Essay on Book Review of Eight Men Out

The 1919 World Series resulted in the most famous scandal in baseball history. Eight players from the Chicago White Sox (later nicknamed the Black Sox) were accused of throwing the series against the Cincinnati Reds. Details of the scandal and the extent to which each man was involved have always been unclear. It was, however, front-page news across the country and, despite being acquitted of criminal charges, the players were banned from professional baseball for life. The eight men included the great “shoeless Joe Jackson,” pitchers Eddie Cicotte and Claude "Lefty" Williams; infielders Buck Weaver, Arnold "Chick" Gandil, Fred McMullin, and Charles "Swede" Risberg; and outfielder Oscar "Happy" Felsch.

The fix was known in the first game of the series starting with the pitch. Players where not getting enough money for playing baseball due to post war. So they saw an appointment to get more money to pay for bills are do other things they want. The amount of money they were going to get 100,000 to split between each other. (1919 Word Series) cynics were tipped off before the game even started during the betting odds swap before the first game. Baseball was struggling for survival in the pre-Babe Ruth era. Players were promised bonuses but mostly were left with empty wallet. Baseball needed some new type of flair that would attract America to it, despite it's bad reputation at the time. World War I was already making all the headlines, but the last thing baseball needed was something like this.

Joe tells it as he sees it. He had the best performance by any world series player ever. However, after he was convicted of participating in the "Black Sox" scandal baseball officials revoked his controversial, but record breaking thirteenth hit. "And Shoeless Joe Jackson, indisputably one of the greatest ballplayers whoever lived set a World Series record by making twelve hits" (Gies and Shoemaker 59). "Perhaps it just isn’t easy for a good ballplayer to play badly" (Gies and Shoemaker 59). Before the first ball was ever thrown in the 1919 World Series, rumors were spreading that the game was fixed. "Cicotte

The Chicago White Sox of 1919 were a clear favorite to win the World Series. They had all of the odds on their

In the end, no one can dispute that the 1920’s presented seemingly insurmountable tension between, “Old America,” and, “New America,” in terms of religion, social conflicts, and cultural values. This tension was masked in some places by the prosperity, brought on by the roaring twenties, but still remained at large. One good side effect of these tensions was brought about though, in the sense that many precedents, which are still followed

The New York Yankees of 1927 were a high-powered machine lead by some of the greats of all time in baseball. This baseball team was composed of seven Hall of Famers, six players including: Earle Combs, George Herman (Babe Ruth), Lou Gehrig, Herb Pennock, Tony, Lazzeri, and Waite Hoyt, and their Manager, Miller Higgins. (New York Yankees Hall of Fame Register, 70) The team had a no-mercy philosophy and had a sense of confidence exceptionally high noted by Babe Ruth: "It was murder, we never even worried five or six runs behind. Wham! Wham! Wham! And wham! No matter who was pitching." The 1920's were an "economic boom for Americans. Now people had more time on their hands with the inventions such as the car and other household

The year was 1919, and baseball was in the air. The Chicago White Sox had the World Series locked up when scandal struck. It would come to be known as the “Black Sox Scandal” when a group of players were paid by gamblers to throw the 1919 World Series, including the great Joe Jackson. It was one of baseball’s darkest hours, and still lives in infamy inside the hearts of baseball fans all across the world, especially in the south-side of Chicago, the home of the White Sox.

Comiskey basically found a “loop” in the players contracts and he got away with paying them low salaries because of the “reserve clause” in players’ contracts. The players couldn't leave the team without permission. This clause prevented the players from having any say in salaries.(Inspire: Black Sox Scandal). Chick Gandil was skeptical about cheating, but he agreed that he and a couple buddies could throw the series for a payout of about $100,000. Then, he got White Sox pitchers Eddie Cicotte and Claude “Lefty”

The 1919 World Series was very interesting to say the least. Some of the White Sox players wanted some extra money. I believe that this series is one of, if not the darkest chapter in Major League Baseball’s history.

Picture this. You're sitting in the stands, eating a hot dog, watching a baseball game. The rivalry between the Red Sox and the Yankees, and the Red Sox win. Then you think who is the greatest ever? The Yankees are that team due to their statistics, players, and past that make them the greatest of all time.

From the first inning to the last, the fans of the Chicago White Sox knew there was something particularly wrong with their winning team. The popular baseball team, who had been on a winning streak, was losing almost every single game of the World Series. It later came to light that seven players of the team were deliberately losing the game in order to receive money from two gamblers. The film Eight Men Out, directed by John Sayles, highlights the famous baseball scandal of 1919. But what is even more intriguing than the scandal itself is the way each player handles the proposal which was presented to them. Their actions each embody the concepts brought out by the eminent philosophers, Plato, Emerson, and Thoreau.

To begin, I feel the need to state that this book was slightly hard to digest. I realize that I am meant to elaborate on whether or not I agree with Joseph Nevins' thesis, but to be honest, I was rather confused as to what that thesis is. The author jumped around quite a bit, giving the reader extensive background information and lessons in history and geography, and yet, he managed to tie everything back to the main story of Julio Cesar Gallagos. I think that, perhaps, the extraneous information might have drawn too much attention away from Julio's story, and therefore, I found myself becoming detached and uncertain of Nevins' central argument. Basically, I have concluded that Nevins is a humanist. I believe that the main point of

Eight Men is a true story on a baseball team know as the Black Sox's and there scandal with the league embarrassment of 1919 It a true story on how the stars of the 1919 Chicago White Sox group took settlements from card sharks to toss the World Series. The film puts the embarrassment with regards to a work question between the players and their then all-intense group proprietor, and how mobster Arnold Rothstein exploited the debate. The outcome was a human catastrophe for players like "Shoeless" Joe JacksonIn 1919 speculator Arnold Rothstein rewards displeased individuals from the Chicago White Sox to toss the World Series against Cincinnati. The Sox was seen as the better group and their bad luck, especially in the early recreations. Many

This time in history was the upbringing of modern politics. The resolution of WWII resulted in another, less violent, international crisis, the Cold war. This new war was a battle of ideology leaving virtually no nation neutral, having the U.S. and U.S.S.R. helping (or forcing) other countries into either capitalism or communism. However war wasn’t just on the battlefront, new forms of technology and advocating made it more than easy to share a political platform, spreading either idealistic social movements or the everlasting problem of conservationalism and hate speech. This set of developments and events allowed for the making of a more tolerant america, without this crucial social and economic standpoint we wouldn’t have our innovations

There was a hazy, dim light in the bar, the kind of light one can only see when they should be asleep. The oil lamps were burning, the drunks were sleeping, and the young men in the corner were silent. Their conversation had started off like a tap gushing out water, filling the cup until it overflowed and left pools of water on the table. It was needless to say that the topic had been politics – and that they all had the same view. Before long, the pipes froze and the tap managed a thin drizzle before drying up completely. Josef and Heinrich sat slumped over the table, their heads buried in their arms. Karl and Otto sat upright, not moving at all. The last of them however, was stretched out like a cat in the sun. His long limbs