Arnold "The Brain" Rothstein (January 17, 1882–November 4, 1928) was a New York businessman and gambler who became a famous kingpin of organized crime, the Jewish mafia. Rothstein was also widely reputed to have been behind baseball's Black Sox Scandal, in which the 1919 World Series was fixed.
In 1919, Rothstein's agents allegedly paid members of the Chicago White Sox to "throw", or deliberately lose, the World Series, enabling him to make a significant sum betting against Chicago: an incident known as the "Black Sox Scandal".[4]
Summoned to Chicago to testify before a Grand Jury investigation of the incident, Rothstein stated that he was an innocent businessman intent on clearing his name and his reputation. Prosecutors could find no evidence linking Rothstein to the affair and he was never indicted. Rothstein's testimony is worth quoting. "The whole thing started when (Abe) Attell and some other cheap gamblers decided to frame the Series and make a killing. The world knows I was asked in on the deal and my friends know how I turned it down flat. I don't doubt that Attell used my name to put it over. That's been done by smarter men than Abe. But I was not in on it, would not have gone into it under any circumstances and did not bet a cent on the Series after I found out what was underway."[5]
The Grand Jury believed Rothstein, but the truth was a lot more complicated and Rothstein was a lot less innocent.[citation needed] One version of this story has Rothstein turning down the proposal relayed by Attel; however, this in fact had been the second "fix" he'd refused to bankroll. A gambler called Joseph "Sport" Sullivan had previously approached Rothstein with the same idea. After receiving Attel's offer, Rothstein reasoned he could now afford to reconsider the first offer from Sullivan's. Rothstein shrewdly figured that the field was becoming so crowded with would-be fixers that he could risk getting involved and still cover his tracks. As Rothstein explained it to Sullivan "If a girl goes to bed with nine guys, who's going to believe her when she says the tenth one's the father?"[citation needed]
Another version of this story has Rothstein working both ends of the fix with Sullivan and Attell
