Bill James, in his Historical Baseball Abstract, makes very clear the underlying problems with making a movie about the Black Sox Scandal. James, as well as many others, feels as though the problems with making a movie about that topic is that it engages the emotions of the audience. He points out that, "Unlike a book, a movie is more of something you experience than learn about, and as such, for a movie to work, one must, as

a viewer, share in the experience of one of the characters" (pg.108). Since this story is about ballplayers who threw games and accepted bribes, this poses a difficult problem in asking the audience to share the feelings of the conspirators.

Cicotte certainly led the way in dumping the first game of the series. In the bottom of the 1st inning of Game 1, he "plunked" the first batter he faced, as a signal to the gamblers that the fix was on. Cicotte (winner of 29 regular season games and a 1.82 ERA) gave up several hits and six runs in the opening innings of the game in route to a 9-1 loss (Baseball Encyclopedia pg. 311). Cicotte's performance in Game 1 was accompanied by Swede Risberg's error on a would- be double-play that eventually led to the Reds' 5 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Lefty Williams, another key figure (pitcher) in the fix, pitched Game 2 of the Series. Though he held Cincinnati to only 4 hits, he uncharacteristically walked six batters and struck out only one batter. His performance was bad enough for an eventual 4-2 loss. Catcher Ray Schalk, who was not part of the scandal, complains in the movie that Williams crossed up the signals deliberately in order to aid the hitters. Schalk physically attacks Williams in a tirade because of his frustration.

The numbers certainly do not lie in telling the tales of these five men that took money to throw games in the World Series. The other men involved, Joe Jackson, Fred McMullin (who only had two at bats in the whole Series), and of course Buck Weaver were grouped together with others to have conspired to dump the games. However, Jackson hit .375 including the Series only home run, Weaver hit .324 as well as making numerous great defensive plays, and McMullin in his short role was 1-2 with a single. How did these guys contribute to throwing the games?

These emotional misinterpretations severely weaken any legitimate claims that this movie is at all accurate in its portrayal of the action and events of the actual World Series. However, the aim of this film is not the accuracy of the games or commentary, but to create a story that captures the atmosphere reminiscent of the early "Roaring Twenties." Eight Men Out shows how greed controlled many people, the players, the owners, and especially the gamblers. The clothing, the players' uniforms, and the detailed ballparks offer an authentic look at the culture of baseball, which is stereotypical of this time period .

Sayles' Game 3 represents the blatant disregard for factual data and interpretation of commentary between characters. In talking to Dickie Kerr while he was warming, manager Kid Gleason offered some inspiring words to the young pitcher. Gleason was enlightened to find out that Kerr had been at a game he pitched against Cy Young, where he threw a no hitter. In checking this fact, I found that Gleason never threw a no hitter in his entire career. The exaggerations continue to become extremely far fetched. In Game 3, Kerr struck out 11 batters in route to a three hit shut out. However, the numbers indicate that Kerr, i

Some common words found in the essay are:
Buck Weaver, Ring Lardner, Kid Gleason, Eddie Cicotte, Scandal James, Baseball According, Joe Jackson, Series Sayles, Ray Schalk, Jackson Weaver, world series, buck weaver, black sox, jackson hit, sox scandal, home run, black sox scandal, game 2, joe jackson, game 1, risberg chic gandil, batting average, series home run, jackson hit home, catcher ray schalk,
Approximate Word count = 2089
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)