可笑的黑色絲帶 II - Black Sox Scandal

前言

The Black Sox Scandal refers to a number of events that took place around and during the play of the 1919 World Series. The name "Black Sox" also refers to the Chicago White Sox team from that year. Eight members of the Chicago franchise were banned from baseball for throwing (intentionally losing) games.
黑襪事件指的是一連串發生在1919年世界大賽那時候的事件。"黑襪"這個稱呼指的也就是那年的芝加哥白襪隊。八名芝加哥白襪隊球員打球的權利由於比賽放水被禁止了。

放水

The plan was thought up by local gamblers, but rumor has it that New York gangster Arnold Rothstein supplied the major connections needed. The money was supplied by Abe Attell, former featherweight boxing champion, who accepted the offer even though he didn't have the $80,000 that the White Sox wanted. The conspiracy was the brainchild of White Sox first baseman Arnold "Chick" Gandil and Joseph "Sport" Sullivan, who was a professional gambler of Gandil's acquaintance.
這個計畫是當地賭徒想出來的，但有謠言說紐約幫派成員Arnold Rothstein提供主要需要的連絡。前羽量級拳擊冠軍Abe Attell提供金錢，他接受這個出價即使他並沒有白襪隊所想要的八萬元美金。這是白襪隊一壘手"小雞"Arnold Gandil以及"賭徒"Joseph Sullivan的陰謀，Sullivan是Gandil認識的職業賭徒。

Gandil enlisted seven of his teammates, motivated by a mixture of greed and a dislike of penurious club owner Charles Comiskey, to implement the fix. Starting pitchers Eddie Cicotte and Claude "Lefty" Williams, outfielders "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and Oscar "Happy" Felsch, and infielder Charles "Swede" Risberg were all involved. Buck Weaver was also asked to participate, but refused; he was later banned with the others for knowing of the fix but not reporting it. Utility infielder Fred McMullin was not initially approached, but got word of the fix and threatened to report the others unless he was in on the payoff. Sullivan and his two associates Sleepy Bill Burns and Billy Maharg, somewhat out of their depth, approached Rothstein to provide the money for the players, who were promised a total of $100,000.
Gandil獲得了七名隊友的支持來完成放水，他們被貪婪及不爽小氣的球團老闆Charles Comiskey的心情驅使。先發投手Eddie Cicotte及"阿拜"Claude Williams，外野手"赤腳大仙"Joe Jackson及"爽爽人"Oscar Felsch，以及內野手"瑞典仔"Charles Risberg都牽扯在內。Buck Weaver也被問說要不要參一腳，但他拒絕了；之後他跟其他人一樣被禁賽由於他知情不報。工具人Fred McMullin起初沒有被接洽，但他聽到了放水的風聲而且威脅說要當抓耙子除非付他錢讓他參一腳。Sullivan跟他兩個合夥人Sleepy Bill Burns和Billy Maharg，有點超出他們的預算，就去找Rothstein商量提供金錢給這些球員，而Rothstein答應給他們總共十萬美金。

Stories of the "Black Sox" scandal have usually included Comiskey in its gallery of subsidiary villains, focusing in particular on his intentions regarding a clause in Cicotte's contract that would have paid Cicotte an additional $10,000 bonus for winning 30 games. According to Eliot Asinof's account of the events, Eight Men Out, Cicotte was "rested" for the season's final two weeks after reaching his 29th win, presumably to deny him the bonus. However, the record is murkier. Cicotte won his 29th game on September 19, had an ineffective start on September 24, and was pulled after a few innings in a tuneup on the season's final day, September 28 (the World Series beginning 3 days later). Reportedly, Cicotte agreed to the fix on the same day he won his 29th game, before he could have known of any efforts to deny his chance to win his 30th.
黑襪事件的故事通常包含Comiskey在共犯的旁聽席，特別注重他的意圖關於Cicotte合約中的條款，當Cicotte獲得30勝他可以得到額外的一萬元獎金。根據Eliot Asinof在"八人出局"這本書中對這件事的說明，球季的最後兩個禮拜Cicotte"輪休"在他達到第29勝之後，想必要拒付他獎金。然而，紀錄是更黑暗的。Cicotte在九月十九號拿下他第29勝，在九月二十四號先發表現很爛，在球季的最後一天經過幾局調整到最佳狀況後就被拉下來了，那天是九月二十八號(三天後展開世界大賽)。據報導指出，Cicotte在贏得第29勝的那
天同意放水，在他能已知任何阻止他有機會獲得30勝的手段之前。