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#2254407 in Books 2016-07-26 2016-07-26Formats: Audiobook, MP3 Audio, UnabridgedOriginal language:EnglishPDF # 1 6.75 x .50 x 5.25l, Running time: 12 HoursBinding: MP3 CD | File size: 37.Mb

Charles Fountain : The Betrayal: The 1919 World Series and the Birth of Modern Baseball before purchasing it in order to gage whether or not it would be worth my time, and all praised The Betrayal: The 1919 World Series and the Birth of Modern Baseball:

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Well researched and well written factual accountBy dcreaderNortheastern University professor Charles Fountainrsquo;s The Betrayal: The 1919 World Series and the Birth of Modern Baseball retells the story of the 1919 World Series ldquo;fixrdquo; and explains its ramifications for the gamersquo;s development. He relates the known facts, helpfully clarifying between which are known, which are speculated and even that which are ldquo;knownrdquo; but not really true largely thanks to previous accounts that are as much fiction as fact. The result is a more accurate account and deeper understanding of how and why the scandal unfolded as it did.To do this, Fountain takes us back to the 19th century so we can appreciate baseballrsquo;s complicated relationship with gambling (and to some extent game fixing). For ldquo;behind the Black Sox story,rdquo; he writes, ldquo;stretches a long history of organized dysfunction and incorporated hypocrisy.rdquo; Only after a period of toleration did baseballrsquo;s powers that be come to recognize that fixed games alienated spectators and threatened ownersrsquo; financial interests. Efforts to clean the game of dirty players were largely successful by the 1880s.But the events of 1903 would undo this progress, recreating an environment conducive to gambling and fixing. For it was in this year, Fountain explains, peace was achieved between the warring and the upstart . With peace came an end to competition for players and the higher salaries that went with it. Instead, the and their depressed salaries would rule. In addition, a new owner-dominated governing structure would be created and it promptly failed its first test in dealing with allegations of game fixing, choosing to look the other way instead.In the early 20th century, playersrsquo; gambling on the outcome of games was not seen as problematic. It was even encouraged to show confidence, perhaps like a CEO who takes a large share of their pay as stock options rather than cash. But so long as there was gambling, there would always be losers seeking to shift the blame. Allegations of a ldquo;fixrdquo; would follow each World Series, and when similar allegations surfaced in 1919 even before play began they were not illogically dismissed out of hand.Fountain spends considerable time on the politics of baseball management, focusing on the rivalry between White Sox owner and AL President and de facto baseball CEO . By 1919 the two were locked in blood feud, and each would try to use the fixed series as a tool to gain the upper hand. The result would be a new with dictatorial powers. And Commissioner Mountain Kennesaw Landis would react much differently when the 1919 fix became common knowledge than the National Commission had in 1903.Colorful profiles help keep the readersrsquo; interest. Besides Comiskey and Johnson, (the gambler who would remain at an elusive center of ), ldquo;Shoelessrdquo; Joe Jackson, Judge Landis and are profiled at length. Although one of the ldquo;Black Sox,rdquo; as guilty players were tagged, Jacksonrsquo;s actual role was also very small (he admitted taking money on the understanding he was supposed to be throwing games, but there is no evidence that he did so) but Fountain goes on at considerable length about his life and legacy.There are some flaws with Fountainrsquo;s account. Many threads, such as the profile of Chase and the relationship between Comiskey and Johnson just to cite two examples, are much longer than necessary to explicate the bookrsquo;s central story. As a result the reader frequently finds herself in an alleyway of baseball history, often very interesting but also largely beside the point. Fountain also makes several rather egregious errors when it comes to discussing Jackson and the Hall of Fame. For instance he writes that it was Commissioner Bart Giamatti who proclaimed that no one on baseballrsquo;s eligible list was eligible for election to the Hall of Fame. In fact, it was an ex post facto rule change in 1991 by the Hallrsquo;s governing board in reaction to the Pete Rose case. Fountain also asserts that writers never had the chance to elect Jackson to the Hall. In fact, Jackson was on the 1936 and 1946 ballots, but received only two votes each time.1919: The Great Betrayal contains a great deal of very interesting history about different aspects of the baseballrsquo;s early period and brings many of its characters to life even if it is not all strictly related to the 1919 World Series fix. The story is not really complete, however. Nothing about , the livelier baseball or the phenomenon of the home runrdquo; that began to appear in 1920 and would change the game dramatically appears in Fountainrsquo;s account, all of which are necessary to understand the ldquo;modernrdquo; (or post dead ball) game. But fans of baseball history will find much to enjoy, ponder and argue with in Fountainrsquo;s retelling.