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Clearing up the Dutch Leonard confusion

8/27/2014

If you know your baseball history, you know that there was an important left hand pitcher for the Boston Red Sox named Dutch Leonard. If you looked into it a little further, you'd see that Leonard was a two time World Series Champion with Boston (and pitched on the 1918 team, though not in the World Series). He also threw two no hitters, one in 1916 and the other in 1918. His MLB career started in 1913 and ended in 1925. However, if you scour through the historical baseball facts on Baseball Almanac, Baseball Reference .com or Wikipedia, you'd see that a Dutch Leonard pitched in Major League Baseball through the 1953 season. This Dutch Leonard was right handed and would win 191 games throughout his 20 year MLB career.
So, there were two Dutch Leonard's; both of whom were relevant in MLB history. Hubert Benjamin Leonard was born in the year of 1892 and made his MLB debut in 1913 for the Red Sox- a year after they won their second World Series title. He would pitch efficiently in his rookie season, but in 1914 would put up one of the most impressive seasons in the history of the game for a starting pitcher. Pitching in 36 games, making 25 starts, Leonard would go 19-5, 0.96 with a WHIP of 0.886. It is understood that this was the dead ball era, but his numbers were amazing regardless. In 224+ innings, Leonard gave up just 139 hits (5.9/ 9 IP) and he also led the AL in Ks/ 9 IP (7.1). Though advanced stats were not available back then, his FIP was 1.95 and ERA+ was an astounding 282 for the season.
However, in spite of his success, Leonard was known as a little bit of a malcontent. He was constantly bickering over his salary. First, his salary disputes with the Red Sox during and after the 1918 season led to his being traded to the Yankees. When he couldn't agree to a contract with New York, he was dealt to Detroit. His continuous back and forth with Tigers manager Ty Cobb led Leonard to leave his Tigers team and play in a semi-pro outlaw type league. According to people familiar with the situation, Leonard was very bitter and may have tried to enact his revenge by fabricating the story of the game fixing going on between Cobb and Cleveland Indians manager Tris Speaker. Leonard was the key witness and it was his accusations that were brought to the attention of AL President Ban Johnson. The fact that he refused to report to speak with Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis put much scrutiny in his claims and would later lead to the dismissal of Johnson as AL President. Leonard last pitched in the majors in 1925.
Eight years later, the Brooklyn Dodgers called up a RHP by the name of Emil John Leonard. Also known as Dutch, he was born on 3/25/1909 so he was 24 years old when he made his MLB debut. The lesser discussed Dutch Leonard was the more accomplished and was one of the least talked about successful knuckle ball pitchers in the history of MLB. He started his career as a conventional pitcher; and from 1933-1936 pitched for the Dodgers, both as a starter and a reliever. An arm injury cost him to rely on the knuckle ball during the 1936 season and resulted in Leonard needing to refine his repertoire in the minor leagues and the Southern Association (Atlanta Crackers).
He would return after he was taken in the Rule 5 draft by the Washington Senators prior to the 1938 season. After a respectable first season as a full time knuckle ball pitcher (12-15, 3.43, 33 games, 31 starts), Leonard won 20 games for the Senators in 1939. Leonard happened to start the first game of a doubleheader against the Yankees on July 4, 1939. After the conclusion of the first game, which Leonard won in a complete game victory, Lou Gehrig gave his famous "I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth," speech. Despite pitching for sub par to bad Senators teams for 9 seasons, Leonard managed to have a 18 and 17 win season as well as appear in 4 All Star Games. He started the 1943 AS game for the American League, getting the win after pitching 3 innings, yielding just one run. After two well pitched seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies- one in which he managed to lose 17 games on a terrible team while pitching to a 2.51 ERA. He finished off his career pitching for the Chicago Cubs his last five seasons.
Looking at a baseball history a "Dutch" Leonard pitched from the years of 1913-1953. Of course, it was two separate pitchers. However, the one that gets the less attention is the one that was probably the more successful pitcher. No question that the first Dutch Leonard had the most talent and played on the better teams during his prime with the Red Sox. But he was his own worst enemy and wound up ruining his own career. The latter was a five time All Star (1951 with Cubs) and pitched 20 years in the big leagues.

