Curse of the Black Sox

The Curse of the Black Sox (also known as the Curse of Shoeless Joe) (1919–2005) was a superstition or "scapegoat" cited as one reason for the failure of the Chicago White Sox to win the World Series from 1920 until 2005. As with other supposed baseball curses, such as the crosstown Chicago Cubs' Curse of the Billy Goat, or the Boston Red Sox' Curse of the Bambino, these "curses" have been publicized by the popular media over the course of time.

The White Sox were dealt a severe blow in 1919 by the Black Sox scandal, with several star players being suspended at a crucial time late in the 1920 season. Conventional wisdom has it that the Sox were headed for another pennant and championship and that the suspensions knocked them out of the race. In reality, the last game for the "Eight Men Out" was September 27, just three games from the end of their season. At that point the Sox had won 3 in a row and were sitting at 95-56 with 3 games to play. The Cleveland Indians were also in a hot streak, at 94-54 with 6 games to play, and halfway through a four-game sweep of the St. Louis Browns. The Indians were just a few percentage points ahead of the White Sox.

The Indians would close the season with 4 wins and 2 losses, and finish with a 98-56 record. The Sox would lose 2 of their final 3 to finish 96-58. If the Sox had swept their final series against the Browns and the Indians record stayed the same, the American League would have had its first pennant playoff. Even discounting any morale boost the Indians might have received from the news of the Sox players' suspensions, the Sox return to the World Series was by no means ensured, even if there had been no suspensions. If they had finished tied, it would be noted that the Indians had won 12 of the clubs' 22 meetings, but the Sox had taken 2 of 3 in their most recent series.

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