Preview
  • Turning the Black Sox White

  • The Misunderstood Legacy of Charles A. Comiskey
  • By: Tim Hornbaker
  • Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
  • Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (20 ratings)

Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

Turning the Black Sox White

By: Tim Hornbaker
Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.95

Buy for $24.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Charles Albert “The Old Roman” Comiskey was a larger-than-life figure - a man who had precision in his speech and who could work a room with handshakes and smiles. While he has been vilified in film as a rotund cheapskate and the driving force, albeit unknowingly, behind the actions of the 1919 White Sox, who threw the World Series (nicknamed the “Black Sox” scandal), that statement is far from the truth.

In his five decades involved in baseball, Comiskey loved the sport through and through. It was his passion, his life blood, and once he was able to combine his love for the game with his managerial skills, it was the complete package for him. There was no other alternative. He brought the White Sox to Chicago in 1900 and was a major influential force in running the American League from its inception. From changing the way the first base position was played, to spreading the concept of “small ball” as a manager, to incorporating the community in his team’s persona while he was an owner, Comiskey’s style and knowledge improved the overall standard for how baseball should be played.

Through rigorous research from the National Archives, newspapers, and various other publications, Tim Hornbaker not only tells the full story of Comiskey’s incredible life and the sport at the time, but also debunks the “Black Sox” controversy, showing that Comiskey was not the reason that the Sox threw the 1919 World Series.

©2014 Tim Hornbaker. Foreword © 2014 by Bob Hoie (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Turning the Black Sox White

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    11
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Decent book on a baseball pioneer

Pretty good biography of Charles Comiskey - covers much more than just his ownership of the White Sox. It had MUCH more information than I bargained for, such as his long playing career in Minnesota (St. Paul) before becoming an owner. The biggest disappointment I had was that the foreword gave some very juicy information about refuting many of the claims of how much of a cheapskate Comiskey was, the popular theory behind why the White Sox "Eight Men Out" threw the 1919 World Series. Everything from the real story behind Eddie Cicotte's bonus to Comiskey's generosity was previewed - then never mentioned again until late in the book. By then, the reader heard SO much information on Comiskey that the original points that would interest the reader may have been forgotten, which was the case with me. But because the book is well researched and Comiskey's complete life is illustrated, it gets a passing grade from me.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!