1919 Black Sox Scandal Quiz | World Series

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Who did the Chicago White Sox play in the 1919 World Series?

Answer: Cincinnati Redlegs

The World Series was against the Cincinnati Redlegs led by center fielder Ed Roush, third baseman Heinie Groh, and pitchers Hod Eller, Dutch Ruether, and Slim Sallee. They had a regular season record of 96-44.
The eight conspirators on the White Sox were pitchers Eddie Cicotte and Claude (Lefty) Williams, outfielder Joe Jackson, third baseman Buck Weaver, first baseman Chick Gandil, center fielder Happy Felsch, shortstop Swede Risberg, and utility infielder Fred McMullen.

2. What was the outcome of the 1919 Series?

Answer: Cincinnati won 5 games to 3

The World Series was a best of 9 games at that time. The Series was a best of 9 in 1903 in the first World Series and again in 1919, 1920, and 1921. All other years have been a best of 7 series.

3. Who was the owner of the White Sox at that time?

Answer: Charles Comiskey

One of the factors alleged to have made the players involved willing to accept the bribes was Comiskey's stinginess and their bitterness towards him. There are claims that Comiskey ordered the manager to have Eddie Cicotte held out of games at the end of the 1917 season when he got to 29 wins to keep him from getting a $10,000 bonus for getting to 30 wins. Several of his top players were only making $6000 for the season while other teams were paying $10,000.

After the White Sox won the 1917 World Series, he refused to give many of them a raise.

The nickname "Black Sox" was not given for throwing the World Series but dated back to 1917 when Comiskey refused to pay for having the uniforms laundered by the club and told the players they had to wash their own uniforms.

The players protested by wearing the same uniforms unwashed for months.

4. Who was the manager of the 1919 White Sox?

Answer: Kid Gleason

Gleason took over after Pants Rowland had been fired after the 1918 season 6th place finish. Several of the White Sox players had been called to service in World War I after the 1917 season when the White Sox won the World Series. Clarence Rowland got the nickname "Pants" when as a 9 year old he ran the bases in his father's pants rather clumsily.

5. Which of the eight conspirators was the losing pitcher in three of the games?

Answer: Lefty Williams

Williams lost the 2nd, 5th, and 8th and final game. Cicotte lost the 1st and 4th game but was the winning pitcher in game 7. There were allegations that the players were not being paid by the fixers and they won the 7th game as a protest. The night before game 8, Williams was allegedly visited by a "friend" of the fixers and threats were made against Williams and his wife if the Sox won the next game.

6. What was the signal from the players to the gamblers in the first game that the fix was on?

Answer: Hitting the first batter with a pitch

Cicotte hit Cincinnati leadoff man Morrie Rath with the second pitch, the prearranged signal to the conspirators that the fix was on.

7. Who led all batters in the 1919 World Series with a .375 batting average, had a World Series record of 12 hits, and hit the only home run of the Series?

Answer: Shoeless Joe Jackson

Jackson's involvement in the fix has been debated. He had been approached about the fix before the Series and was at secret meetings with the other conspirators, but allegedly went to team owner Charles Comiskey before the Series started, informed him of the fix, and asked to be kept out of the games. Buck Weaver was also at the meetings but claimed he played his best and did nothing to throw the games.

He batted .324 during the Series, above his regular season average of .296.

8. Which notorious gambler was named by several of the involved players as being the fixer and was called to testify before the Grand Jury looking into the scandal, but was never charged?

Answer: Arnold Rothstein

Rothstein may have been the financial backer behind the bribes but they were brokered by former boxer Abe Attell and possibly former player Hal Chase.

9. A Grand Jury was convened on October 22, 1920, and nine counts of conspiracy to defraud various individuals and institutions were filed, naming eight players and 5 gamblers. Confessions by Joe Jackson and Eddie Cicotte were filed but when the case went to trial, the confessions had disappeared. The subsequent trial started on June 27, 1921, and after 12 days of testimony, the jury returned with what verdict in only 3 hours?

Answer: not guilty on all counts

Signed confessions by Cicotte and Jackson somehow disappeared before the trial. The jury found all of the players not guilty, but the next day, despite these findings, newly appointed Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis suspended all eight of the players from baseball for life.

10. Which pitcher, not one of the conspirators, was the winning pitcher in two of the games?

Answer: Dickie Kerr

Dickie Kerr was a rookie in 1919 and won 13 games during the regular season. He won 19 games in 1921. He retired in 1925 and later served as manager in the minor leagues, where he convinced a young pitcher with a sore arm to give up on being a pitcher and concentrating on hitting. Fortunately, Stan Musial took his advice and went on to a Hall of Fame career with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1941 to 1963 (admitted in 1969).

Source: Author ncrmd

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor gtho4 before going online.
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1919 Black Sox Scandal Trivia Quiz

The game of baseball has had its controversies with steroid use, but the biggest scandal was in 1919 when the Chicago White Sox had eight players conspire to throw the World Series.

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