In 1919, the Chicago White Sox, who had won the World Series two years earlier, had the best record in the American League (AL).

They had fallen to sixth place in the American League in 1918, largely as a result of losing their best player, Shoeless Joe Jackson, and a few other teammates to World War I service.

He was not the only star in a lineup with hardly a weak spot, as former Philadelphia Athletics superstar leadoff hitter Eddie Collins, one of the greatest second basemen of all time,[3] was still going strong in his early thirties, hitting .319 with a .400 on-base percentage.

Gleason's bench contained two impressive hitters, outfielder Shano Collins and infielder Fred McMullin, both veterans of the 1917 series.

Knuckleballer Eddie Cicotte had become one of the AL's best pitchers after turning 30 and discovering the "shine ball;" he had won 28 games for the 1917 champions, and after an off-year in 1918 had come back with a hefty 29–7, leading the league in wins and second in earned run average to Washington's veteran "Big Train" Walter Johnson.

Tension ran high between many of the players and Comiskey given his penny-pinching ways, memorialized in two urban legends: (1) that he told Gleason to shut down Cicotte in the last days of the regular season to prevent him from winning thirty games, a milestone which would have earned him a sizeable $10,000 bonus; (2) that many derided the White Sox as the "Black Sox" because Comiskey wouldn't pay to have their uniforms laundered regularly, and they became blacker and blacker due to accumulated sweat, grime and dirt.

They were backed by three other pitchers who were almost as successful: Jimmy Ring at only 10–9 but 2.26, Ray Fisher at 14–5 and 2.17 with five shutouts, and Cuban Dolf Luque at 10–3 and 2.63, former and future Giant who would win the last game of the 1933 World Series in long relief for New York.

The conspiring players on the White Sox got an unexpected assist when a flu-stricken Faber was left off the World Series roster.

Many observers blame their attitude on Comiskey's stinginess, despite the fact that the 1919 White Sox payroll was third highest in the AL, behind only Boston and New York.

Stories about the scandal have usually included Comiskey in its gallery of subsidiary villains, focusing in particular on his intentions regarding a clause in Cicotte's contract that would have paid the knuckleballer an additional $10,000 bonus for winning thirty games.

According to Eliot Asinof's account of the events, Eight Men Out, Cicotte was "rested" for the season's final two weeks after reaching his 29th win presumably to deny him the bonus, but the truth may be more complex.

Although rumors were swirling among gamblers (according to Tom Meany in his chapter on the 1919 Reds in "Baseball's Greatest Teams," "Cincinnati money was pouring in" even though the White Sox were regarded as the overwhelming favorite) and some of the press, most fans and observers were taking the Series at face value.

On October 2, the day of Game 2, the Philadelphia Bulletin published a poem which would quickly prove to be ironic: NL Cincinnati Reds (5) vs. AL Chicago White Sox (3) The first game began at 3 pm at Cincinnati's Redland Field, with 30,511 fans in the stands and ticket scalpers outside the park raking in at least $50 per ticket.

In the bottom of the inning, Cicotte (who was paid his $10,000 the night before the series began) took the mound and hit the leadoff hitter, Morrie Rath, in the back with his second pitch, a prearranged signal to Arnold Rothstein that the fix was on.

), allowing a number of hits in succession climaxed by a two-out triple to the opposing pitcher, as the Reds scored five times to break a 1–1 tie.

"Sleepy" Bill Burns and Maharg met with Abe Attell, the former world boxing champ and Rothstein's intermediary, but he withheld the next installment ($20,000) nonetheless to bet on the next game.

After that he became virtually unhittable again, giving up only one more run; but lack of clutch hitting, with Gandil a particularly guilty party, led to a 4–2 White Sox loss.

It was a decision that would leave him broke, as Chicago scored early—with Gandil himself driving in two runs—and Kerr was masterful, holding the Reds to three hits in a 3–0 complete game shutout.

The next man up, Larry Kopf, singled to left; Cicotte cut off the throw from Jackson and fumbled the ball, allowing Duncan to score.

Cicotte then surrendered a double to Greasy Neale which scored Kopf to make it 2–0; this was enough of a lead for Ring, who hurled a three-hit shutout of his own, matching Kerr's in Game 3.

Aided by three White Sox errors, the Reds jumped out to a 4–0 lead before Chicago fought back, tying the game at 4-4 in the sixth, which remained the score into extra innings.

In the first, throwing nothing but mediocre fastballs, he gave up four straight one-out hits for three runs before Gleason relieved him with "Big" Bill James, who allowed one of Williams' baserunners to score.

He hit the Series' lone home run in the eighth and final game, a solo shot in the third inning, by which time the Reds were already ahead 5–0.