Law

Two of the most famous baseball players in history were embroiled in a gambling scandal in 1919. Detroits Ty Cobb and Clevelands Tris Speaker were accused of betting on baseball games and throwing the outcomes to their financial advantage. Because these were two legends in the game and the accuser was a teammate of some repute, the duo left the game peacefully and without further punishment. This report looks to uncover why this outcome was handed down

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Baseball is a game of grace and speed. Teams look for any edge possible to defeat their opponent. One can see Ted Williams swinging hit bat for the Boston Red Sox or Brooks Robinson of the Baltimore Orioles catching line drives from his third base position. Pittsburgh Pirates Right Fielder Roberto Clemente catching would-be runners off the base paths. Or, even Texas Rangers Pitcher Nolan Ryan firing a ball more than 100 miles an hour at helpless batters.
   
All four men are enshrined in Baseballs Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. None of them ever encountered much in the way of bad publicity. Clemente died while on a mercy mission to aid Nicaragua in 1972. Williams relationship with the media could be labeled contentious at best. Each played the game with style or grace and was not seen in the tabloids or fought to clear their names.
   
Given the state of baseball today (steroids, inflated batting averages, the Wild Card), one can see why baseball fans yearn for yesterday. Players were revered and respected for their work on the diamond. Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees could hit and play the field (Literally and figuratively) with the best. Jackie Robinson of the Los Angeles Dodgers not only broke the color barrier but also stole home plate against a pitcher during one game. The list continues on of the players who found success on the field.
   
Now, imagine if one of those players was involved in trying to manipulate the game We have seen Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire break home run records (McGwire broke Henry Aarons record in 1998 then Bonds exceeded McGwire three years later). After they were linked to the steroids investigation, no team wanted to do business with them. Although McGwire was recently hired by his former manager Tony LaRussa in St. Louis, Bonds has not drawn any interest from teams. Perhaps the perception that either one or both of  

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these players cheated tainted their achievements. It begs the question of whether there was a concerted effort by the other major league teams to phase Bonds and McGwire out of baseball.
   
Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds owns the record for most hits in a career, yet he is most remembered for being banned from Major League Baseball for betting on games. He is not enshrined in the Hall of Fame for his transgressions during his coaching days.
   
While Rose is far from perfect, he is not the only person who could have ended up as a baseball footnote. Two of the most revered baseball players, Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker, were close to suffering the same fate as Rose when it was learned they were trying to fix baseball games. This event came between the ending of World War I and the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, in which players from the

Chicago White Sox conspired to throw the World Series. Baseball reeled from the Black Sox Scandal for years. Cobb and Speaker were giants in the game. Speaker played with Babe Ruth on a Boston Red Sox team that won several World Series Championships during the previous decade. Cobb played for Detroit and was reviled by many opponents who faced him. Cobb and Speaker became friends because of their Southern ties.

During those days, teams were paid based on where they finished in the standings. Winning the division carried more weight than second place, etc. The battle was for third place because the fourth-place finisher received little or no pay for their performance. 

Cobb, Speaker, Joe Wood and Dutch Leonard (both teammates of Speaker in Boston) met for a meeting during the final days of the 1919 regular season. Apparently, money changed hands in order to make the outcome desirable for the group. Without mentioning the word bet, money was handed from the foursome to a liaison who would invest their earnings.

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The meeting was documented in letters that were written supposedly by the players themselves. Detroit players said they would make sure they would win the game against the Indians so that they would have a better chance at securing third place and a better payout.
   
Detroit won the game, but ended up in fourth place by a one-half game behind the Yankees. Both Cobb and Speaker became managers for their respective teams during the 1920 season. Leonard pitched for Cobb and Detroit until 1925, when the coach fired him. When Speaker did not pick up Leonard off waivers, Leonard said she would get his day.
   
Someone who feels they were wronged is often the person who ends up blowing the whistle on everyone else. That was Leonard in a nutshell because he felt being betrayed by Cobb and Speaker. That said nobody likes a tattler either. Lucky for Leonard, there were no ties to organized crime, or else this might have ended differently.
   
Calling out Cobb and Speaker only made them angry. He produced the documents from 1919 to MLB President Ban Johnson in hopes of making the pair pay. Johnson wanted to have the issue swept under the run before Commissioner Judge Landis got a hold of the details. Had that occurred, then there would have been a league-wide investigation and the probable punishment or banishment of Cobb and Speaker.
   
Having them retire as players and be terminated as coaches was Johnsons idea in order to mitigate the damage caused by both Cobb and Speaker. This would decrease suspicion of any wrongdoing by either men, so was the though. It did not take much longer before people learned of the real reason why the icons were let gogambling accusations.
   
Commissioner Landis was not happy upon learning what had transpired. He ordered an inquiry pertaining to the issues at hand. All parties were invited to the league office in Chicago to   
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discuss their role in the conspiracy and cover-up. Only Leonard failed to attend citing safety fears.
   
Cobb said that the reason for Leonards release was that he was no longer useful to his team. What was interesting was it occurred in 1925, one year before Leonard would have been a 10-year man, meaning Leonard could have been given his unconditional release and commanded a big contract from a National League team.   

Cobb and Speaker hired legal counsel and denied they conspired to fix the game in question. Cobb said it would not have been in his financial interests to throw a game in which he played (and collected three hitsin a game he was allegedly supposed to lose). Speaker also reached base once in the same game and won.
   
Their explanation was that the money was to be placed on horses (legal to do at the time) and not on the game. The public sided with the players figuring the event in questions happened seven years ago (1919) and should not have been brought up so many years later.    

Commissioner Landis agreed, saying there was no evidence that either player tried to fix the game in question and was cleared. It also meant their coaching days were over. Cobb continued playing for the Philadelphia Athletics (now based in Oakland) and Speaker would play for the Washington Senators before retiring. Both men would have their busts in the Hall of Fame (Cobb in 1936, earning more votes than Babe Ruth) and Speaker the following year. Ban Johnson would have to take a leave of absence before stepping down permanently from his post.
   
So, what was the problem with all of this Cobb and speaker were men of privilege, wealth and power. Cobb knew influential people from his home state of Georgia and would have 
Gambling 7 raised a fuss had Major League Baseball tried forcing him out permanently. Cobb also knew too much that would have jeopardized the game (much like the 1994 strike and the on-going steroids investigation hindered its popularity decades later). Speaker was also connected and that made for a formidable team in trying to rid itself of a problem.
   
Also, having the Black Sox Scandal a few months later in 1919 made in indelible mark on the nation. Everyone on that team involved with the scandal was expelled from the leaguea move approved by Commissioner Landis. He also had dealing with businesses that ran afoul of the law and made them pay heavy fines for their actions. Landis saw that he could not win a case that had been in cobwebs for seven years and the main accuser was already out of baseball.
   
It made little sense that one group must adhere to a certain set of rules and others can dodge them. Landis had a job to do and he looked the other way because of who was involved. Rose is still out of baseball and can not be elected to the Hall of Fame unlessor untilhe is reinstated by whomever is occupying the commissioners seat at the time.
   
Cobb is seen as one of the fiercest competitors and winners of all time. Speaker could be considered one of the elite outfielders in the game. Interestingly, when both men died, no mention was made of the scandal. They were mentioned as great baseball players and nothing else.
   
Perhaps that is the lesson leave well enough alone and if you have something to say, then say it then and not wait.