1919

Whether eight members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox conspired with gamblers to fix the World Series against Cincinnati is today baseball's cause celebre. A federal jury found them innocent of criminal conduct. But evidence is strong of some crooked play.

Two, Buck Weaver and Joe Jackson acknowledged knowing of the fix but denied taking part. All took their stories to their graves, right up to Swede Risberg, the last to go in 1975.

At the time, however, a few talked. Pitcher Ed Cicotte, who got $10,000, said he did it "for the wife and kids." Jackson told investigators he feared retaliation from Risberg. "The Swede's a hard guy," he said. Owners, fearful for the game's reputation, hired Judge K.M. Landis as commissioner. Landis' first act was to ban the "Black Sox" for life. He made it stick, too. The Judge, as Jackson and the others found out, was a hard guy.

ELSEWHERE IN BASEBALL

Boston sells Babe Ruth to the Yankees Dec. 26 for sums variously estimated at between $100,000 and $125,000.

IN THE WORLD

The U.S. Senate rejects the Treaty of Versailles Nov. 19.