The Irony of a Deals a Deal
Eddie comes to Comiskey's office to ask for the $10,000 bonus that was in his contract for winning 30 games. Comiskey tells him he's only won 29 knowing that he benched Eddie for two weeks, he says to rest him for the playoffs, a timeframe when Eddie could've won two more games. The irony is that had Eddie been taken care of, he wouldn't have had to fix the series for the exact same amount that Comiskey owed him in his bonus.
The Irony of a Sure Thing
Chick and Swede set up a fix that they believe to be a sure thing. They've got two sources coming to them to pay them out for losing the World Series. And, that's all they have to do is lose so, they do. The irony is that the sure thing they are betting on is a bunch of crooks keeping their word in that they will pay them. Thus, the sure thing evaporates.
The Irony of the Fix
When the Sox lose the series to the Reds, it's unfathomable to their fans. They are one of the greatest teams to ever play the game. But, the majority of the team chooses to take the money and run. The irony that we see so clearly in many of the players is that they will never know if the Reds were the better team, and they will have to live with that.
The Irony of Being The Champ
Abe works for Rothstein, and is a former champion boxer. When he meets Burns and Billy who proposition him to meet with Rothstein about funding the World Series fix, he calls them both bums. He tells Burns he was a bum who never saw the playing field and that Billy was a bum fighter. The irony is this "champ" ends up being the biggest bum of all, as he knows what it takes to earn his living punch by punch, yet when given the opportunity to pay the players he chooses to keep the winnings for himself. He's the bum.
The Irony of Not Participating
Buck knows that the fix is on. he's one of the guys that hears about what's going on before game one. It appears that he is going to do it, but on the field we see him make the decision to give it his all and not throw the Series. The irony is that even though he didn't take a cent, nor did he try to throw any game he was still complicit in the eyes of the league, and he along with all of his teammates were banned from Major League Baseball for life.
