1919 black sox scandal
...setting levels. It was such a big event with so much money flying around, that if someone actually knew of the outcome beforehand it could be very profitable for them. Enter the gamblers. Unlike in the book one person did not mastermind the idea of a fix; it was more of a collaboration of ideas from a few people. Two of these people stood out more than anyone else, “Sleepy Bill” Burns and Billy Maharg. Burns was an ex-major league pitcher with connections to the players and Maharg was a gambler with connections underground. With a lot of money the two men approached two of the White Sox players, Pitcher Ed Cicotte and first baseman Arnold “Chick” Gandil about fixing the World Series. The players realized that it would take more than just the two of them for a proper fix, so after talking to a few of there teammates, six other players were recruited for the fix: Pitcher Lefty Williams, Centerfielder Happy Felsch, Shortstop Swede Risberg, Third baseman Buck Weaver, Utility man Fred McMullin, and one of the best and most popular stars ever in the game, Leftfielder “Shoeless” Joe Jackson. In order to pay the six new players, Burns and Maharg needed more money. So they hit up “The Big Bankroll” Arnold Rothstein. Rothstein is the person that Meyer Wolfsheim is based on in the book. After talking to Rothstein and getting there much needed loan the gamblers bet nearly a half a million dollars on the Reds, while agreeing to play the players $100,000 to split between them. Back in those days baseball salaries were modest, even for there time, so split up each player would take home years’ worth of pay. It was a once in a lifetime chance to make that kind of money and they were convinced that they would never get caught. Unfortunately they were wrong. A lot of people needed to raise enough money to make the fix profitable as well as pay off the players, and that meant that more peopl...