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Not Rube Foster, not George Foster, but George "Rube" Foster

8/19/2014

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When many of us hear the name of Rube Foster, we think of the pioneer Negro Leagues player and manager and understand why he is in Baseball's Hall of Fame. When we hear the name George Foster, it is easy to think of the power hitting OF who once slugged over 50 HR for the Cincinnati Reds in the 1970s. However, there was an early 20th Century pitcher for the Boston Red Sox named George "Rube" Foster who pitched from 1913-1917. Even using baseball reference.com, when Rube Foster is searched for, even when the reference is for the former Red Sox pitcher, the great Rube Foster for the Negro Leagues comes up, and rightly so. The legendary Andrew "Rube" Foster's impact on the game of professional baseball will never be forgotten.
George "Rube" Foster made his MLB debut pitching for the Red Sox on April 10, 1913. The RHP pitched in a total of 19 games that season, going 3-3, 3.16 with 8 games started. His 1914 season was arguably his best, as Foster went 14-8, 1.70, pitching to a 1.020 WHIP. A year later, Foster won a career high 19 games and two more in the World Series for the Red Sox against the National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies. In 1916, Foster spent some time in the Red Sox bullpen as the Red Sox had maybe one of the best overall pitching staffs in the history of MLB. The starting rotation consisted of Babe Ruth, Dutch Leonard, Carl Mays and Ernie Shore. Foster was the 5th starter and also worked in relief, joining "Sad" Sam Jones and Herb Pennock. They had "Smokey" Joe Wood in 1915, which made the staff even more star studded. The Red Sox, of course, won the 1916 World Series over the Brooklyn Robins, winning also in 5 games.
After the 1916 season, Foster developed some arm trouble after 17 games, 16 starts where he went 8-7. He would not pitch again professionally until the 1923 season when he pitched for Vernon of the Pacific Coast League. His last two professional seasons saw Foster lose a total of 33 games for the Oakland Oaks of the PCL. He would retire from baseball after the 1925 season at age 37, long before passing away on March 1, 1976 at age 88.

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Will there ever be another Hall of Fame umpire?

7/15/2014

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Imagine a time where the level of play on a MLB field has become mediocre. I can see it now in light of the amount of injuries both position players and pitchers are suffering in the game today. Perhaps it is an overstatement that players are suffering more serious injuries in the game than ever before. Even though we do not want to discuss this aspect of what has happened to the game, two things have contributed to some of the injuries the game has had. It has been a proven fact that players who are on performance enhancing drugs have a bigger chance of getting injured. Also, the fact that MLB has banned amphetamines has led to more players getting injured as well. Because of that, there will never be another player who will be considered an ironman. And what happens if that is just the beginning? Could we get to a time where star players are held back to just 8-10 year careers? Then 7-9? If that happens, there would exist a chance that there will be no Hall of Fame players from this generation and beyond.
What I just said sounds a little crazy, but it has already happened in the world of umpires. The fact that the quality of umpires has been so watered down added to the fact that their jobs are being taken away by instant replay has made it very difficult for the best of the umpires to stand out. Some umpires, such as Bob Davidson, Tom Hallion and Joe West, think the way to be known as a great umpire is to get your name in the newspapers (or internet). Even though most people familiar with MLB know who the three mentioned are, none of the above are considered good at what they do.
Looking back at the days of yesteryear, umpires were known for the great work they did. Hank O'Day was recently selected into the Hall and in 2011, the more contemporary Doug Harvey entered. I have talked about some of the best over the last several years on both my show and through my blog, including Bill Klem and Jocko Conlan. But to me, there was not a better and more impact-full umpire in the history of the game than Tom Connolly. He umpired in the NL from 1898-1900 and in the AL from 1901-1931. He saw the game go from a single umpire, to two, to three to four. Four was considered too many, according to Connolly. He was the single umpire of the first ever AL game on April 24, 1901. Connolly also umpired the first ever games at Commiskey Park, Shibe Park (later known as Connie Mack Stadium), Yankee Stadium as well as Fenway Park. Connie Mack was influential in Connolly getting the job in the new AL. Umpires were treated as subhumans, often having to deal with violence and in some cases, having to fear for there own lives. Where Connolly came from in the NL forced him to have to live with the same fear. A fear that would have to exist because Major League Baseball and the National League often sided with the players and the managers as opposed to the umpires.
What Connolly had looked for was a league that had his back and that would be willing to enforce his (and the other umpires) decisions. That was the reason Connolly quit being an NL umpire in 1900. American League President Ban Johnson assured Connolly he would be respected for the job he had to do and his decisions would be back by Johnson's office. That started Connolly's 31 year run as an umpire in the American League.
Exactly 100 years ago today, during a complete game shutout thrown by Boston's Dutch Leonard, Connolly threw eight players out of the game, all from the Boston Red Sox bench, as he grew tired of the steady jockeying from the bench. This was not a common occurrence for Connolly, who unlike West and Davidson, never made the game about himself. Though in his first season as an AL umpire he ejected more players and managers than other umpire (10), he once made it through a stretch of 10 seasons without ejecting anybody. He changed the perception of umpires as whipping boys and commanded and earned respect of most everybody among players and managers.
Due to the mass resignation of umpires in 1999 and its acceptance by MLB, the game has seen a watered down version of overseers of its game. With the emergence of instant replay and its recent expanded version, umpires have less to do with its outcome. It is difficult to name the top umpires in the game today. Perhaps they are the ones who don't get their names in the postgame reports. I find it very difficult to see any of the umpires in the game today getting consideration for Baseball's Hall of Fame. Partially because their impact has been taken away. For all the reasons I have mentioned, unless the Veterans Committee elects another umpire from the past generations, we have seen the last set of umpires enshrined in the Hall.