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. The Black Sox--a New LookBy Steven PetersonI am a White Sox fan. Books on the Black Sox give me heartburn! This volume does a really fine job of outlining the events and the context in which eight members of the team were kicked out of baseball. The names: (the key culprit), Joe Jackson, Fred McMullin, , , Happy Felsch, , and Swede Risberg. Two of these--Jackson and Weaver--may have been innocent of "throwing" games. But they were both aware and had gone to meetings of the conspirators.This is a book, in part, about powerful personalities and clashes. Ban Johnson, President of the American League, and Charles Comiskey (former major league player and then owner of the Sox); cliques on the White Sox, with "clean" in one camp and some of the conspirators in another; Arnold Rothstein, eminent gambler) and other more marginal figures in the gambling world; prior exemplars of baseball players throwing games--with Hal Chase being one of the most eminent examples.The book explores the development of the American League and third leagues and the evolution of baseball in the first quarter of the 20th century. The White Sox season in 1919 is depicted. Then, the series. The reason for players to begin discussing playing a crooked game, to throw the series to the underdog . The players got shortchanged by gamblers at the outset of the Series. Did the Sox, in the end, lose it through their chicanery? Or did the Reds simply play better? The reader can decide.Then the aftermath. A new position was created--, with very strong powers. Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis was the first incumbent. Baseball went after the eight Sox. They were banned from baseball. The book ends with a discussion of what happened to those after their banishment.A well done work. . . .15 of 17 people found the following review helpful. A First-Rate Book on the 1919 World Series and the Prominent Individuals InvolvedBy Bill EmblomI have never heard of author Charles Fountain and I wondered what, if anything, someone else could write about the 1919 World Series that hasn't been covered by another individual in the past. I believe this book along with "Burying the Black Sox" by Gene Carney do the best job of digging into the archives regarding the . I feel author Fountain has done meticulous research in his search for the truth in regard to those who were involved at the time be they players, owners, or gamblers. We have American League President Ban Johnson and his once friend and now bitter enemy White Sox owner Charles Comiskey along with another fierce foe, newly-elected Commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis who has now pushed Johnson into the background of his beloved game. We also have the eight affected players and the gamblers who ended up double-crossing one another when the money wasn't forthcoming. Gamblers , Sport Sullivan, Billy Maharg, Nat Evans, and "The Big Bankroll" himself, Arnold Rothstein all have their respective rolls laid out. Sportswriters such as Ring Lardner, , Jimmy Isaminger, and J. G. Taylor Spink of The were featured writers at the time. Lardner never had the same love for baseball after this scandal came to light and turned his writing to other subjects.Author Charles Fountain acknowledges that several sources are no longer available for research but he does an admirable job with the material that is available. Each of the eight affected players give their version as to whether or not they played to win. They admit to taking money but there appears to be questions regarding the effort put forth during the games. I have two letters from J. G. Taylor Spink of The Sporting News in which I asked him questions regarding the 1919 World Series which I am accompanying with this review in which he states, "They were all guilty."Based on the research available to author Charles Fountain I feel he has provided the reader with a first-rate book on the 1919 World Series. It is aptly entitled "The Betrayal" since both sides betrayed the other and despite attempts to cover up the scandal it continued to fester during the off-season and into the 1920 season when it burst into full bloom. The book contains two sections of photographs of several of the prominent individuals involved.

