Charles Comiskey
He is the White Sox team owner during the world-class 1919 season. A stingy man, he doesn't offer incentives for player performance improvement. He is also rumored to have back out of several contracts for player bonuses.
Billy Maharg and Bill Burns
These two suspected racketeers approach White Sox player Chick Gandil with an offer to persuade the star players to throw the World Series. Eager to profit from the fixed championship, these men arrange a conspiracy which earns them millions without linking back to them directly. They are never convicted for rigging the 1919 World Series.
Eddie Cicotte
Cicotte is the White Sox pitcher. He's had a phenomenal season, but right when he was about to earn his bonus for winning 30 games in the season, Comiskey benched him in order to rest his arm for the championship. He loses his opportunity for the bonus and his furious. He takes the bribe money deliberately, to spite Comiskey.
Lefty Williams
Originally accepting the bribe, Williams has a change of heart when game day arrives. He can't bring himself to play poorly. He's already accepted the money, however, and the gamblers threaten to hurt his wife if he doesn't fulfill his bargain.
Chick Gandil, Happy Felsch, Swede Risberg, Fred McMullin, and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson
These are the other men White Sox players who accepted the bribe. They play so poorly in the opening games of the series that their teammates suspect they're cheating and engage them in multiple heated altercations. After the loss, they are all investigated, tried, acquitted, and still banned from the league.
Buck Weaver
Weaver is the only one of the nine approached players who refuses to accept the money. He really wants to win the series in order to prove his name and cement his reputation as a baseball legend. In the end he is still banned because he knew about the scam and said nothing.
Hugh Fullerton and Ring Lardner
These two sports journalists are the best in their field. They know the White Sox players' season intimately. After the second loss in the final series, they suspect foul play. Fullerton publishes an article following the World Series in which he explains his suspicions and accuses specific players of throwing the series. His article leads to the investigation of the eight players.
Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis
Landis is the new league commissioner during the investigation of the 1919 World Series. Dissatisfied with the acquittal, he bans all eight players for life anyway. He wants to send a strong message to all the teams about cheating.
