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Say, it ain't so?

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Sep 09 2009 11:24 AM

"Eight Men Out" painted a vivid, definitive picture of the Black Sox scandal, and has for years served as the authoritative work on the subject, an important narrative thread in the greater historical fabric of baseball. As per a new look at the work itself, however, said thread may be much more synthetic than the author originally allowed. A bit of new research into author Eliot Asinof's research suggests that the story Asinof wove might be largely inaccurate, and more than a little fictional. Ironically enough, this article posits, his usage of fictional characters and fantasized events in telling a tragic intersection of greed and circumstance seems financially motivated: Buried within its pages, however, Asinof admits to giving fictional names to at least two characters. According to Asinof, on the advice of counsel, and apparently seeing a movie deal in the future, “[t]wo fictitious characters were inserted [into “8MO”] that existed nowhere but from my typewriter, designed to prevent screenwriters from stealing the story and claiming their material was from the public domain.” The fiction did not end with Asinof ’s resort to fictional characters, as at least one dramatic event in “8MO” was also fabricated. Considering that EMO has been cited a LOT as virtual secondary evidence against posthumously "reinstating" Shoeless Joe and a handful of other "Black Sox," might its flaws mean their cases are worth reexamination?

Valadius Sep 09 2009 11:32 AM Re: Say, it ain't so?

Shoeless Joe was given a "lifetime" ban. Why the hell it applies from beyond the grave is beyond me.

Edgy DC Sep 09 2009 11:35 AM Re: Say, it ain't so?

All casses are wroth re-examination --- especially in a system where life means life for players but it means for the duration of harness racing season for George Steinbrenner, but it's not like the ban on Jackson et al hadn't held up for 43 years before the book's publication.

metirish Sep 09 2009 11:36 AM Re: Say, it ain't so?

I won't pretend to know a lot about Shoeless Joe but I hope this at least will get the attention of Bud Selig. What is his stance on the Black Sox Scandal?

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Sep 09 2009 11:40 AM Re: Say, it ain't so? Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Sep 09 2009 11:54 AM

I believe that the exact wording of Landis' edict holds that the Black Sox players were "permanently" banned from baseball-- the word "lifetime" has just become sort of a synonymous shorthand. No matter what it means in terms of reinstatement/HOF hopes, it's galling-- and oddly fascinating-- how many liberties the guy took with the story... and that when opportunities for obtaining primary records-- like transcripts of hearing records-- arose, he declined.

Benjamin Grimm Sep 09 2009 11:41 AM Re: Say, it ain't so?

I have no sympathy for Shoeless Joe Jackson. The Hall of Fame, though, is such a mess already that I don't care whether or not he gets in. But, to Val's point, I think lifetime actually means "forever." I don't expect that Pete Rose will suddenly become eligible for Cooperstown after he dies. (Speaking of that... I was catching up on my Late Shows with David Letterman that I TiVoed while I was on vacation, and during a monologue from late July, Dave said something about how "it looks like Pete Rose might get reinstated." I was totally out of touch when that was taped, but I hadn't heard anything at all about that. Was there anything of substance behind whatever late night joke Letterman was setting up?)

Valadius Sep 09 2009 11:44 AM Re: Say, it ain't so?

The Rose thing, if I recall, was briefly floated and promptly shot down.

metirish Sep 09 2009 11:59 AM Re: Say, it ain't so?

I think it was around the HOF inductions , prominent players like Aaron and Schmidt spoke out in support of Rose getting in. I think there may have been mention of a sumit between Aaron and Selig regarding Rose and that got some folk excited. Schmidt though seemed to dampen the mood when he voiced concern about the lifestyle Rose continues to lead.