In the most famous scandal of sports history, eight playersmdash;including Jacksonmdash;agreed to throw the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for the promise of $20,000 each from gamblers reportedly working for New York mobster Arnold Rothstein. Heavily favored, Chicago lost the series five games to three. Although rumors of a fix flew while the series was being played, they were largely disregarded by players and the public at large. It wasn't until a year later that a general investigation into baseball gambling reopened the case, and a nationwide scandal emerged. In this book, Charles Fountain offers a full and engaging history of one of baseball's true moments of crisis and hand-wringing and shows how the scandal changed the way American baseball was both managed and perceived. After an extensive investigation and a trial that became a national morality play, the jury returned not-guilty verdicts for all of the White Sox players in August of 1921. The following day, Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis, baseball's new commissioner, "regardless of the verdicts of juries", banned the eight players for life. And thus the Black Sox entered into American mythology. Guilty or innocent? Guilty and innocent? The country wasn't sure in 1921, and as Fountain shows, we still aren't sure today. But we are continually pulled to the story, because so much of modern sport, and our attitude toward it, springs from the scandal. Fountain traces the Black Sox story from its roots in the gambling culture that pervaded the game in the years surrounding World War I through the confusing events of the 1919 World Series itself to the noisy aftermath and trial and illuminates the moment as baseball's tipping point. Despite the clumsy unfolding of the scandal and trial and the callous treatment of the players involved, the Black Sox saga was a cleansing moment for the sport. It launched the age of the baseball commissioner, as baseball owners hired Landis and surrendered to him the control of their game. Fountain shows how sweeping changes in triggered by the scandal moved baseball away from its association with gamblers and fixers and details how Americans' attitudes toward the pastime shifted as they entered into "The Golden Age of Sport".Situating the Black Sox events in the context of later scandals, including those involving Reds and player Pete Rose and the ongoing use of steroids in the game up through the present, Fountain illuminates America's near century-long fascination with the story and its continuing relevance today.

"Someone, or a few someones, conceived of fixing the 1919 World Series. That much we know. Charles Fountain says no one knows for certain just who, or which White Sox players laid down and how often. So this is a larger story, leading to a cover-up, featuring a fascinating cast of characters, including Swede Risberg's girlfriend and the mysterious 'Operative 11.' What we learn is that, given the climate of the times, a fix like this was inevitable. We also learn that Mr. Fountain has stitched together a great, and necessary, read for all baseball fans."--Bob Ryan, The Boston Globe, ESPN "With masterful investigative reporting skills and a sportswriter's eye for the bon mot, Charles Fountain has given us in The Betrayal incredible insights into one of the most extraordinary scandals in professional sports history. Not only does Fountain uncover bountiful new details about what happened and why but also he makes clear why in the 21st century remains an exclusive club of wealthy owners still ruled by an all- powerful commissioner determined to maintain the status quo. A tour-de-force in every way."--William D. Cohan, author of The Price of Silence: The Duke Lacrosse Scandal, the Power of the Elite, and the Corruption of Our Great Universities"Mr. Fountain's book is a gripping story, populated by unforgettable characters deftly drawn for modern readers."--Wall Street Journal "What Fountain does so well is provide the surrounding circumstances - the background to the sport, the gambling, the owners' greed, the timorous baseball front office, the shafting of the players, all the temptations that coax players to do wrong to gain an edge and make more money - at once shedding light on what is known but especially what has been ignored or underappreciated. The game-fixing routines - which date back to the Civil War - are stories in themselves, and Fountain reports it all...The scandal was a game-shattering event and cleansed baseball for a moment. Fountain writes of it with professional eacute;lan, which means letting the facts not speak but sing."--Kirkus"This latest work by Fountain puts an interesting spin on a well-trodden topic...compelling narrative..."--Library JournalAbout the AuthorCharles Fountain teaches at Northeastern University's School of Journalism. He is the author of several books, including Under the March Sun: The Story of .

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