A dramatization of the Black Sox scandal when the underpaid Chicago White Sox accepted bribes to deliberately lose the 1919 World Series.
A semi-fictionalized account of the scandal surrounding the 1919 World Series, coined the Black Sox Scandal, is presented. The Chicago White Sox, considered the cream of the crop and one of the best major league teams ever, has just won the American League pennant, and are odds on favorites to win the World Series against the Reds. While team owner Charles A. Comiskey publicly crows about the superiority of the team he has assembled especially in their cohesion, he is unaware that arguably the cohesion in the players' determination to win is matched only by their feeling of unappreciation by Comiskey, especially financially as he screws them over time and time again on promises made. Sensing an opportunity, professional gamblers begin to feel out who they believe may be sympathetic Chicago players to a game and/or series fixing scheme, especially lucrative seeing as the to the disparity between the two teams. There end up being eight players "in" to various degrees, from being the "all in" negotiators between the gamblers and the players, to those somewhat unaware of what is happening, to those just in the know but remain silent. Things quickly go off the rails as each individual and group is looking out solely for his own interest, from the disparate groups of players, to the gamblers, to the scheme financiers, to the team owners - Comiskey and others - as closely watching sports journalists can see that some of the Sox players are not playing as hard or as well as they can.—Huggo
The great Chicago White Sox team of 1919 is the saddest team to ever win a pennant. The team is bitter at their penny pincher owner, Charles Comiskey, and at their own teammates. Gamblers take advantage of this opportunity to offer some players money to throw the series. (Most of the players didn't get as much as promised.) But Buck Weaver and the great Shoeless Joe Jackson turn back at the last minute and try to play their best. The Sox actually almost come back from a 3-1 deficit. Two years later, the truth breaks out and the Sox are sued on multiple counts. They are found innocent by the jury but baseball commissioner Landis has other plans. The eight players are suspended for life, and Buck Weaver, for the rest of his life, tries to clear his name.—Patrick Lynn <[email protected]>
John Sayles' recounting of the 1919 "Black Sox" incident, in which the Chicago team conspired with organized-gambling powers to throw the World Series.—Susan C. Mitchell <[email protected]>
Eight Men Out tells the true story of the infamous 'Black Sox' scandal of 1919, in which the White Sox players deliberately lost the World Series. The movie places the scandal in the context of a labor dispute between the players and their then all-powerful team owner, and how mobster Arnold Rothstein took advantage of the dispute. The result was a human tragedy for players like "Shoeless" Joe Jackson.—Reid Gagle
In 1919, the Chicago White Sox have won the American League pennant and are considered among the greatest baseball teams ever assembled; however, the team's stingy owner, Charles Comiskey (Clifton James), gives little inclination to reward his players for a spectacular season. Instead of giving them a bonus like he promised, he sends them a few bottles of champagne to celebrate.The Sox are in the world series and are 3:1 odd on favorites to win. Comiskey is proud that there are no VIPs on his team, and every person is a team player. But even the media is aware that Comiskey is not paying his players what they are worth.
Gamblers "Sleepy Bill" Burns (Christopher Lloyd) and Billy Maharg (Richard Edson) get wind of the players' discontent. The deal is $10,000 each for a group of 6-7 players to throw the World Series.They ask shady player Chick Gandil (Michael Rooker) to convince a select group of Sox-including star knuckle-ball pitcher Eddie Cicotte (David Strathairn), who led the majors with a 29-7 win-loss record and an earned run average of 1.82-that they could earn more money by playing badly and throwing the series than they could earn by winning the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds.Cicotte was motivated because Comiskey refused him a promised $10,000 should he win 30 games for the season. Cicotte was nearing the milestone (with 29 wins) when Comiskey ordered team manager Kid Gleason (John Mahoney) to bench him for two weeks (missing five starts) with the excuse that the 35-year-old veteran's arm needed a rest before the series.Cicotte has 2 daughters whom he plans to send to college, and he needs the money. Gandil decides to offer the same deal to multiple bookies so they can multiply their earnings from a single season. The deal is $10,000 paid upfront, before the first game, to each participating player.Meanwhile, Burns and Maharg try to make a deal with gangster Rothstein as he is the only one with the kind of cash to finance this operation.Rothstein pays $80,000 to bookie "Sport" Sullivan (Kevin Tighe), who also brought the same deal to him. Sullivan was supposed to pay $40,000 to the players and hold the rest till they threw the world series. Sullivan decides not to pay the players and bets the entire amount on the Cincinnati Reds for the first game.
