Thread by @buckweaver

#OTD in 1921, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis announced a lifetime ban of the Black Sox, who were acquitted of criminal conspiracy charges by a Chicago jury in baseball’s “trial of the century” the day before. Here’s what we’ve learned since: sabr.org/eight-myths-out #BlackSox100

Thanks to @ChicagoMuseum, we now have access to thousands of pages of trial transcripts and testimony about the Black Sox trial that Eliot Asinof never got to see for “Eight Men Out.” ... For example, the “stolen” confessions. jacobpomrenke.com/black-sox/the-… #BlackSox100

The “stolen” confessions are one of the enduring myths of the Black Sox Scandal. As Bill Lamb has shown, this incident had no effect on the jury’s decision to acquit the players. (And no, Arnold Rothstein didn’t arrange the theft, either!) jacobpomrenke.com/black-sox/the-… #BlackSox100

The real Black Sox trial — unlike the fictional film version in Eight Men Out — was not full of inept prosecutors and corrupt Chicago shenanigans. As juries sometimes do, this one made up its mind early and sided with the famous ballplayers. sabr.org/research/jury-… #BlackSox100

The Black Sox jury was largely working class: mechanics & clerks. Little in common with Comiskey. What swayed them to acquit players? White Sox books showed huge increase in 1920 revenue; jury skeptical that 1919 WS fix really hurt the team. sabr.org/research/jury-… #BlackSox100

Here’s one TRUE story about the Black Sox trial: The players and jurors did celebrate at the same restaurant, partying long into the night #OTD in 1921. The party was hosted by an Al Capone associate at the notorious Bella Napoli cafe: jacobpomrenke.com/black-sox/diam… #BlackSox100

Here’s another true story about the Black Sox trial: It never would have happened if not for a secret manhunt to track down Sleepy Bill Burns, the prosecution’s star witness — that involved the AL president, two state governors, and a boxer. jacobpomrenke.com/black-sox/the-… #BlackSox100

Bill Lamb’s book on the Black Sox legal proceedings — the first resource to fully incorporate the files now available at @ChicagoMuseum — is the best way to understand what happened in the grand jury and trials. I highly recommend it. amazon.com/Black-Sox-Cour… #BlackSox100

Like the Black Sox jury, Judge Landis also made up his mind early — the 1919 World Series fixers would never set foot on an @MLB field again. Their degrees of guilt were very different, but they all got the same punishment. Forever. jacobpomrenke.com/black-sox/clos… #BlackSox100

Judge Landis’s decision to ban Buck Weaver, #OTD in 1921, was undoubtedly harsh given his degree of guilt. But Weaver’s ban was the linchpin for cleaning up the game from the corruption of the Deadball Era — nothing less would have worked. jacobpomrenke.com/black-sox/culm… #BlackSox100

Before Landis banned Buck Weaver, discussion of fixing ballgames was extremely common and went unpunished. Afterward, as @DPietrusza has written, players were fearful of receiving the same sentence — effectively ending baseball’s big crisis. baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers… #BlackSox100

We’ve learned so much more about baseball’s culture of corruption that led up to the Black Sox Scandal, the “trial of the century” & Judge Landis’ decision to ban the Eight Men Out #OTD in 1921. Check out our new @sabr Eight Myths Out project: sabr.org/eight-myths-out #BlackSox100

And a reminder: If you’re interested in joining us in Chicago next month for @SABR #BlackSox100 Centennial Symposium at @ChicagoMuseum, pre-registration is now open and all baseball fans are welcome to attend: sabr.org/2019-black-sox…