501 Critical Reading Questions
Critical Reading Questions
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501 Critical Reading Questions
Critical Reading Questions
(1) (5) (10) (15) (20) for their owner, won the World Series. Two years later they had the best record in all of baseball and were again on their way to the Series. Baseball players’ salaries in that era were much different than the exor- bitant paychecks of today’s professional athletes. Often, ballplayers would have second careers in the off-season because of the mediocrity of their pay. To make matters worse, war-torn 1918 was such a horrible year for baseball attendance that many owners cut player salaries for the follow- ing season. However, it is said in all of baseball there was no owner as parsimonious as Charles Comiskey. In 1917 he reportedly promised every player on the White Sox a bonus if they won the American League Championship. After winning the championship, they returned to the clubhouse to receive their bonus—a bottle of inexpensive champagne. Unlike other owners, Comiskey also required the players to pay for the cleaning of their uniforms. The Sox had the best record in baseball, but they were the least paid, were the most discontented, and wore the dirt- iest uniforms. Comiskey’s frugality did not sit well with the players. They were most upset with the fact that he did not raise salaries back to their 1918 levels, even though the ballpark attendance figures for 1919 were higher than any previous year. One player, Eddie Ciccotte, felt especially ill-treated by Comiskey. The owner promised the pitcher a bonus of $10,000 if he won thirty games, but after Ciccotte won his twenty-ninth game he was benched by Comiskey for the rest of the season. Gamblers were such a common sight around the Chicago ballpark that Charles Comiskey had signs proclaiming “No Betting Allowed In This Park” posted conspicuously in the stands. The money with which these gamblers tempted the players was hard to refuse, and it was rumored that to supplement their income some of the lower-paid athletes would offer inside tips to the bettors. But gamblers’ mingling with ballplayers wasn’t solely confined to the White Sox. In 1920, allegations involving gambling among Chicago Cubs players brought to light a scandal that would shock Chicago and the rest of America: Eight members of the White Sox had thrown the 1919 World Series. The exact facts regarding the scandal will never be known, but the most accepted theory is that just prior to the World Series, White Sox player Chick Gandil had approached a gambler by the name of Joseph Sullivan with a proposal that for $100,000 Gandil would make sure the Sox lost the Series. Gandil needed to recruit other players for the plan to work. It was not hard for him to do—there were many underpaid players on the White Sox who were dissatisfied with the way Comiskey operated the team. Ultimately, the seven other play- 2 2 4 501 Download 0.98 Mb. Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
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