January 19. 1888-December 13, 1970

​

Stats

• Batted: Right
• Threw: Right
• Batting average: .277
• Home runs: 11
• RBI's: 557
• Position in 1919: First base

Biography

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Gandil joined Shreveport in the Texas League in 1908.  That same year he married Laurel Fay Kelley.  Gandil was drafted by the St. Louis Browns after his first season with Shreveport.  He failed to make the team and was ordered back to Shreveport.  He refused and decided to join a team in the outlaw California State League.  Because of this, Gandil could have been blacklisted by organized baseball.  However, he changed his mind and joined the Sacramento team in the Pacific Coast League.

​

Gandil made his major league debut with the Chicago White Sox on April 14, 1910.  His season didn't go well and he was traded to Montreal.  He did well in Montreal, so many major league teams  wanted to draft him.  However, there was a rule that only one player could be drafted from each team so he stayed in Montreal until he was sold to the Washington Senators in 1912.  During this season, he met Joseph "Sport" Sullivan, the gambler who helped Gandil to fix the 1919 World Series.  Gandil stayed with the Senators until 1916 when he played for the Cleveland Indians.  In 1917, he was bought by the White Sox.  Gandil and teammate Charles "Swede" Risberg allegedly paid the Detroit Tigers $45 from each of the White Sox players in order to allow the White Sox to win the American League Pennant.



Gandil claims that Joseph "Sport" Sullivan came to him with the idea of fixing the 1919 World Series.  Sullivan told Gandil that a total of $100,000 would be payed to the White Sox.  Gandil served as contact for the gamblers, and he was responsible for recruiting and paying the players who helped to fix the series.  For his efforts, Gandil received $35,000.  His last major league game was on September 28, 1919.  Gandil was banned from organized baseball for life.