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Elmer Stricklett and the origins of the spitball

1/15/2014

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It had been thought by many that one time Chicago White Sox and Brooklyn Superbas RHP Elmer Stricklett was the creator of the spitball. Many in the history of MLB have been known to throw it, from Whitey Ford to Gaylord Perry to mostly everybody in between. Stricklett was actually suspended from professional baseball indefinitely for pitching for outlaw teams. After his suspension in following the 1907 season, he pitched two seasons for San Jose of the Independent League in 1908 and 1909. Though he was reinstated on this date in 1912, he never again pitched in professional baseball.
Bill James and Rob Neyer have been two who have stated it was not Stricklett who invented the pitch. Reportedly, Elmer never claimed to have invented the pitch himself; he did claim to have mastered the pitch. Two pitchers he taught the pitch to: Ed Walsh and Jack Chesbro, would make it into Baseball's Hall of Fame. Stricklett learned the pitch from minor league teammate George Hildebrand in 1902.
Hildebrand learned the pitch, supposedly, from Frank Corridon, who pitched in the big leagues from 1904-1910. Corridon apparently picked up a ball out of a puddle and saw that the ball was wet on one side of it. After throwing the ball, he noticed that it had a different type of flight to the ball and was able to move differently. He experimented with it and was able to hold on to a decent MLB career, strictly by throwing that pitch.
The definition of the spitball, according to wikipedia.org, is a baseball pitch, in which the ball has been altered by the application of saliva, petroleum jelly or some other foreign substance. By the 1910s, the pitch had become common with pitchers using everything from saliva to blood to tobacco juice to mud to doctor the baseball. Some had stated it was a dangerous pitch, since the pitcher did not necessarily have control over where it was going. In 1920, Red Sox RHP Carl Mays hit Indians SS Ray Chapman in the temple, where Chapman would later die from complications. Mays threw a spitball that got away from him. At the time, the Baseball Commission was phasing the pitch out of the game. It had decided that for the 1920 season, the pitch would be limited to two pitchers per team, who had to be designated. After the 1920 season, the pitch would be outlawed, except for the pitchers who were grandfathered in. These pitchers would be allowed to throw the pitch until their careers were over. The last pitcher to legally throw the pitch was Brooklyn RHP, among other teams, Burleigh Grimes, who would pitch until the 1934 season. Among other pitchers to be allowed to throw the pitch were Urban Shocker, Dutch Leonard and Red Faber.

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Miller Huggins' place in Major League history

