Without Arnold Rothstein, the 1919 White Sox may have been known as a championship team, instead of as the team that threw the World Series. Author David Pietrusza tells a fascinating story in "Rothstein: The Life, Times and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series" (Carroll & Graf, $27). We are taken to the seedy New York underworld from where Rothstein financed gamblers who bribed eight White Sox players to throw the World Series to Cincinnati. The Reds won the series, then a best-of-nine format, in eight games. "Rothstein made lots of money betting on underdogs...
