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Major League Baseball Scandals
There have been many dramatic on-and-off-field moments in over 130 years of Major League Baseball: Gambling scandals Baseball had frequent problems with gamblers influencing the game, until the 1920s when the Black Sox Scandal and the resultant merciless crackdown largely put an end to it. The scandal involved eight players and all were suspended for life. 1877 Louisville Grays scandal After a losing streak towards the end of the season cost the Louisville Grays the pennant, members of the team were discovered to have thrown games for money. Four players, including star pitcher Jim Devlin, were banned from professional baseball for life. 1908 bribery attempt On the eve of the "playoff" or "makeup" game between the Chicago Cubs and the New York Giants (NL), New York Giants that would decide the National League championship, an umpire refused an attempted bribe intended to help the Giants win. The Giants lost to the Cubs, and the matter was kept fairly quiet. It came out the follow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. The NL and AL were formed in 1876 and 1901, respectively. Beginning in 1903, the two leagues signed the National Agreement and cooperated but remained legally separate entities until 2000, when they merged into a single organization led by the Commissioner of Baseball. MLB is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. It is also included as one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. Baseball's first all-professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, was founded in 1869. Before that, some teams had secretly paid certain players. The first few decades of professional baseball were characterized by rivalries between leagues and by players who often jumped from one te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of the American Association (19th century), American Association in 1881 before joining the NL in 1890. The Reds played in the NL National League West, West division from 1969 to 1993, before joining the Central division in 1994. For several years in the 1970s, they were considered the most dominant team in baseball, most notably winning the 1975 World Series, 1975 and 1976 World Series; the team was colloquially known as the "Big Red Machine" during this time, and it included National Baseball Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame members Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Tony Perez. Overall, the Reds have won five World Series championships, nine NL pennants, one AA pennant and 10 division titles. The team plays its home games at Great American Ball Park, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leo Durocher
Leo Ernest Durocher (French spelling Léo Ernest Durocher) (; July 27, 1905 – October 7, 1991), nicknamed "Leo the Lip" and "Lippy", was an American professional baseball player, manager (baseball), manager and coach (baseball), coach. He played in Major League Baseball as an infielder. Upon his retirement, he ranked fifth all-time among managers with 2,008 MLB All-time Managerial wins, career victories, second only to John McGraw in National League history. Durocher still ranks tenth in career wins by a manager. A controversial and outspoken character, Durocher's half-century in baseball was dogged by clashes with authority, the baseball commissioner, the press, and umpires; his 95 career ejections as a manager trailed only McGraw when he retired, and still ranks fourth on the all-time list. Durocher was posthumously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994. Early life Leo Durocher was born in West Springfield, Massachusetts, on July 27, 1905, the youngest of four sons bor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Happy Felsch
Oscar Emil "Happy" Felsch (August 22, 1891 – August 17, 1964) was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago White Sox from 1915 to 1920."Happy Felsch Statistics and History" ''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-10-24. He is best known for his involvement in the 1919 . Early life Felsch was born in , to German immigrant parents. He dr ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swede Risberg
Charles August "Swede" Risberg (October 13, 1894 – October 13, 1975) was a Major League Baseball shortstop. He played for the Chicago White Sox from 1917 to 1920, and is best known for his involvement in the 1919 Black Sox scandal. Background Charles Risberg was born and raised in San Francisco, California. He had very little education growing up and dropped out of school in the third grade. However, he soon developed a reputation as a good semipro pitcher and began his professional baseball career in 1912. Risberg soon converted to shortstop. In 1914, he hit .366 in the Class D Union Association and was acquired by the Venice Tigers of the Pacific Coast League. He was the club's utility infielder in 1915 and 1916, gaining acclaim for his defensive skills. He was then bought by the American League's Chicago White Sox in early 1917. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fred McMullin
Fred Drury McMullin (October 13, 1891 – November 20, 1952) was an American Major League Baseball third baseman. He is best known for his involvement in the 1919 Black Sox scandal. Early life Fred McMullin was born to Robert and Minnie McMullin, the first of nine children. The family grew so big that eventually they migrated to Southern California, where Fred attended Los Angeles High School. McMullin played for the school's baseball team, which boasted another future major leaguer ball player in Johnny Rawlings. Career McMullin got his first taste of playing pro ball when he signed a contract to play for the Long Beach Sand Crabs of the short lived Trolly League. The teams were often short on funds and many times, players weren't paid. The league folded after a few months. After that McMullin bounced around from minor league to minor league until he signed with the Seattle Giants of the Northwestern League, which was at the time considered a launching point for future ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chick Gandil
