Match-Fixing in Baseball

One of the earliest cases of match-fixing at the highest level of athletics is the "Black Sox Scandal," as it is commonly known. Eight Chicago White Sox baseball team players were engaged in the Black Sox Scandal. A gambling ring gave them money to lose their World Series game against the Cincinnati Reds. The affair caused such shock and horror that it permanently altered baseball. After it was discovered, a new job of Baseball Commissioner was created and given to Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. His responsibility was to assist the Sport in regaining its integrity.

Although money was the primary driver for the White Sox players to abandon the game, certain things were going on behind the scenes that might not have alarmed them. Charles Comiskey, the club's owner, was despised by many people and was thought to be exceedingly frugal. Baseball at the time had a rule known as the "reserve clause" that prohibited players from joining another team without the owner's consent. Arnold Rothstein, a swindler, consequently found it quite simple to locate irate players willing to accept payment in exchange for influencing game results.