9/25/2013

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It is hard to believe that Miller Huggins, considered one of the architects of the great New York Yankees teams of the 1920s, has now been gone for 84 years. Huggins passed away on this date in 1929, during the end of the regular season. Just five days earlier, he checked into a hospital for erysipelas. During a game played on 9/25/1929, umpire Bill McGowan called players of both the Red Sox and Yankees to home plate to let them know that Huggins had died. The game was delayed as there was a moment of silence for Huggins, and the flag was lowered to half mass in his honor. Later on, a moment of silence was given for Huggins before game four of the 1929 World Series in Shibe Park between the Philadelphia Athletics and Chicago Cubs. Oddly enough, the Athletics came back from an 8-0 deficit with a 10 run seventh inning to beat the Cubs and gain a 3-1 World Series advantage.
As a second baseman, Huggins was considered one of the best of his time. In 1915, umpire and sportswriter, Billy Evans put Huggins among the best second basemen that had played the game to that point, along with Del Pratt, Johnny Evers, Eddie Collins and Napoleon Lajoie. Always a very heady player, Huggins was known for his speed and his ability to get on base. He came up with the Cincinnati Reds in 1904 and remained until he was traded to the St Louis Cardinals in 1910. He eventually became player/ manager and was given credit for the development of Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby.
After he was done playing, Huggins remained manager of the Cardinals through 1917. The Yankees hired him to be manager, in a situation that saw its share of oddities. First there was the divide between Yankees owners Jacob Ruppert and Tillinghast Huston. Huston did not like Huggins, and instead wanted to hire Wilmer Robinson from the Brooklyn Dodgers. Ruppert was not even sold on him, he interviewed him based on a recommendation from AL President Ban Johnson. Huggins hiring led to the growing rift between Ruppert and Huston, culminating with Huston selling his shares of the team to Ruppert. Then, there was the fact that Huggins did not necessarily want the job. He did not see the Yankees in a position that was better than the Cardinals teams he managed.
Among the moves Huggins made brought the Yankees Wally Pipp, Bob Shawkey and Dutch Leonard. These moves, along with Ruppert's purchase of OF Babe Ruth from the Red Sox, put the Yankees in the position to be contenders. Prior to this, the Yankees were looked down upon as one of the worst run franchises in the young American League. These moves put the Yankees in position to win AL Pennants in 1921 and 1922, and the World Series in 1923. A major shakeup occurred during the 1925 season, as the Yankees struggled. Lou Gehrig replaced Pipp at 1B.
During a spat with Ruth in 1925, Huggins suspended him indefinitely and got the backing from his owner Ruppert. From that point forward, Ruth never challenged Huggins' authority again. The Yankees would win the AL Pennant in 1926 and the World Series in 1927 and 1928.
Huggins was honored at Yankees Stadium with the first monument of what is now Monument Park. This was in 1932, before the ones enshrined to Ruth and Gehrig. He was on the Hall of Fame ballot for 8 years in the years of 1937-1950, but never received enough votes for election. He was voted in by the Veterans Committee in 1964.
As a player, Huggins hit .265, 9, 318 in 13 MLB seasons from 1904-1916. he stole 318 bases and walked 1003 times, finishing his career with a .382 OBP. In 17 years as a manager for the Cardinals (1913-1917) and the Yankees (1918-1929), he finished with 1413-1134 record as a MLB manager with the three World Series titles and 3 additional AL Pennants with the Yankees. It is very difficult to see how the history of the New York Yankees would have turned out had it not been for Huggins, as well as Yankees owner Ruppert.

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Breaking down the catagories of pitchers with 2 or more no hitters

