Arnold Rothstein
Published in
3 min readMay 4, 2017
Rothstein was widely reputed to have organized corruption in professional athletics, including conspiring to fix the 1919 World Series.
Arnold Rothstein was born into a comfortable life in Manhattan, the son of a well-off Jewish businessman, Abraham Rothstein, and his wife Esther.
According to crime writer Leo Katcher, Rothstein “transformed organized crime from a thuggish activity by hoodlums into a big business, run like a corporation, with himself at the top.” (source Wikipedia)
Entries in “1927: The Diary of Myles Thomas”
Urban and Eddie (May 2, 1927)Bowling On Long Island: "Nine Pins To Eight" (June 6, 1927)A Walk Through Central Park. A Shoe Shine. And the Man Who Fixed the World Series. (June 8, 1927)“Are you kidding me! Are you actually asking me if Babe Ruth might want to invest in a company run by the man who fixed the 1919 World Series? Have you lost your mind?”“Allegedly, Tommy. Allegedly.”“Rothstein allegedly fixed the series the way the sun will allegedly set tonight and then allegedly rise tomorrow morning.Eels and Inventions (July 19, 1927)"Mr. Capone. A Pleasure To See You Again" (August 19, 1927)“That Jew, Rothstein, ruined the 1919 World Series. He’s the reason the White Sox are shit now. He’s a sly man. Even for a Jew.“And he’s smart — very smart. Shit, I met college professors that ain’t half as smart as that Jew. And he’s also a crook. And so’s his other partner, the one that owns the Giants.”"Every Day I’m Getting Better and Better." (August 24, 1927)Feeling Sick (September 12, 1927)The Definition of Suicide. (September 16, 1927)Blood is still oozing from the back of his head, where the bullet left him. I feel his neck, there’s no pulse. His body is still warm. Is this what Johnny Mostil felt like to Ray Schalk? But Mostil was still alive. Steven’s dead.I walk back into the kitchen — the kitchen where Stanwyck mixed her mystery drinks the night before we went up to Harlem to meet Eyre Saitch — to call the police. As I pick up the phone, someone says, “Don’t bother.”I turn and see Rothstein sitting in the dark at the kitchen table. I must have gone right by him on my way out to Steven.“Sit down.”I do as I’m told.
