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warshawlawCicotte, Jackson and McMullin (to use the guys cited) took money to cheat their boss. I think Landis was correct to kick them out, regardless of whether they actually cheated in the WS or merely cheated the gamblers too. Weaver is different. He did not agree to cheat.
One thing no one mentions is the "so what" factor as it relates to Weaver: so what if Weaver had informed on the others, what would have happened? Would the White Sox have pulled all of the suspect players out of there? Right, like they are going to sit Jackson and half their staff on one player's accusation. Would the series have been called off? Not likely. Or would the cheaters simply have lied about their involvement as they did afterwards? Landis was no dummy. His action against Weaver was calculated grandstanding, not rule enforcement. He banned Weaver and other peripheral actors because he wanted to send a message he felt was necessary to save the sport, not because he believed a rule had been broken. If he'd been concerned with rules, he would have promulgated a set of rules for the future and hammered the snot out of whoever broke them later on. It was more public relations than law enforcement and it makes no sense to debate the legalities of his actions. Later on, when the fire was put put and baseball was prospering under the Babe's wings, Landis had far more evidence of malfeasance by Tris Speaker and Ty Cobb. He again went with public relations by brushing it under the rug. Of course, he did end up getting Speaker and Cobb sent to D.C. and Philadelphia, so perhaps there was some real punishment involved 