8 Men In?
ב"ה
When I was in high school, I read "8 Men Out". I never saw the entire movie, but I think I can safely say the book was better. I had been obsessed in my pre-high school years with the "Black Sox Scandal". I didn't become obsessed with the scandal from reading the book; I read the book because I was already obsessed with the scandal.
From what I gleaned from "8 Men Out: The Book", the person most responsible for the scandal was Charles Comiskey, then owner of the Chicago White Sox. Comiskey was typical for his generation, a generation of Baseball wherein owners were despots and players were treated as commodities. Thanks to Curt Flood and other brave players, players nowadays are at least paid what they are worth (or more????).
But in 1919, Charles Comiskey paid his high graduate players better than his non-graduate players. He put up a wall between the two with the way he treated the less educated players. The players who were involved with the scandal were in the lower-paid, less educated group.
Despite all the hoopla over the throwing of the World Series, the only two players who actually received any money from the gamblers were Joe Jackson (who got $5000) and Eddie Cicotte (who got $10,000). Cicotte, by the way, had a clause in his contract wherein he would get a $10,000 bonus (his salary that year was in the $6000 range) if he won 30 games. Cicotte won his 29th game in August and was benched after that. The manager's excuse for that was he was needed for the World Series, but it was clear that Comiskey never had any intention of paying that bonus. Any wonder why family man Cicotte went for the $10,000 bait?
In any case, Comiskey is in the Hall of Fame while the 8 men involved in the scandal were barred from the Hall of Fame. I personally think Jackson and Cicotte, possibly along with others including Chick Gandil, at least deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.
The reason I bring this up is that I was watching "Baseball Night in NY" tonight on Fox Sports and they mentioned that today is the anniversary of Barry Bonds breaking Henry Aaron's lifetime home-run record and the commentators talked about how they thought that Bonds deserved to be in the HOF. I personally disagree. They then mentioned A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez) and Peter Rose and decided that A-Rod deserved to be in the Hall (and would probably be the player that would break the "steroid era" wall to get into the HOF) but that Pete Rose would never be.
I believe that Barry Bonds and all the other steroid people should not be elected into the HOF (yes, many of them probably would have played well enough to be in the HOF, but we'll never know) and in my humble opinion, that is unfair to those players who didn't use steroids to get ahead, didn't set a bad example for the youth of America.
But, and this is a big, huge but, IF they allow steroid users into the Hall, they should allow the "Black Sox 8" and Pete Rose in too. The HOF should be a place where good players are celebrated for how they played, not for what kind of human beings they were. Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle were carousers, hardly good role models, but they are (deservedly) in the Hallowed Hall. Joe Jackson, Eddie Cicotte and Pete Rose all deserve to be in also, for their playing and not be barred for their weaknesses. Actually, I'd like to see the Chicago "8"and Mr. Rose in the Hall without the steroiders.
When I was in high school, I read "8 Men Out". I never saw the entire movie, but I think I can safely say the book was better. I had been obsessed in my pre-high school years with the "Black Sox Scandal". I didn't become obsessed with the scandal from reading the book; I read the book because I was already obsessed with the scandal.
From what I gleaned from "8 Men Out: The Book", the person most responsible for the scandal was Charles Comiskey, then owner of the Chicago White Sox. Comiskey was typical for his generation, a generation of Baseball wherein owners were despots and players were treated as commodities. Thanks to Curt Flood and other brave players, players nowadays are at least paid what they are worth (or more????).
But in 1919, Charles Comiskey paid his high graduate players better than his non-graduate players. He put up a wall between the two with the way he treated the less educated players. The players who were involved with the scandal were in the lower-paid, less educated group.
Despite all the hoopla over the throwing of the World Series, the only two players who actually received any money from the gamblers were Joe Jackson (who got $5000) and Eddie Cicotte (who got $10,000). Cicotte, by the way, had a clause in his contract wherein he would get a $10,000 bonus (his salary that year was in the $6000 range) if he won 30 games. Cicotte won his 29th game in August and was benched after that. The manager's excuse for that was he was needed for the World Series, but it was clear that Comiskey never had any intention of paying that bonus. Any wonder why family man Cicotte went for the $10,000 bait?
In any case, Comiskey is in the Hall of Fame while the 8 men involved in the scandal were barred from the Hall of Fame. I personally think Jackson and Cicotte, possibly along with others including Chick Gandil, at least deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.
The reason I bring this up is that I was watching "Baseball Night in NY" tonight on Fox Sports and they mentioned that today is the anniversary of Barry Bonds breaking Henry Aaron's lifetime home-run record and the commentators talked about how they thought that Bonds deserved to be in the HOF. I personally disagree. They then mentioned A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez) and Peter Rose and decided that A-Rod deserved to be in the Hall (and would probably be the player that would break the "steroid era" wall to get into the HOF) but that Pete Rose would never be.
I believe that Barry Bonds and all the other steroid people should not be elected into the HOF (yes, many of them probably would have played well enough to be in the HOF, but we'll never know) and in my humble opinion, that is unfair to those players who didn't use steroids to get ahead, didn't set a bad example for the youth of America.
But, and this is a big, huge but, IF they allow steroid users into the Hall, they should allow the "Black Sox 8" and Pete Rose in too. The HOF should be a place where good players are celebrated for how they played, not for what kind of human beings they were. Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle were carousers, hardly good role models, but they are (deservedly) in the Hallowed Hall. Joe Jackson, Eddie Cicotte and Pete Rose all deserve to be in also, for their playing and not be barred for their weaknesses. Actually, I'd like to see the Chicago "8"and Mr. Rose in the Hall without the steroiders.
Comments
Post a Comment