The records of the Black Sox Scandal (American League Records) are divided into four series, Investigation, Financial Records, Newspaper Clippings, and Miscellaneous.
Collection highlights include letters documenting the efforts of attorney James R. Price to have Abe Attell extradited to Illinois, and a transcript of his interview with former player Joe Gedeon; letters and telegrams showing Johnson’s extraordinary efforts to find and extradite Bill Burns; correspondence showing how closely certain members of the press, including J.G. Taylor Spink of The Sporting News and newspaperman Joe Vilas, worked with the League in investigating the scandal; and pages from the register of the Hotel Sinton in Cincinnati, Ohio showing the names of the White Sox players as well as Abe Attell and other gamblers.
Investigation (1919-1921) consists of four sub-series: correspondence, investigator’s reports, legal documents, and memoranda. The bulk of the series is comprised of the correspondence of American League President Ban Johnson. Most of the letters fall into two broad categories: letters about the logistics of the trial and letters to Johnson providing information and support for his efforts. In the first category are letters on the discovery and extradition of potential witnesses Abe Attell and Bill Burns; interview transcripts of players such as Eddie Collins, “Lefty” Williams, and Joe Gedeon; attorney James R. Price’s suggestions and potential questions for witnesses Attell and Rothstein; the attempt to obtain photographs of potential investigation targets such as “Sport” Sullivan; and witness expense reports. In the second category are letters sent to Johnson with tips about potential witnesses and information sources for the trial. Included are letters to Johnson stating that persons as diverse as Al Jolson and Miller Huggins may have useful information about gambling in baseball, and two letters from minor league manager Harry Neily recounting conversations with White Sox player “Chick” Gandil on the scandal. Other correspondence of interest includes a July 1921 letter from White Sox executive Harry Grabiner in which he charges that Johnson “did nothing when [he was] first notified” and that the trial is “for the sole and only purpose of advertising B.B. Johnson,” and a letter from Johnson in which he states that “personally, I would like to have spared Cicotte on account of his children.” Another topic covered in the correspondence sub-series is New York pitcher Carl Mays’ association with the Boston gambler “Pete the Greek.” Additional Johnson correspondents include Allen Pinkerton of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, club owners Frank J. Navin of Detroit and Thomas Shibe of Philadelphia, and The Sporting News executive J.G. Taylor Spink.
The investigator’s reports sub-series consists of over a dozen typed reports from the operatives of the Pinkerton and other detective agencies providing information on various parties involved in the Black Sox case including “Sport” Sullivan and Joe Gedeon, and several other reports on gambling issues. Also included is a photograph of “Sport” Sullivan taken during the course of the investigation, which has been separated to the Photography Department.
The legal documents sub-series consist of materials from the Black Sox trial, including a witness list and statement to the jury. Also included are defense and prosecution trial exhibits including: ledgers showing disbursements to “Chick” Gandil; the official box scores from each of the eight 1919 World Series games; the hotel register from the Hotel Sinton in Cincinnati showing the registrations of the White Sox players as well as Abe Attell and other gamblers; a photograph of Arnold Rothstein, which has been separated to the Photography Department; photostats of checks endorsed by Abe Attell; and the National Commission’s 1919 Brochure on the rules and regulations governing the World Series.
The final sub-series is memoranda, and it consists of several memorandums and other documents related to the Black Sox investigation including the text of the League’s official statement after the unsuccessful trial.
Financial Records (1919) is comprised of seven cancelled checks documenting the 1919 World Series payouts to the teams and leagues.
Newspaper Clippings (1920-1969) consists of photocopies of newspaper articles documenting the Black Sox scandal. Included are a number of 1920 and 1921 articles documenting the unfolding scandal. In addition, there are also several later newspaper articles that revisit the scandal through the years, including a 1929 article in which Comiskey defends himself against his detractors, including Ban Johnson, and a 1969 obituary of Eddie Cicotte.
Miscellaneous (1914-1921) consists of a 1914 letter and invitation addressed to M.J. “Nuf Ced” McGreevy inviting him to an event honoring the returning World’s Tourist Baseball Team, including Charles Comiskey and John J. McGraw. This may have become part of the collection because of the Comiskey connection, but it has no relationship to the Black Sox scandal. This series also includes two publications that provide background to the collection: the Constitution and Playing Rules of the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs 1921, and The Official 1919 Code of Playing Rules for Playing Base Ball.
Online Library Catalog
https://opac.libraryworld.com/opac/home.php