Pittsburgh Steelers Quiz: 1) Most rushing yards, season?
2) Most passing yards, season? 3) Most pass receptions, career?
4) How many seasons did Chuck Noll coach? Answers below.
The Black Sox
[Editor Note: I asked my friend Johnny Mac to do a story on the
“Black Sox.” Over the next three “chats,” he explores it in his
own inimitable way.]
With the World Series in the offing, we thought it was important
to revisit the most famous scandal in baseball history…the 1919
Chicago “Black Sox.” I”m sure even the most casual fan knows
the Cliff Notes version, namely that eight members of the team
conspired with gamblers to throw the World Series for money.
The eventual outcome is also well-known; that the players, the
infamous “Eight Men Out,” were banned from baseball for life.
There is so much more to the story though…what led up to the
fix, the state of baseball at the time, the personalities involved,
and how the scandal still affects baseball today. At its core it is a
simple tale, involving two commodities still in great abundance
today, greed and stupidity. You can find similar stories
throughout history, from politics to business to organized crime.
First, some background.
The White Sox of the late teens were a truly great team. They
had won the championship in 1917 and easily won the American
League pennant in 1919. It was a balanced club, featuring
excellent pitching, hitting and fielding. They had four quality
starters, Eddie Cicotte, Claude “Lefty” Williams, Urban “Red”
Faber and youngster Dickie Kerr. The line-up featured a bona
fide all-time great, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, third baseman Buck
Weaver, who was on the precipice of greatness, Hall of Famer
Eddie Collins at second, and slick fielding Happy Felsch in
center. The supporting cast were solid major-leaguers, as well;
catcher Ray Schalk, first baseman Chick Gandil, and shortstop
Swede Risberg. They were managed by baseball “lifer” Kid
Gleason and owned by the legendary Charles Comiskey.
At a glance all would seem well, given the circumstance
described above. In reality, nothing could be farther from the
truth. The team was torn by dissension, broken up into basically
two factions. One, led by Gandil and Risberg, hated the
notoriously cheap Comiskey and resented the highly paid and
educated Collins. The other faction, including Collins, Schalk
and Kerr, were loyal to the ownership and viewed as “straight-
laced.” Players such as Jackson and Weaver, who had no
particular axe to grind, were nonetheless friendlier with the
Gandil crowd.
Comiskey”s frugality can not be overstated. He was an old-time
owner who reaped tremendous financial gain from his team
while treating his players like indentured servants. For those of
you too young to remember sports prior to free agency and
player”s unions, it was quite a different world. The reserve
clause, which bound a player to his team for life, was in full
effect. The courts had ruled in baseball”s favor regarding this,
basically exempting them from existing anti-trust laws. Players
who were offered contracts not to their liking could either sign
them or not play in the majors at all. There was no union, no
arbitration, and no recourse. Take it or leave it. In fact, most
contracts contained the dreaded (by the players) ten-day rule,
which allowed the ownership to fire a player with 10 days notice
for any reason (injury, incompetence, whatever) and not be
obligated to pay them the balance remaining on the contract. Not
a bad deal for the owners, huh? It was basically a risk-free
option on the player”s health and performance.
The system resembled the Middle Ages, with each team a
fiefdom, dependent on the largesse of its owner. There was no
real central authority to settle disputes, no commissioner or
governing body with any power. Common wisdom would
dictate that an owner who had come through the ranks as a
player, manager and front office director, as had Comiskey,
would be more sympathetic to the players plight. In fact,
Comiskey had bolted the National League for the upstart
American League, citing this treatment of players as his main
impetus. Funny how this works out in real life, however. A wise
man once told me to pick your enemies carefully because that”s
whom you eventually end up resembling.
That adage was all too applicable to Charles Comiskey. In an era
when owners could set the rules and treat players as they wished,
Comiskey stood out. In fact the common thought that the
nickname “Black Sox” referred to the scandal is wrong. The Sox
received that moniker because Comiskey charged the players 25
cents apiece to launder their uniforms, an uncommon practice
even in those times. The players balked at paying this fee,
choosing instead to play in dirty, unlaundered attire. This was
but one example. Comiskey also showered the press with gifts
and meals, hoping for good write-ups from the boys in the fourth
estate while giving his players the lowest per diem meal money
in the league. In another instance, as a reward for winning the
1917 Series, a case of flat champagne was sent to the locker
room (a cash reward had been promised, or at least hinted at).
And then there is the case of Eddie Cicotte, the dean of the staff,
who was promised a bonus for winning 30 games. Reaching 29
in early September, he was “rested” down the stretch. No bonus
was forthcoming.