Charles Arnold "Chick" Gandil (January 19, 1888 – December 13, 1970) was a professional baseball player. He played for the Washington Senators, Cleveland Indians, and Chicago White Sox of the American League. He is best known as the ringleader of the players involved in the 1919 Black Sox scandal. Described by his contemporaries as a "professional malcontent", he was physically well-built at and , and had a mean and callous expression. He used both to display his toughness, and also did not hesitate to use sheer strength to get his point across. Early years He was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, to Swiss immigrants Louise Bechel and Christian Gandil. He was their only child. The Gandil family migrated west and the 1900 census (taken June 8) has their address registered as Seattle, King County, Washington. After 1900, the Gandils moved to California, settling in Berkeley. The young Gandil soon showed an interest in playing baseball. He joined the Oakland High School baseball ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buck Weaver
George Daniel "Buck" Weaver (August 18, 1890 – January 31, 1956) was an American shortstop and third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox. Weaver played for the 1917 World Series champion White Sox, then was one of the eight players banned from the Major Leagues for his connection to the 1919 Black Sox Scandal. Baseball career Weaver was born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, to Daniel Weaver and Susan Snell and began his major league career on April 11, 1912, as a shortstop for the White Sox. Weaver switched to third base in 1917 after Swede Risberg joined the team. An excellent fielder, Weaver was known as the only third baseman in the league against whom Ty Cobb would not bunt. He led the majors in sacrifice hits in 1915 and 1916. In the famous 1919 World Series, Weaver batted .324, tallying 11 hits. After the Series was over, many suspicious reporters made allusions to a possible fix. However some sportswriters praised Weaver for his effo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lefty Williams
Claude Preston "Lefty" Williams (March 9, 1893 – November 4, 1959) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball. He is probably best known for his involvement in the 1919 World Series fix, known as the Black Sox Scandal. Career Williams was born in Aurora, Missouri, to William and Mary Williams."Lefty Williams" ''sabr.org''. He began his major league career on September 17, 1913, with the . Williams' breakthrough season came in 1915, while with the of the |
Eddie Cicotte
Edward Victor Cicotte (; June 19, 1884 – May 5, 1969), nicknamed "Knuckles", was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball best known for his time with the Chicago White Sox. He was one of eight players permanently ineligible for professional baseball for his alleged participation in the Black Sox scandal in the 1919 World Series, in which the favored White Sox lost to the Cincinnati Reds in eight games. The "fixing" of the 1919 World Series is the only recognized gambling scandal to tarnish a World Series. Family Cicotte was the son of Ambrose Cicotte and Archange Mary Drouillard, both of mainly French-Canadian extraction. He married Rose Ellen Freer, daughter of Russell John Freer and Annie Cecile Thornton, both of whom would later live with the Cicottes. They had two daughters, Rose and Virginia, and one son, Edward Jr. Career Cicotte was a starting pitcher and a knuckleball specialist who won 208 games and lost 149 over the course of a 14-year career pitc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shoeless Joe Jackson
Joseph Jefferson Jackson (July 16, 1887 – December 5, 1951), nicknamed "Shoeless Joe", was an American outfielder who played Major League Baseball (MLB) in the early 1900s. Although his .356 career batting average is the fourth highest in the history of Major League Baseball (MLB), he is often remembered for his association with the Black Sox Scandal, in which members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox participated in a conspiracy to fix the World Series. As a result, Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis banned Jackson from baseball after the 1920 season. During the World Series in question, Jackson had led both teams in several statistical categories and set a World Series record with 12 base hits. Jackson's role in the scandal, his banishment from the game, and his exclusion from the Baseball Hall of Fame have been fiercely debated. Jackson played for three MLB teams during his 12-year career, playing primarily in left field. He spent 1908–1909 as a member of the Philade ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenesaw Mountain Landis
Kenesaw Mountain Landis (; November 20, 1866 – November 25, 1944) was an American jurist who served as a United States federal judge from 1905 to 1922 and the first Commissioner of Baseball from 1920 until his death. He is remembered for his handling of the Black Sox Scandal, in which he expelled eight members of the Chicago White Sox from organized baseball for conspiring to lose the 1919 World Series and repeatedly refused their reinstatement requests. His firm actions and iron rule over baseball in the near quarter-century of his commissionership are generally credited with restoring public confidence in the game. Landis was born in Millville, Ohio. His given name was a variant spelling of the site of the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, a major battle of the American Civil War in which his father had been wounded. Raised in Indiana, Landis became a lawyer, and then personal secretary to Walter Q. Gresham, the new United States Secretary of State, in 1893. He returned to private ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
