Just a few interesting numbers: (more…)
Filed under: Digging Deep - Analysis | Tagged: Paul Konerko, Steve Carlton, Starlin Castro, Randy Johnson, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Al Kaline, Tom Seaver, George Brett, Don Kessinger, Graig Nettles, Felix Millan, Joe Torre, George Stone, Roger Metzger, Ron Hunt, Bert Campaneris, Leroy Stanton, Dan Meyer, Carl Yastrzemski, Ed Whitson | 1 Comment »
The Chicago “Black Sox” (White Sox) are the most infamous team in the annals of baseball. In 1919, led by the likes of Shoeless Joe Jackson and Eddie Cicotte, the team roared into the World Series and shocked the country by losing to the underdog Cincinnati Reds. It subsequently came out that eight players on the team had conspired with gamblers to lose on purpose, thus changing the color of their eponymous socks forever. One of the honest players, pitcher Dickey Kerr, never found the ultimate success he was deserving of as a player, but he did go on to play a major role in the life and career of Stan Musial, which was rewarded in a unique way in 1958, as Stan the Man was collecting his 3,000th career hit. (more…)
Filed under: Baseball History | Tagged: Baseball History, Black Sox, Charles Comiskey, Dickey Kerr, Dickie Kerr, Eddie Cicotte, Joe Jackson, Kenesaw Landis, Lefty Williams, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Stan Musial | 2 Comments »
The story of the 1919 Black Sox scandal has been frequently rehashed over the years but even so, there is still great interest in reviewing new information or angles. Every now and then I come across something about the group that I haven’t seen before and try to restore it to general knowledge. Last year I dusted off an interview that Shoeless Joe Jackson did shortly before his death. Now, I have found that Chick Gandil, the first baseman of the doomed group, did his own narrative, and it deserves a similarly modern audience.
“This Is My Story of the Black Sox Series!” appeared in the September 17, 1956 issue of Sports Illustrated. Gandil told his side of things to Melvin Dursag, a young writer who went on to have well over 50 years in sports journalism. Dursag made Gandil’s words the emphasis of the piece and he offered little in the way of analysis. Not surprisingly, Gandil’s recollections differ quite a bit from what is accepted as the “official version” of the story and what has appeared in popular culture. Regardless, it is an intriguing counterpoint and an interesting comparison to Jackson’s interview.
The entire Gandil narrative is available online. He also briefly described the other 7 players who were banished with him. While Gandil’s version of events differed in some key ways from Jackson’s interview, he made no bones about confirming that he was involved with gamblers in conspiring to throw the 1919 World Series. For the sake of closer inspection, I am pulling out what I believe to be the most interesting portions of Gandil’s statements, and including my own thoughts in italics. (more…)
Filed under: Baseball History | Tagged: 1919 World Series, Arnold Rothstein, Baseball History, Black Sox, Black Sox Scandal, Bob Groom, Buck Weaver, Charles Comiskey, Chicago White Sox, Chick Gandil, Eddie Cicotte, Eddie Collins, Melvin Dursag, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Sport Sullivan, Walter Johnson | Leave a Comment »
Photo Courtesy of BlackBetsy.com
The October, 1949 issue of SPORT Magazine published something that has never been seen before or since. It was an interview with “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, focusing on the 1919 Black Sox scandal and his expulsion from baseball. He had previously declined to discuss the subject, and while it is unclear why he made this exception, it gives fascinating insight into one of the most mythical figures in baseball history.
“This Is The Truth!” was conducted by Furman Bisher, who wrote the piece in narrative form, as it was told to him by Jackson. Bisher was a young journalist from the South, who went on to write for publications like Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News, and The Saturday Evening Post; in addition to co-writing Hank Aaron’s first autobiography. Bisher’s lengthy career included a Red Smith Award for sports journalism; and incredibly he retired in 2010 after more than 70 years in journalism.
The entire Jackson interview is available online at http://www.blackbetsy.com/theTruth.html. For the sake of analysis, I am pulling out what I believe to be the most interesting portions of Jackson’s statements, and including my own thoughts in italics.
Filed under: Baseball History, Hall of Fame | Tagged: Black Sox, Black Sox Scandal, Chicago White Sox, Furman Bisher, Joe Jackson, Shoeless Joe Jackson | 6 Comments »
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