7/4/2013

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Homer Bailey became the 31th pitcher in the history of major league baseball to throw a second no hitter as the Reds beat the Giants 3-0 on Tuesday 7/2/2013. In the history of the Reds franchise, he joins Jim Maloney (8/19/65, 4/30/69) and Johnny Vander Meer (6/11/38, 6/15/38) as the only Cincinnati Reds pitchers to throw multiple no hitters. Bailey's last no hitter came on 9/28/12 and was the last no hitter thrown in MLB. The last pitcher to throw the last two no hitters in baseball was Nolan Ryan with the Angels on 9/28/74 and 5/1/75. Ryan, of course, threw 4 no hitters for the Angels (also on 5/15 and 7/15/73). Later on, Ryan would throw one for the Houston Astros on 9/26/1981 and two for the Rangers (6/11/90 and 5/1/91). Among active pitchers, Bailey joins Roy Halliday (5/29/10, 10/06/10), Justin Verlander (6/12/07, 5/7/11) and Mark Buehrle (4/18/07, 7/23/09) as the only ones to have more two no hitters.
The first well known pitcher in MLB history to throw more than one no hitter was Cy Young, who threw his first on 9/18/1897, pitching in the National League for the Cleveland Spiders. However, he was not the first to throw two, or even three. He would throw two more: on 5/5/1904 and 6/30/1908, both pitching for the early Boston franchise of the American League. Christi Mathewson of the New York Giants was next, throwing his two in 7/15/1901 and 6/13/1905. White Sox RHP Frank Smith, a known spitballer, threw his two no hitters on 9/6/1905 and 9/20/1908. Next would be the positive part of what would be a sad story, and that was Cleveland's RHP Addie Joss. Within a year of his second no hitter, he was dead of typhoid fever. Joss threw his two no hitters on 10/2/1908 and 4/20/1910.
Dutch Leonard was one of a series of talented pitchers the early Red Sox teams had. He threw his two on 8/30/1916 and 6/3/1918; both years the Red Sox would win the World Series. It would be nearly 20 years until a pitcher would throw his second career no hitter. It would happen in historic fashion. The legendary Vander Meer would throw his back to back no hitters for the Cincinnati Reds on 6/11 and 6/15/1938; something that has never been matched.
In the history of MLB, there have been five pitchers (including Vander Meer) who have thrown two no hitters in the same season. After Vander Meer, the next was Allie Reynolds of the Yankees, who threw his two on 7/12 and 9/28/1951. The next year, the same feat was accomplished by Detroit's Virgil Trucks, who threw his on 5/5 and 8/25/1952. Nolan Ryan threw two no hitters for the California Angels in 1973 (5/15 and 7/15) and Roy Halliday threw his two for the Phillies in 2010 (on 5/29 and in the postseason on 10/6).
Next is the pitchers who pitched two no hitters, but combined with relievers to finish one of them. Of course, the rules changed over the past ten years, making an official no hitter being 9 complete innings of no hit baseball. Many pitchers previously credited with no hitters had theirs taken out of the record books. The first pitcher who threw a no hitter with some help was Athletics LHP Vida Blue on 9/21/1970. He pitched 5 innings and with the help of 3 relievers gave up no hits. A little over 5 years later, on 9/28/1975, Blue finished his own no hitter, giving him credit for 2 in his career. The same happened for Kent Mercker of the Atlanta Braves. His first no hitter was on 9/11/1991, when he combined with 2 relievers after pitching 6 no hit innings. On 4/8/1994, he did it himself, throwing the 2nd one of his career. Kevin Millwood threw a no hitter for the Phillies on 4/27/2003. Just last season, while pitching for the Seattle Mariners, he combined with 4 relievers to throw a no hitter on 6/8/2012.
Then there are the pitchers who threw no hitters for two different teams. Cy Young was the first to do that, throwing one for the Cleveland Spiders of the National League and two for the Boston team of the American League. Ryan, of course, threw no hitters for 3 different teams. Millwood threw his two pitching for two different teams. Hideo Nomo threw his first one for the Los Angeles Dodgers on 9/17/1996 and his second for the Boston Red Sox on 4/4/2001. Randy Johnson threw his first for the Seattle Mariners on 6/2/1990, then his perfect game for the Arizona Diamondbacks on 5/18/2004. Jim Bunning threw his first on 7/20/1958 pitching for the Detroit Tigers, then his second (also a perfect game) came for the Phillies on 6/21/1964.
And now on to those who have thrown more than two. We all know about Ryan and his seven (5/15/73, 7/15/73, 9/28/74, 5/1/75, 9/26/81, 6/11/90, 5/1/91). I mentioned Young's three (9/18/1897, 5/5/1904, 6/30/08). It is amazing that I have spoken about no hitters and not mentioned Sandy Koufax, who threw four: on 6/30/62, 5/11/63, 6/4/64 and 9/9/65. He is the only pitcher in MLB history to throw a no hitter in four consecutive seasons. Larry Corcoran pitched for the Chicago National League club in the 1800s and threw three (8/19/1880, 9/20/1882 and 6/27/1884). Corcoran became the first MLB pitcher to throw two, then three no hitters. Bob Feller threw his three for the Indians on 4/16/40, 4/30/46 and 7/1/51.
Interestingly enough while touching on pitchers who pitched no hitters for more than one team, there is the other aspect in regards to those who have pitched one in both the American and National Leagues. Young was the first to do that, and has been joined by Randy Johnson, Hideo Nomo, Kevin Millwood and Jim Bunning.
Those who have pitched more than one no hitter, that I have not mentioned, include Hall of Famers Warren Spahn (Milwaukee Braves 9/16/60, 4/28/61) and Pud Galvin (Buffalo Bisons 8/20/1880, 8/4/1884). Others include Carl Erskine of Brooklyn on 6/19/1952 amd 5/12/1956, the Cubs Ken Holtzman on 8/19/69 and 6/3/1971, Bill Stoneman of the Montreal Expos on 4/17/69 and 10/2/72, Don Wilson of the Houston Astros on 6/18/67 and 5/1/69, Steve Busby of the Kansas City Royals on 4/27/73 and 6/19/74 and Bob Forsch of the Cardinals on 4/16/78 and 9/26/83. Oddly enough pitchers with the same names, Sam Jones threw no hitters. "Sad" Sam Jones threw one for the New York Yankees on 9/4/22 and Sam "Toothpick" Jones pitched one for the Chicago Cubs on 5/12/1955. In the history of major league baseball, only the San Diego Padres remain as the only team to not have a no hitter thrown for them.

