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Eight Men Out
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It's 1919 and the Chicago White Sox are considered a lock
to win the World Series. White Sox owner, Charles Comiskey,
is a penny-pinching, over-involved manager who underpays his
players. A group of hustlers and gamblers look to take advantage
of this opportunity by offering select White Sox players extra
cash for throwing the World Series. When the White Sox are
defeated, a few sports writers suspect a fix, bringing scandal
to America's favorite pastime.
| Rating: PG |
Length: 120 mins. |
Year: 1988 |
Starring: Charlie Sheen, Christopher Lloyd, Clifton
James, D.B. Sweeney, David Strathairn, John Cusack, John
Mahoney, John Sayles, Michael Lerner
More about this film | Read reviews |
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More about this film
- The University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School has some great resources to learn more about the actual trial surrounding the Black Sox scandal and images of documents from the trial and rulings. [view]
- Transcript of the 1920 Grand Jury Testimony of White Sox Outfielder "Shoeless Joe" Jackson. [view]
Reviews from our users
"Eight Men Out was a home run to watch! The actors chosen
did a great job as ball players as their playing ability was believable.
The story is very accurate to the historical
event. This film makes our Baseballmovie.com Top
25 Baseball Movies. The character played by "Shoeless"
Joe Jackson was solid. John Cusack played a great Buck Weaver. This
one is a must see for baseball fans." --Jason of Baseballmovie.com
"Eight Men Out is an excellent movie about a bygone era in American sports history. The game of baseball itself was soon to change
forever-- the 1919 season was the last year of the "deadball" era, and the events of the Black Sox scandal, as depicted here, also left their mark. This movie's strongpoints are the actors chosen, who perform quite well on the diamond, and that the story is generally true to Eliot Asinof's book of the same name.
One deviation from actual events occurs after the 1919 Series is over.
Buck Weaver tells a disheartened young fan to 'look down at third base next season, and you'll see Buck Weaver there.' Of course, Weaver's prediction, which surely never happened, was accurate. The Black Sox scandal never broke until September of 1920, when the very same Sox players were in the midst of a pennant battle. The movie doesn't concern itself with this small fact, and makes it appear as if justice was swift, with the unlucky eight being banned BEFORE the next season started. I do understand why these film choices are made, but as a student of history, I have to admit that they rankle me nonetheless.
Betting by players, and even the throwing of ballgames, was more common than we'd like to imagine. From the late-nineteenth century on, the practice of "fixing" occurred, yet it was little talked about. In one famous case, Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker were both accused in 1926 of fixing a game by Cobb's former teammate, pitcher Dutch Leonard. This event allegedly took place during that very same 1919 season of the World Series fix. In a 1/27/27 ruling, Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis, who had previously banned the eight White Sox players, cleared Cobb and Speaker, as there was a lack of more concrete evidence. Landis also felt it was in the best interests of baseball to do so.
With all of the money to be made on a sure bet, one can only wonder how often since 1919, and in which sports, the type of swindle chronicled in Eight Men Out has taken place? No one is naive enough to believe these 'backroom deals' haven't happened since."
-- Annie V.
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