Possibly the best Black Sox book I've read

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Posted By: Bob

Steve- Yes, the book talks about the Cobb-Speaker-Joe Wood betting situation in which Dutch Leonard brought letters from Cobb and Wood (to Leonard) describing games which were bet on and possibly thrown in the AL during the 1919 season to Ban Johnson (who hated Landis). The letters are reprinted in the book. Johnson was trying to avoid scandal and so Wood (who was now the college baseball coach at Yale) was not reprimanded or banned and Speaker and Cobb were quietly "retired" from active status by Johnson but would be allowed to gracefully bow out as active players and serve as managers. Landis because of his hatred of Johnson became involved and instead of banning them from baseball for life on the testimony of Leonard and the damning letters detailing how much money was won, who get what amount, etc., instead determined that there was not a problem. You have to remember these 2 were superstars of the game while Joe Gedeon, Paulette, Fisher, Kauff and others were run of the mill players whose lives he ruined and who never threw any games, never were paid anything for throwing a game but merely violated the Buck Weaver rule (they heard something and didn't report it although they didn't physically do anything to throw a game). Even under Landis, Cobb and Speaker were not to be allowed to return to their teams, but ended up signing with 2 other AL teams and Johnson became so frustrated he quit as AL President because of it.