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Two men who make the Black Sox and Pete Rose look honest

2/20/2013

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The 1919 Black Sox scandal was the event that caused the stiffer rules that exist in today's game. Rules that have seen the game's all time hit leader banned from life. While the players involved in the 1919 White Sox throwing of the World Series against Cincinnati Reds and Pete Rose get all the attention when it comes to gambling and baseball, in my opinion, two other players were more blatant in their approach and have seldom been discussed. The irony is the fact that they played for the Cincinnati Reds just a year earlier, in 1918.
The Reds as the opponent of that fateful series, where members of the White Sox, led by Eddie Cicotte, Buck Weaver, Lefty Williams and Joe Jackson, took money to lose the World Series intentionally. The White Sox were so heavily favored, one who bet on the Reds would make a fortune if the Reds won. On this date in baseball history, Lee Magee was given his unconditional release from the Chicago Cubs amid suspicion that he was involved with gamblers and may have taken money to lose games during the 1919 season. Magee would then sue the Cubs to recover his lost salary for the 1920 season. Foolishly, he would confess that he conspired to thrown a game while playing for the Cincinnati Reds just ten days earlier. His intention was to admit what he did as a sign of honesty, which would convince NL President John Heydler and Cubs owner William Veeck he did not bet while playing for the Cubs. Of course, his admission forced the forfeiture of his contract with the Cubs and he was later banned for life for what he admitted to.
He was involved with Hal Chase, in my opinion, an even worse man that Magee was. Magee and Chase had each put up a check of $500, before game one of a double header with the Boston Braves in 1918. That payment entitled the two of them to one third of the gamblers winnings as long as the Reds lost the game. During the game, Magee did his part, making two critical errors and another on the base paths. The Reds ended up winning the game, with Magee forced to score the winning run. Magee stopped payment on his check, thinking Chase double-crossed him. Magee was dishonest with the game of baseball, his teammates and Chase which made him few allies when he had to address the charges. Magee was always a shady character, playing for five teams in his last five seasons and seven in his nine year career. After the Reds traded him after the 1918 season to Brooklyn, during a road trip in Boston (the same place the ill fated game was played), he was served with papers for non-payment of his debt to the gambler. This forced the trade to the Cubs, who instantly wanted nothing to do with the gambling allegations and Magee's baggage.
If Magee's actions seemed devious, Chase was the poster child for illegal betting on baseball. Chase was accused as far back as 1910 of throwing games for the New York Highlanders. Christy Mathewson, his manager in 1917, accused him of throwing games and suspended him. In addition to the incident in 1918, he was suspended by the New York Giants for throwing games in 1919. While he was in the process of being banned from professional baseball for life, he was kicked out of the Pacific Coast League for trying to bride an umpire. In addition, he was alleged to have won $40,000 betting on the Reds to win the 1919 WS.
There is no question that gambling was a big part of the game in the first 20 years of the 20th century in major league baseball. Many games were thrown as gamblers had the advantage of paying the players more money than they would be paid by their respective employers. The whole Black Sox scandal stems from the treatment by owner Charlie Comiskey, and though it was wrong, this was an example of non criminal players being pushed to commit the so called crime. Pete Rose is the all time hit king, with no proof or insinuation that he gambled on baseball while he was a player. However, his choice to gamble on baseball games when he was a manager led to his being banned for life. While the Black Sox or Rose could be considered bad people for what they did, labeling them as criminals, in my opinion, would be a stretch. Magee and Chase were criminals who just happened to play baseball. Hopefully the difference is noted.
I will leave on this one note: Rose broke the all time hits record held by Ty Cobb, who was forced to resign during the 1926 season when there was a report he conspired with Cleveland Indians manager Tris Speaker to determine the outcome of a game. The lack of evidence should not clear Cobb or Speaker as accuser Dutch Leonard produced two documents from pitcher Joe Wood to substantiate his claims. Commissioner Kenishaw Landis dismissed the case after Leonard refused to testify.

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Clearing up the Dutch Leonard confusion

Not Rube Foster, not George Foster, but George "Rube" Foster

Will there ever be another Hall of Fame umpire?

Elmer Stricklett and the origins of the spitball

Miller Huggins' place in Major League history

Breaking down the catagories of pitchers with 2 or more no hitters

Two men who make the Black Sox and Pete Rose look honest

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