BAD BOYS OF BASEBALL

Most everyone is familiar with the Black Sox scandal where eight Chicago White Sox players were alleged to have taken money to throw the 1919 World Series. Most infamous among the eight were Shoeless Joe Jackson, Buck Weaver and Eddie Cicotte. The full story is set out in Eliot Asinof’s book Eight Men Out. These players along with Hal Chase have been the subject of much research and writings. There are however other interesting stories of lesser known players who have run afoul of organized baseball and have found themselves on the outs.



First we have Joe Gedeon. Often referred to as the “Ninth Man Out” Joe was banned permanently for "having guilty knowledge" of the World Series fix. Joe Gedeon is pictured on his 1915 Zeenut card.







Next we have Babe Borton. Babe came into the majors with the Chicago White Sox in 1912 hitting a very respectable .371 in 105 at-bats. The next year he was traded to the Yankees and ended his major league career in the in the Federal League. Following his major league stint Babe played in the Pacific Coast League playing for theVenice and Vernon teams. During the 1919 season, it was rumored that opposing players had been bribed to insure Vernon the pennant. Babe, along with Harl Maggart and Bill Rumler and pitchers Tom Seaton of Portland and Casey Smith of San Francisco were expelled from the league for suspected activities in the scandal. Rumler received a pardon from Organized Baseball in 1928, and finished out his career playing for the Hollywood Stars.






Babe Borton is pictured here on his 1919 Zeenut card.















Harl Maggert is pictured here on his 1917 Zeenut card.











Casey Smith is pictured here in his 1919 Zeenut card.












Bill Rumler is pictured here on his 1929 Zeenut card.












Tom Seaton is pictured here on his 1911 Zeenut card.