The Infamous Black Sox Are the Subject of a New WTTW Documentary

Chicago Stories: The Black Sox Scandal premieres Friday, September 27 at 8:00 pm on WTTW and at wttw.com/chicagostories or the PBS app.

The second documentary in a new season of WTTW's Chicago Stories covers The Black Sox Scandal, perhaps the most infamous event in sports history, when members of the Chicago White Sox intentionally lost the 1919 World Series in order for a payout. Gambling and corruption were common in baseball at the time, but this instance rose above, leading to strict punishments for the players and changing the way the public perceived the sport. 

Eddie Griffin, the producer and writer of the documentary, shares his thoughts on the scandal and its impact on the players baseball writ large.

This interview was condensed and edited for clarity.

This took place more than a century ago. What makes it interesting today?

Like many Chicago Stories, this story is foundational to our city. The Black Sox Scandal is part of the Chicago canon. But we’re talking about 1919 – each year it drifts further from our memories. It’s not a positive story, and the Black Sox gave Chicago a black eye, but it's our job to document what happened.

The documentary introduces us to some memorable characters. Who do we meet?

"Shoeless" Joe Jackson was one of the most gifted ballplayers that the world had ever seen, a household name in America. The White Sox acquired Jackson to help win a World Series. He was a star of stars, and Babe Ruth even said he copied his batting swing to look more like Joe Jackson’s swing. But what makes Shoeless Joe such a fascinating character is that he had the most to lose among any of the other Black Sox. He was in the prime of his career and adored by millions. Getting involved in the scandal should have been beneath him. You want to go back in time and say, “Don’t do it, Joe!”

He told reporters that he had made peace with his banishment from baseball. But I don’t believe it. His courtroom testimony and actions later in life reveal a man tormented by his mistake.

Most Chicagoans are familiar with the name Charles Comiskey and its association with the former home of the White Sox. What is his role in this story?

Charles Comiskey was a pioneering baseball player in the 1890s. After he retired, he purchased the St. Paul Saints in 1900 and moved that team to his hometown of Chicago, where he eventually changed their name to the Chicago White Sox. He loved the organization and built the White Sox into one of the flagship franchises in Major League Baseball.

Flash forward a hundred years later, and Comiskey is often portrayed as a cheapskate and cited as the reason why his players fixed the World Series. But as we reveal in the film, that reputation was undeserved.

Sports betting is big business now, and there have been many scandals involving athletes and teams, including the World Series-winning Houston Astros just several years ago. What is notable about this one?

The Black Sox Scandal was baseball’s original sin, but was not the first instance of game fixing. Gambling was rampant, and over time, the integrity of the game became compromised. The Black Sox represent the moment in time where the nation said, “That’s enough. We can’t allow this to continue.”

What compelled the White Sox players to throw the World Series? How did the scandal affect their fans?

As historian Richard Lindberg says in the film, “They were after the almighty dollar.” And on the surface, that’s what it was about: money. But the truth of the matter was that they just really didn't think they would get caught. Baseball fans were devastated. And the eight Black Sox players never regained their honor and never again played professional baseball.

Were there special challenges in capturing this story?

The challenge with a subject that is more than a century old is the lack of archival images to show our viewers everything that happened. And the heart of the Black Sox story takes place off the baseball diamond and on cross-country trains, in dark hotel rooms and speakeasies, and ultimately, in a 1920s courtroom. So, we shot recreation scenes with actors to fill in the missing pieces. We filmed on a moving train at The Illinois Railway Museum, we found a beautiful period-specific courthouse in DeKalb County, and we turned The Gaslight Club at O’Hare into a swanky Manhattan lounge. We found a way to take viewers back in time.

What about the Black Sox might surprise viewers?

One thing that I never knew and learned in researching the story was the fact that the Black Sox were acquitted at trial. There were no laws on the books that made gambling illegal, so they were found not guilty by the jury. They walked out of the courtroom thinking that they’d immediately be back in the game. But newly appointed baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis banished the Black Sox for eternity.

What do you hope audiences will take away from this documentary?

I hope viewers see the Black Sox players as three-dimensional characters. Yes, they were guilty. Yes, they fixed the World Series. And yes, they betrayed the nation for a quick dollar. But that doesn’t mean that they didn’t carry the guilt and shame around with them for the rest of their lives. You don’t have to forgive them. I don’t. But it’s important to understand that these were real people. Complicated and ultimately foolish…but real people.