This didn”t exactly foster good feelings between ownership and a
good majority of the players. As I mentioned previously, some
players were loyal soldiers, accustomed to the system, while
others, specifically Collins, were well paid. Collins was lucky
because Comiskey coveted his services and purchased him from
Connie Mack”s Philadelphia A”s. Part of the deal was that
Comiskey would assume Collins”s contract, a then robust $14,500
per year. Seeing as other top players on the Sox were making
about $6,000 per, you can imagine the erudite Mr. Collins (a
Columbia University grad) was not exactly well loved. This
contributed to the tension on the team.
Against this backdrop, the plot was hatched. First off, gambling
and baseball were not exactly strangers at this junction. You
don”t just fix a World Series as an isolated incident. One must
work up to that level. Gamblers regularly socialized with
players, plying them with drinks and meals. The object was
information. Who was hurt, who was going through a tough time
at home, who might have been hitting the bottle a little too much.
As any gambler can tell you, anything that gives you an edge is
valuable. The players, mostly underpaid and uneducated, saw
nothing (or chose to see nothing) wrong with this chummy little
arrangement…Monday, Part II.
Wildlife Follow-Up
Regarding my comments on skunks the other day, Harry K.
alerted me to the fact that if you are ever ”skunked,” tomato juice
doesn”t work. A mixture of hydrogen peroxide, water and
baking soda does the trick. [Harry has had lots of practice with
his dogs.]
Also, Harry alerted me to the story that Naoko Takahashi, the
women”s marathon winner in Sydney, credited drinking the
stomach juices of giant, killer hornets with her success. Yup, it”s
true. It seems that the hornets fly some 60 miles a day, at up to
20 mph, to get food for the young. Ergo, they have a lot of
stamina. And for Takahashi, it was all perfectly legal! As for
those of you who might be focusing on the word “stamina,”
you”re on your own. [Update: Takahashi”s nutrition supplement
is also mentioned in this week”s Sports Illustrated.]
Rick Jason
Hey, Lieutenant Gil Hanley from “Combat” died! Rick Jason.
He epitomized cool. But, unfortunately, he took his own life this
week. Last week, character actor Richard Farnsworth also
committed suicide. And it was just a week ago that Jason and
fellow “Combat” cast members attended a gathering for fans in
Las Vegas.
“Combat” was on ABC from 1962 to 1967, the longest-running
World War II series in television history. Of course, it also
starred Vic Morrow, who was killed in a helicopter crash in 1982
on the set of his film “Twilight Zone: The Movie.” [Man, time
flies.]
Jason did serve, himself, in the Army during WW II.
Top 3 songs for the week of 10/20/62: #1 “Monster Mash”
(Bobby “Boris” Pickett) #2 “Sherry” (The 4 Seasons) #3 “Do
You Love Me” (The Contours)
Spade Cooley
Harry K. also had to comment on my Bob Wills reference the
other day. It seems that Wills and Spade Cooley used to compete
in “Battle of the Bands” competitions, and Cooley”s orchestra
normally won. In fact, back in the 1940s, 75 percent of the
receivers in Los Angeles were tuned each Saturday night to “The
Hoffman Hayride” in which Cooley was the feature attraction.
But Cooley had a dark side. His drinking problem became worse
as the years went by and during the 1950s, his second marriage
disintegrated and he and his wife separated. But he couldn”t stop
seeing her and in July 1961, he killed her. [It was pretty
gruesome, actually. And it all came to a head because Cooley
thought his wife was sleeping with Roy Rogers…something that
wasn”t true.]
Cooley was convicted of murder in a sensational trial and
sentenced to life in prison. But, due to health problems, as well
as his good behavior, he was released from prison in 1970 for
just a few days to take part in a benefit concert in Oakland.
Spade played before a crowd of 3,000, which greeted him
warmly and, after thanking them “for the chance to be free for
awhile,” walked backstage where he slumped over, dead, of a
heart attack. [Source: “The Country Music Encyclopedia,” Irwin
Stambler and Grelun Landon.]
Geezuz, these last few articles were pretty ugly. Sorry about
that.
Steelers Quiz Answers: 1) Rushing, season – Barry Foster, 1690
(1992) 2) Passing, season – Terry Bradshaw, 3724 (1979) 3)
Receiving, career – John Stallworth, 537 4) Noll coached from
1969-1991. He was 1-13 in his first season, followed by 5-9 and
6-8 efforts, before he broke through with an 11-3 mark in 1972.
For his career, Noll was 193-148-1; 16-8 in the playoffs.
Mets / Yankees: A poll of New Yorkers finds that 47% support
the Yankees, 34% the Mets. The remaining 19% must still be
rooting for Brooklyn.
Mets in 6!!!…wrote the editor.
Next Bar Chat, Monday. More on the “Black Sox.”
