Charles Arnold "Chick" Gandil (January 19, 1888 – December 13, 1970) was an American professional baseball player.

He played for the Washington Senators, Cleveland Indians, and Chicago White Sox of the American League.

Described by his contemporaries as a "professional malcontent",[1] he was physically well-built at 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) and 195 lb (88 kg), and had a stern and challenging demeanor.

He was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, to Swiss immigrants Louise Bechel and Christian Gandil.

The Gandil family migrated west and the 1900 census (taken June 8) has their address registered as Seattle, King County, Washington.

The Humboldt baseball club experienced financial problems in 1906, and Gandil moved on to a team in Cananea, Mexico, 40 mi (64 km) from the United States.

He headed back west with his new bride and joined the Fresno team in the outlaw California State League.

The rules at the time stated that only one player could be drafted from each team, so Gandil returned to Montreal to begin the 1912 season.

Early on in his major league career, Gandil was considered a top-notch first baseman, both for his play on the field and his solid work ethic.

It was later revealed that Gandil and his teammate, Charles "Swede" Risberg, had allegedly collected $45 from each member of the White Sox and paid off the Detroit Tigers in two crucial doubleheaders late in the season.

I had only social contacts with gamblers until that September day in 1919 when Sullivan walked up to Eddie Cicotte and me as we left our hotel in Boston.

"[2]Sullivan assured Gandil that the fix was on, and that $100,000 (equivalent to $1.76 million in 2023) in total would be paid to the players.

In addition to serving as the contact for the gamblers, Gandil was responsible for recruiting and paying the players involved in the fix.

Gandil received $35,000 (equivalent to $0.62 million in 2023) for his role in throwing the World Series – nearly nine times his 1919 salary of $4,000.

Gandil and his seven White Sox teammates were indicted, and he came back to Chicago in July 1921 to stand trial for fixing the series.

Gandil and the others were permanently banned from organized baseball by new commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis.

[4] He ended his playing career with semi-pro clubs in the copper mining towns of Bayard and Hurley, New Mexico.

[3] After he ended his baseball career, Gandil settled in his childhood residence (Berkeley, California) with Laurel and his daughter Idella.

He remained in the area until he retired to Calistoga in 1954 and spent the last part of his life in the Napa Valley region of Northern California.

Gandil was portrayed by Michael Rooker in the 1988 film Eight Men Out and by Art LaFleur in 1989's Field of Dreams.

In the story, Gandil admitted to leading the plot to throw the Series and expressed guilt and remorse over having done so.

In his account, Gandil suggested that the players were under intense pressure from both observers suspicious of their every move and the gamblers expecting them to go along with the plan.

Naturally, I would have liked to have had my share of that ten grand, but with all the excitement at the Series' end and with Comiskey's investigation, I was frankly frightened stiff.

During the next two months, after returning to my winter home in Los Angeles, I heard some wild reports about the killing I made on the World Series.

"[6]In an interview with Dwight Chapin, published in the Los Angeles Times on August 14, 1969, Gandil again denied that he threw the Series stating, "I'm going to my grave with a clear conscience.