BOOK REVIEW: Baseball historian Dan Day Jr. has offered the following book review of Turning the Black Sox White: The Misunderstood Legacy of Charles A. Comiskey.: Author Tim Hornbakers Turning The Black Sox White: The Misunderstood Legacy Of Charles A. Comiskey, is the first major modern biography of Charles Comiskey, the star player/manager of the famous 19th Century St. Louis Browns, and the founder of the Chicago White Sox. Today most people look at Comiskey as the so-called evil skinflint who forced Shoeless Joe Jackson and seven other players to lose the 1919 World Series on purpose in exchange for money from various gamblers. Hornbaker tries to present a fair and more roundly-balanced look at Comiskeys total life, not just his actions during the 1919 Series. The author covers Comiskeys upbringing in Chicago, his entry into professional baseball, his rise to stardom with the St. Louis Browns, and stints with the Chicago Players League team, the Cinncinati Reds, and his eventual ownership of the St. Paul team in the Western League. Comiskey would move the St. Paul team to Chicago in 1900, and the Western League would become the American League. As a powerful force in the new major league, Comiskey would become one of the most important and influential men in the early 20th Century world of professional baseball. Hornbaker has obviously done a lot research (each chapter in the book has numerous footnotes at the end--a nice idea which saves the reader from going back and forth to the end of the book). Comiskey certainly wasnt a saint--but Hornbaker makes the case that Comiskeys contributions to the game of baseball deserve more respect than they are now given. When it comes to the Black Sox scandal, Hornbaker attempts to put Comiskeys actions during it in a new light. Hornbaker points out that there was plenty of animosity between all owners and players in the late 1910s--not just Comiskey and his White Sox. The author shows how the scandal left Comiskey a broken man, and ruined his reputation (which, contrary to modern opinion, was very high before the Black Sox scandal broke). As a life-long White Sox fan, Im obviously biased when it comes to this book. Charles Comiskey deserves to be known more than just a mean rich guy....whether some people like it or not, Comiskey was one of the most important figures in baseball history. Any hard-core baseball fan will want to read this book--especially if that fan is willing to put aside some pre-conceived notions. This book is a great addition to the library of baseball history.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 14:19:36 +0000
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