The 1919 World Series between the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox forever will be mired by the “Black Sox” scandal.
After the Reds won the best-of-nine series in eight games, eight White Sox players — including the famous “Shoeless” Joe Jackson — were accused of intentionally losing the series for betting purposes and were banned from the game for life.
For the first time, actual video footage of the infamous series has emerged in the form of a four-and-a-half minute clip, produced by British Canadian Pathé News, that documents the series with shots of the crowds and actual game footage.
According to the Columbus-Post Dispatch, the rare film was discovered in the archives of a Canadian library by a filmmaker who was an avid White Sox fan. Check it out below.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mPHqbJXDQI&w=640&h=360]
The film seems revolutionary for its time period, as it shows panoramic views and as a flyover shot taken from an airplane. It also features a cool clip showing a crowd of fans in New York gathering to watch a mechanical scoreboard as it manually inputs updates from the game.
Most importantly for baseball fans, the film also captures some controversial moments of game action. Near the end of the video, we see White Sox pitcher Eddie Cicotte, one of the eight players later banned, give up five runs in one inning to the Reds and not seem to care.
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h/t to Deadspin
