of America. Baseball goes back a long way, all the way to Civil War, and even before. During the Civil War baseball was used to break up the monotony of fighting and killing. Soldiers from the Union and the Confederacy enjoyed the game as often as they could (baseball-almanac.com 2). This is one of the many reasons that I love baseball. No matter what is going on in the world, baseball can take you to a better place. I chose the 1919 Chicago White Sox to write about because I find the time period and story interesting. Also because this is the time when players played more for the love of the game, however, the players were only paid a fraction of what they were worth. It was common place for players to take on other jobs to make ends meet. The team owners encouraged the local small business owners to give players jobs so that they could stay in the city of the team for which they played. The 1919 White Sox were the best team in baseball that season. The team boasted the best pitching, defense, and offense. What they did not boast, however, were fair salaries. The team owner Charles Comiskey had been labeled a tyrant, and a tightwad. Comiskey’s practices made his players especially willing to sell their baseball souls for money (Linder 3). Honestly, you cannot blame the boys for doing what they did. I think they were sticking it to the man who deserved it, and unfortunately got caught. Comiskey habitually made promises that he never intended to keep, promises of bonuses for winning pennants, and winning games. Comiskey even charged his players for the cost of laundering their uniforms. Comiskey was a real, for lack of

Cited: Asinof, Eliot. Eight Men Out. New York City: Henry Holt and Company LLC, 1963. Print. Aubrecht, Michael. “Baseball and the Blue and the Gray”. baseball-almanac.com. Baseball Almanac. 2004. Web. 24 Feb. 2013. Linder, Doug. “The Black Sox Trial: An Account”. law2.umkc.edu. University of Missouri- Kansas City Law School. 1995-2011. Web. 6 Feb. 2013. “The Black Sox”. chicagohs.org/history. Chicago Historical Society. 1999. Web. 6 Feb. 2013.