Footage of 1919 ‘Black Sox’ World Series Found Under Swimming Pool

The 1919 World Series which saw the Chicago White Sox play the Cincinnati Reds has gone down in baseball history for all the wrong reasons. However, rare footage of the so-called ‘Black Sox’ World Series has been found buried under dirt and ice in a swimming pool in Canada.

The championship is remembered as members of the White Sox conspired to intentionally lose the series in order to win bets they had placed. The five minute film was shot by the newsreel company Pathe News and was given to a local library after the championship.

However, the film was dumped, along with hundreds of other cans of footage, into an empty swimming pool in 1929. The swimming pool later became an ice rink and the historical films disappeared underneath the ice and dirt.

In 1978 the ice rink was bulldozed and the films were found, they were sent to the Canadian national archives in Ottawa and remained there until documentary maker Bill Morrison found the footage in January.

The five minute film includes footage of Eddie Cicotte, one of the leaders of the conspiracy. Him and seven other players stood trial over the scandal but were acquitted. However, they were banned from baseball for life. Furthermore, the scandal caused anti-gambling rules to be introduced to Major League Baseball.