[KurtBevacqua]

Originally Posted by kq76

There are a lot of stories about Shoeless, but the one I tend to believe was that he did take the money, but he didn't throw the series. It was often said that he really wasn't the brightest guy and that his social skills really weren't up to snuff so it was easy for him to be pushed into things that weren't right. I believe he was pushed into taking the money, which wouldn't be surprising given the poor times and the stories of their despicably greedy owner Comiskey, but I don't believe he threw the game. Should he be banned for even just taking the money? Maybe, but I couldn't do it.

I read somewhere that Landis felt justified in banning all eight even if not all threw the series because just knowing about the fix and not saying anything was just as bad. That's a pretty compelling argument, but I still couldn't. Am I being hypocritical considering how I feel about more recent players? Maybe, but I think I'm just more sympathetic.



Reading that was sad.

BTW, Eight Men Out is, I think, my favourite baseball movie with Bull Durham second.

Cobb was implicated in his own gambling scheme as well. I think most people don't appreciate the mood at the time. There was a lot of gambling in sports, baseball in particular. There was concern the government would come in and shut things down. I believe Landis came down on the Black Sox as a way of appeasing the fed and in the end it was brilliant as it got him his anti-trust exemption.

Ironically it was in 1927 that Landis mysteriously exhonerated Cobb and Speaker of their own gambling problems. Some believe they were no less guilty than the Black Sox and Landis wrote the whole thing off to keep the appearance of a clean game and keep the feds off his back. If more facts were known today about this case we could well be discussing whether or not Cobb and Speaker belong in the Hall.