Billy Maharg, one of the professional gamblers involved in the fix went to the public for the first time and told his account of the scandal. After this occurred Cicotte decided he would talk and told the Grand Jury his side of the story. "I don't know why i did it...I must have been crazy...I needed the money. I had the wife and the kids"(Linder 2010). As news spread that Cicotte had talked, Joe Jackson would be the next to talk to the Judge.
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White Sox Players and Lawyers |
Jackson told the Judge that he was approached to throw the World Series and to be paid for it. He also told the Judge that he did not do anything intentional to cause the Sox to lose he just went along with the others. Following Jackson's confession would be Lefty Williams and Oscar Felch.
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Assistant State Attorney Hartley Replogle and Joe Jackson
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"On October 22, 1920, The Grand Jury handed down their indictments, naming the eight Chicago players and five gamblers, including Bill Burns, Sport Sullivan and Abe Attell. Rothstein was not indicted. The indictments included nine counts of conspiracy to defraud various individuals and institutions"(Linder, 2010). At this time the first commissioner of baseball
Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis had to make a decision on how he would deal with situation. Landis "suspended each of the players, and initially promised them reinstatement if they were found not guilty"(Everstine, 1998).
