Is Chicago the City of Fixed World Series?

Recently in the sports world, speculation has come about over the 1918 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox. Eddie Cicotte of the 1919 Chicago White Sox stated that the infamous Black Sox got the idea to throw the 1919 World Series from the Cubs who had supposedly done so the year prior in a 4-2 loss to the Red Sox.

Eddie Cicotte was a pitcher for the White Sox from 1912-1920. He was banned from the sport when he became the first of the eight players involved in the scandal to step forward and sign a confession and waiver of immunity. After doing so, Cicotte recanted his confession and was later acquitted of all charges at trial by jury. Cicotte's involvement in this allegation began during the 1920 deposition when he stated that the "ball players were talking about somebody trying to fix the National League ball players or something like that," Cicotte said in the deposition. "Well anyway there was some talk about them offering $10,000 or something to throw the Cubs in the Boston Series," he said. "Somebody made a crack about getting money, if we got into the Series, to throw the Series."

Cicotte said in a court deposition two years after the Black Sox scandal that "'the boys on the club' talked about how a Cub or a number of Cubs were offered $10,000 to throw the 1918 World Series..." Regardless of making this accusation, Cicotte failed to mention any specific players involved or any facts that could be used to prove whether or not this actually happened.