View source for Black Sox Scandal

==Prelude==
[[Image:CharlesComiskey.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Charles Comiskey, owner of the White Sox.]]
[[Charles Comiskey]] was a former big league player for various teams in baseball until he became the owner of the White Sox in the American League from 1900 to 1931.  As the owner, he led the White Sox to five A.L. championships, and the World Series of 1919 promised to be the best year in baseball, as he boasted about having the best team on any field.

But Comiskey was a miser, and notorious for it.  His players were among the lowest-paid in the league, and being subject to the "reserve clause" they could do nothing about it.  He even forced his players to do their own laundry, as he wouldn't hire extra help to deal with the player's uniforms.  The players responded for several weeks in 1919 by wearing their filthy uniforms on the field; the eventual buildup of the dirt, sweat, and grime turned their once-white uniforms to a dark shade of gray in places, resulting in the nickname of "Black Sox" being bestowed on them before the scandal took place (Comiskey had the uniforms removed from the lockers and the players fined for the infraction [http://www.chicagohs.org/history/blacksox/blk1a.html]).

Interest in baseball was low as a result of American involvement in World War I, but climbed considerably at war's end, so much so that baseball owners decided upon a best-of-nine format instead of the traditional seven games for the 1919 World Series.  Interest in the betting on baseball also climbed as well; gamblers had for years hung around the parks betting on individual games while the occasional rumor circulated that a player was supplementing his income by throwing games.  Comiskey, aware of the rumors, posted signs at his park banning gambling, but had failed to see the other signs pointing to the resentment against him and the tempting offers of high rewards from gamblers. [http://www.chicagohs.org/history/blacksox/blk2.html]