A number of players, including Gandil, Fred McMullin (Perry Lang), Swede Risberg (Don Harvey), and Lefty Williams (James Read), go along with the scheme. "Shoeless Joe" Jackson (D. B. Sweeney), the team's illiterate superstar, is also invited, but is depicted as not bright nor entirely sure of what is going on. Buck Weaver (John Cusack), meanwhile, insists that he is a winner and wants nothing to do with the fix.
When the best-of-nine series begins, Cicotte (pitching in Game 1) deliberately hits Reds lead-off hitter Morrie Rath in the back with his second pitch in a prearranged signal to gangster Arnold Rothstein (Michael Lerner) that the fix was on. Cicotte then pitches poorly and gives up five runs in four innings-four of them in the fourth, highlighted by a triple from Reds pitcher Walter "Dutch" Ruether.He is then relieved by Gleason, though the Sox lose the first game, 9-1. After the first game, the players get paid partial amount of what they were promise by Sullivan.
Williams also pitched poorly in Game 2, while Gandil, Risberg and Hap Felsch (Charlie Sheen) made glaring mistakes on the field. Several of the players become upset, however, when the various gamblers involved fail to pay their promised money up front.
Chicago journalists Ring Lardner (John Sayles) and Hugh Fullerton (Studs Terkel) grow increasingly suspicious, while Gleason continues to hear rumors of a fix, but he remains confident that his boys will come through in the end.
A third pitcher not in on the scam, rookie Dickie Kerr (Jace Alexander), wins Game 3 for the Sox, making both gamblers and teammates uncomfortable. Other teammates such as catcher Ray Schalk (Gordon Clapp) and second baseman Eddie Collins (Bill Irwin) continue to play hard, while Weaver and Jackson show no visible signs of taking a dive with Weaver continuing to deny participation in the fix.
Cicotte loses, again, in Game 4 and the Sox lose Game 5, as well, putting them one loss away from losing the series. With the championship now in jeopardy, the Sox manage to win Game 6 in extra innings.Gleason intends to bench Cicotte from his next start, but Cicotte, feeling guilty about throwing his previous games, begs for another chance. The manager reluctantly agrees and is given an easy Game 7 win.Still only partially paid by the gamblers, Williams also intends to win, but when his wife's life is threatened, he purposely pitches so badly that he is quickly relieved by "Big Bill" James in the first inning. Jackson hits a home run off Reds pitcher Hod Eller in the third inning, but the team still loses the final game.
Cincinnati wins the Series (five games to three). Fullerton writes an article condemning the White Sox. An investigation begins into the possible fixing of the Series. In 1920, Cicotte and Jackson sign confessions admitting to the fix (though the illiterate Jackson is implied as having been coerced into making his confession).
As a result of the revelations, Cicotte, Williams, Gandil, Felsch, Risberg, McMullin, Jackson, and Weaver are charged with conspiracy. The eight men are acquitted of any wrongdoing when Comiskey and Rothstein make a deal behind the scenes to avoid any damage to both their businesses. The signed confessions go missing from the trial.Landis was a judge and was offered a lifetime contract by the baseball league to take up the position of the commissioner of the league, to buttress the image and to project confidence in the cleanliness of the games.Newly appointed commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis (John Anderson) bans the eight men for life because they either intentionally lost games or (as Weaver did) knew about the fix and didn't report it to team officials.
In 1925, Weaver watches Jackson play a semi-pro game in New Jersey under the assumed name "Brown". Hearing other fans suspecting his true identity, Weaver tells them that Jackson was the best player he ever saw. When asked point-blank if the player is indeed Jackson, Weaver denies it, protecting his former teammate by telling the fans "those guys are gone now", solemnly reminiscing on the 1919 World Series.A title card reveals that the eight players banned from the scandal never returned to the majors. Weaver unsuccessfully attempted to have his ban overturned on several occasions until his death in 1956.
