Chick Gandil

Charles Arnold "Chick" Gandil (January 19, 1888 – December 13, 1970) was an American professional baseball player. He played for the Washington Senators, Cleveland Indians, and Chicago White Sox of the American League. He is best known as the ringleader of the players involved in the 1919 Black Sox scandal. Described by his contemporaries as a "professional malcontent", he was physically well-built at 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) and 195 lb (88 kg), and had a stern and challenging demeanor. He used both to display his toughness, and also did not hesitate to use sheer strength to get his point across.

He was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, to Swiss immigrants Louise Bechel and Christian Gandil. He was their only child. The Gandil family migrated west and the 1900 census (taken June 8) has their address registered as Seattle, King County, Washington. After 1900, the Gandils moved to California, settling in Berkeley. The young Gandil soon showed an interest in playing baseball. He joined the Oakland High School baseball team in 1902 and played all positions except first base.

After two years at Oakland High School, Gandil left home to make it on his own. He took a train to Amarillo, Texas, and played catcher in the local semi-pro baseball league for the Amarillo team. In 1907, he migrated to Humboldt, Arizona, and worked as a boilermaker in the copper mines. He played catcher for the semipro team that was sponsored by the local smelting company. The Humboldt baseball club experienced financial problems in 1906, and Gandil moved on to a team in Cananea, Mexico, 40 mi (64 km) from the United States. "I caught on with an outlaw team in Cananea, Mexico, just across the Arizona border. Cananea was a wide-open mining town in those days, which suited me fine. I was a wild, rough kid. I did a little heavyweight fighting at $150 a fight. I also worked part-time as a boilermaker in the copper mines." It was with the Cananea, Mexico, team that Gandil became a first baseman.

Gandil entered professional baseball in 1908. He spent the season with Shreveport (Louisiana) in the Texas League and batted a solid .269. That same year, he met 17-year-old Laurel Fay Kelly (a Mississippi native), and they were soon married.

After the 1908 season, Gandil was drafted by the St. Louis Browns. Failing to make the club in the spring of 1909, the Browns ordered him back to Shreveport. Gandil refused to report, though. He headed back west with his new bride and joined the Fresno team in the outlaw California State League. For this offense, Gandil faced blacklisting by organized baseball. He reconsidered his decision and joined Sacramento of the Pacific Coast League for the remainder of 1909 season. He was arrested, however, for having stolen $225 from the Fresno team coffers.

Gandil was successful in Sacramento. He batted .282, and late in the 1909 season, was sold to the Chicago White Sox. He was not required to report to Chicago until the following season.

Gandil made his major league debut on April 14, 1910, with the White Sox, which was a disaster. He appeared in just 77 games and batted just .193. It was reported that he had trouble hitting the curveball. He was sold to Montreal in 1911 and spent the season in the Eastern League. He had a solid season (batting .304), and several major league clubs wanted to draft him. The rules at the time stated that only one player could be drafted from each team, so Gandil returned to Montreal to begin the 1912 season. He hit over .300 in the first 29 games and was sold to the Washington Senators. He was now better prepared to play major league baseball, and in 117 games, he batted .305 and was the American League leader for first basemen in fielding percentage.

From 1912 to 1915, Gandil led the Senators in runs batted in three times and batted .293. In the field, he paced American League first basemen in fielding percentage four times and assists three times. Gandil remained with the Senators through the 1915 season and played the 1916 season for the Cleveland Indians.