Sullivans Again Successful In Attempt To Fix World Series!

In 1919, the Chicago White Sox played the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. The White Sox were overwhelming favorites to beat the Reds. In an upset of enormous proportion, the Reds won the World Series, 5 games to 3.

Rumors concerning a fix were rampant. As it turned out, the rumors were true.

A gambler from Boston, J.J. "Sport" Sullivan, had met with White Sox player Chick Gandil prior to the beginning of the series. Gandil told Sullivan that his teammates were willing to throw the series if a certain amount of money could be delivered. Sullivan arranged delivery of the money with three other gamblers - most notable among them, Arnold Rothstein - and the fix was in.

(For a more complete account, see this article.)

Legend in our family has it that "Sport" was a distant relative. Being Irish, we took a sort of pride in having such an important rogue on a branch of the family tree. So, bearing that in mind, you shouldn't be surprised when I tell you that I have no shame in admitting that my cousin, David Sullivan, won the contest I ran during this World Series.

For purposes of my contest, I asked for a final total of runs, hits, and errors, for the World Series as a whole. Here are the guesses that were submitted.

BOSOX FAN IN WICHITA  -  83
REBECCA               -  89
MICHAEL LEGGETT       - 100
SHRINK WRAPPED SCREAM - 105
MICHAL                - 112
DAVID SULLIVAN        - 120
MELINDA               - 123
UNCLE JIM             - 128
BILL MacDONALD        - 133
MERISI                - 134
KARL C                - 142
BRIAN IN OXFORD       - 145
MAGAZINE MAN          - 146
PETE MITTELL          - 147
ANALI                 - 148
TARA                  - 151
CONNIE/MOM            - 153
PIERCE                - 155
THE OMNIPOTENT Q      - 159
DAVE                  - 162
JASON ATTON           - 165
BARBARA               - 167
TYLER                 - 173
CHARLIE WHITE         - 180
SHARFA                - 195

The final totals were as follows:

RED SOX - 29 runs, 47 hits, 2 errors
ROCKIES - 10 runs, 29 hits, 0 errors

COMBINED - 39 runs, 76 hits, 2 errors = 117

Thus, my cousin, David Sullivan, with his "guess" of 120, came the closest to the actual total. Obviously, we couldn't have him "guess" 117. That would have been too obvious. By having him miss by 3, we remained above suspicion. Until now, of course.

Having missed by 3, David has the $50 possible prize reduced by that amount, as stated in the rules. He wins his choice of $47 of merchandise from this place, which also has a link in the left sidebar and I'd rather you click through from there so I can get a piece of the action, thank you.

So, you may be wondering why I'm confessing to having put in the fix. Well, here's the deal. It cost me $675,000,000 in bribes to pull this thing off. I wrote a check in that amount, to be split evenly among the Colorado Rockies, IF they kept their production down and went quietly once the totals were in favor of my cousin.

A key hit in the game - one that brought the total to 117, rather than a 116 that would have required a split of the prize - was delivered by Cory SULLIVAN. Coincidence? Do you really think so? Hah! Here he is during an earlier part of the bet, taking a literal dive. Notice where the ball is in relation to the "attempt" to catch it.



(Our fail-safe position, just in case the Rockies got out of line, was my Uncle Jim's "guess" of 128. Thankfully, we didn't need that margin of error.)

In any case, the Rockies did their part, but I came to my senses last night and realized that the prize we kept in the family was only $47. I have now come to the conclusion that the only way out is for me to go to jail. I'll probably be safe there; at least, barring any of the Rockies doing time. Therefore, I implore the authorities to PLEASE come and get me. If I'm not arrested, I'll have to make good, which I've never done before.

Soon, with more better stuff - once the coast is clear.