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| Name: Mike From: Tallahassee, FL E-mail: shoeless@blackbetsy.com |
@Alan: First of all, there is no evidence to confirm which games were thrown and which games were played on the up and up. By all indications, the first game and possibly the second game were the only ones that were thrown. So there is no way to say if Jackson hit when his team was trying to win and didn't when they weren't, because we simply don't KNOW which games were tossed. The fact is, the Reds had a better team overall and quite frankly would have won the Series even if a couple of games hadn't been tossed by certain members of the White Sox. Secondly, he didn't have a written confession. He confessed before the Cook County Grand Jury after being coached by Comiskey's lawyer Alfred Austrian, who would not allow Jackson to go out and get his own lawyer. Why? Comiskey was deathly afraid of what Joe Jackson with his own counsel may say before the Grand Jury, that he may indeed tell the Grand Jury that Comiskey knew about the fix after the first game and possibly before the start of the first game. He may tell them that his manager Kid Gleason, under instructions from Commy held a team meeting either after the second game, but no later than the start of the 3rd game to discuss the rumors of the fix. At that point, the cat is out of the bag and Landis' edict of not telling his team is out the window, the team already had heard the rumors. Now, getting back to the testimony, it must be noted that during Joe's civil trial in 1924, in which he sued the White Sox for back pay, the foreman for the 1920 Grand Jury was called to testify. He said that Jackson's "confession" didn't sound to him like a confession of anything, but more of a story a man heard on the street. Another telling tale from that same trial, Commy was called to testify. On the stand he was asked by Joe's lawyer if he (Commy) thought Jackson played dishonest ball. Commy stood to lose a lot of money by telling the truth, after all, this was an opinion type question and Commy could have easily lied and said YES. However, Commy's answer was that he didn't believe Jackson played one play of dishonest ball the entire time he was with the White Sox, including the 1919 World Series. The jury believed Jackson version of the events during that trial (11-1 verdict), overturned and later settled out of court by Commy and the Sox. Thirdly, the confessions were not stolen in the real sense of the word, they were bought by Arnold Rothstein for Charles Comiskey, to protect Commy's financial investment in his players. Commy knew some of his boys sold him out, yet he offered them contracts for the 1920 season with hefty pay raises (something Commy didn't do....pay raises were not in his vocabulary). Hush money in my opinion, he didn't want the scandal to come to light because it would wreck his team and if the public ever found out what Commy knew and when he knew it, they'd run him out of Chicago on a rail. Number four, in his "confession" Jackson denies being in on the plot, says he turned them down, but that Gandil comes back to him and basically TELLS Jackson he's IN the plot (It must be known, Jackson never attended any meetings between the players and gamblers and his name was used to the gamblers by his teammate Lefty Williams WITHOUT Jackson's consent). Bill Burns (one of the fixers) said he didn't think Jackson was in on the deal and it became obvious to him when he met Joe in the lobby of the hotel in Cincinnati before Game 1. He says he walked up to Joe and asked him how IT was going and that Joe acted like he didn't know what Burns was talking about. Burns said it became apparent Jackson had no clue and he soon left him to go find Gandil or Cicotte. I don't feel sorry for Joe Jackson, I simply believe he got a raw deal. I could care less if he is ever elected to the Hall of Fame, but I believe MLB should clear his name from their so-called Ineligible List. Jackson was never banned for life. Landis only banned him from ever playing professional baseball, Jackson never played professional baseball again and if you take the 2 paragraph ruling to the legal letter of the law, Jackson should have been reinstated at such time that he could no longer have competed at the professional level (sometime between 1929 and 1930 for Joe. Obviously that didn't happen and his ban turned into a ban for life and now in perpetuity. Bottom line is, Jackson more than served the sentence handed down by Landis. Oh...and on a legal note, Weaver can not be reinstated. He is no longer a living entity, we can't reinstate a dead man (only been done twice to my knowledge). The best either Weaver of Jackson can hope for at this point is to have their names cleared and restored by MLB. Now, I can go on for days about Jackson, but I won't bore you, just know that everything Jackson is not as cut and dried as you have portrayed it.
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| Name: Larry Bernfeld From: Alexandria, Va. E-mail: larry9550@aol.com |
For most of his career Jim Kaat played on poor to mediocre teams. His career wins would be over the magic 300 win benchmark with consistent teams. The fact he won 283 games should put him in the Hall of Fame on it's own merit. I grew up with the Washington Senators and was chagrined when they became relevant after moving to Minnesota. Kaat was one of my favorites. A classy guy. Come on Veteran's Committee - it's time for Jim Kaat to be enshrined!.
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| Name: william r seidel From: milford, pa E-mail: bat1165@ptd.net |
smokey joe wood belongs in the hall.it's that simple.if sandy koufax is the hall and deservedly so-so should mr.wood.
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| Name: Randy Kryn From: Spokane, Washington E-mail: randykryn@yahoo.com |
Of course Joe Wood should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame. If you know of his record, no other comment needed.
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| Name: alan From: vermont E-mail: alandarling2@peoplepc.com |
I'll get everyone mad, but I don't think Joe Jackson should be in the Hall of Fame. It's not clear whether he played worse than he could have - some have produced eveidence showing that he did (he hit much better when the team tried to win than when they tried to lose, there were questions about him giving lackluster efforts in the field, and that he played out of position for various hitters, etc.), but he also hit .375. His written confession is questionable, considering he was illiterate. Whether his testimony in court was made up because he was coerced by his attorney to do so to stay out of jail (not an enobling defense) is also questionable. The key point is not whether he was acquitted in a trial filled with stolen confessions and other shenanigans, whether he didn't understand the confession he signed, or whether he played to win. He agreed to participate, and took $5,000 - almost a year's pay for him - to do so. He felt guilty about it afterwards - but that doesn't absolve him of the crime. Anyone who does this should not be allowed in the Hall of Fame. Anyone who did something similar in a regular job - and got caught - would be fired on the spot, and would probably do some jail time. People feel so sorry for this guy, who sounds like he was a good guy overall - people loved him when he went back down South. I feel far worse for Buck Weaver, who refused to participate, and got lumped in with Cicotte and Gandil for life. Keep Joe Jackson out of the Hall, kick out Comiskey (sorry, but we can't, even if he was a sneaky, dirty jackalope), and reinstate Buck Weaver instead.
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| Name: Ryan Perryman From: Allentown, PA |
Forgot one. For 2010 the "Crime Dog" Fred McGriff.
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| Name: Ryan Perryman From: Allentown, PA |
Who should be in the hall? Well, here's my list, Dell Ennis Pete Rose Jim Kaat Bert Blyleven Lee Smith Tommy John and my great, great uncle Jimmy Dykes. Thank you.
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| Name: Dan Percy From: Mason City Iowa E-mail: danpercy@yahoo.com |
the biggest shame yet. atleast he was honest and had fun
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| Name: Lou Neuburger From: Fayetteville, New York E-mail: Lneuburgerjr@twcny.rr.com |
Listening to Jim Kaat call a baseball game on radio or television is a real treat. He represents all that is good about the sport, especially the fact that he still loves the game. His statistics and longevity should speak for themselves that he belongs in the HOF.
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| Name: jp From: ny |
no doubt smokey joe belongs in the hall of fame . his stats and legendary exploits against walter johnson are things of beautiful folk lore that makes baseball the great game that it is.
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