Fred McMullin

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Frederick William McMullin (October 13, 1891 - November 21, 1952) was an American baseball player. He is probably best known for his involvement in the 1919 Black Sox scandal.

Fred McMullin was born in Scammon, Kansas in 1891. He began his Major League Baseball career on August 27, 1914, as an infielder for the Detroit Tigers.

McMullin was only a utility infielder for the 1919 White Sox, and as such he didn't play enough to have much potential for throwing games (he recorded just 2 plate appearances in the 9-game series). However, he became a part of the conspiracy when he overhead several other players' conversations and he threatened to report them unless included.

McMullin was also Chicago's advance scout for the World Series in 1919, which may explain how and why he earned an equal share in the winnings from the fix. It is entirely probable that, as a means to cover himself and his co-conspirators, McMullin delivered a flawed scouting report to all the "clean" Sox about what to expect from Cincinnati's pitchers. A look at the statistics shows little disparity between Black Sox and Clean Sox: as one example, ringleader Chick Gandil batted .233, future Hall of Famer Eddie Collins .226.

For his part in the fix, McMullin was banned for life from Major League Baseball, along with seven other players, by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis.