'Very valuable piece right there': A baseball from the 'Black Sox' era found in Tribune Tower

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A time capsule found during recent construction on the Tribune Tower unearthed iconic game-used memorabilia from the 1919 World Series.

As CBS 2's Jackie Kostek shares, there's more to the story than meets the eye.

Inside the historic Tribune Tower, a piece of Chicago baseball history not seen in more than a hundred years.

"For me, I love memorabilia, I love things that are hidden in walls and I love mysteries."

Grant DePorter's kind of triple.

"Put it all together, it was like, 'oh my god.'"

The time capsule was discovered by a construction worker below this part of the building back in 2018. They didn't open the box until June of this year and that's when they discovered a historic baseball.

However, they didn't realize just how historic it was until they found a letter.

It reads: "This baseball was used by Pitcher Horace (Hod) Eller of the Cincinnati Reds in the fifth game of the World's Series baseball contests of 1919 against the Chicago White Sox."

"It set a World Series record that's never been broken before. This ball struck out six White Sox batters in a row."

Dark and tarnished, the ball looks every bit as old as its 103 some-odd years.

"They would say that he put as much paraffin wax on that ball as someone would put on an automobile. He would load it up on one side, put it around the stitches," DePorter said.

DePorter said Eller was the best shine pitcher in baseball, before the practice was banned a short time later. The wax made the ball cut through the air differently, making it harder to hit. 

A reasonable explanation for why six consecutive Sox batters couldn't hit the thing. Except, that's not the whole story.

Half of  those batters were later caught up with five other so-called "Black Sox" who allegedly threw the World Series for a big gambling payout.

"Chick Gandil was the leader of and he was one of the guys that struck out. Along with Charles August 'Swede' Risberg and Lefty Williams."

So were they struck out or trying to strike out? And why didn't that juicy tidbit make it in the letter, written by Harvey Woodruff, the Chicago Tribune sports editor at the time?

"He was the top candidate to be the chairman of the national baseball commission," DePorter said. "I think this was his audition for the chairmanship. It was like a PR stunt. 'Hey, I want to be your chairman. And look, everything was great.'"

Alas, Woodruff didn't get the job. The Black Sox were acquitted but banned from continuing to play. And regardless of what makes the ball most historically significant, the record that's still on the books or the biggest gambling scandal of the day.

Former White Sox slugger Ron Kittle knows a good ball when he sees it.

"I think that's a very valuable piece right there. It's a great piece to have, and as soon as everyone turns around, I'll have it in my back pocket walking out the door," Kittle said, with a laugh.

You can get an eye on that historic baseball yourself. It will soon go on display for a limited time at the Chicago Sports Museum.

In:
• Chicago Tribune
• Chicago White Sox