可笑的黑色絲帶 IV - Black Sox Scandal(Fallout)

事後餘波

The rumors dogged the club throughout the 1920 season, as the White Sox battled the Cleveland Indians for the AL pennant that year, and stories of corruption touched players on other clubs as well. At last, in September 1920, a grand jury was convened to investigate.
這隻球隊整個1920年球季都被謠言所困擾，當白襪面對克利夫蘭印第安人爭奪那年美聯冠軍時，墮落的說法也使其他球隊的選手受害。最後，在1920年九月，大陪審團被傳喚來調查。

During the investigation two players, Cicotte and Jackson, confessed. On the eve of their final season series, the White Sox were in a virtual tie for first place with the Cleveland Indians. The Sox would need to win all 3 and then hope for Cleveland to stumble, as the Indians had more games in hand. Despite the season being on the line, Comiskey suspended the seven White Sox still in the majors (Gandil had left the team and was playing semi-pro ball). The White Sox lost 2 of 3 in their final series against the St. Louis Browns, and those two losses made the difference, as they finished in second place, two games behind Cleveland.
在調查期間兩名球員(Cicotte跟Jackson)認罪了。在他們最後一個球季系列賽的前夕，白襪跟克利夫蘭印第安人隊並列第一。白襪需要三戰全勝然後希望印第安人絆倒，當印第安人有更多的比賽要進行。儘管球季快要結束了，Comiskey把七名還待在大聯盟的球員禁賽(當時Gandil已經離開球隊同時正在一個半職業聯盟打球)。白襪輸了三場比賽其中兩場在他們最後一個系列賽中對上聖路易布朗隊，而那兩場輸掉的比賽產生一些差別，當他們以第二名坐收，落後克利夫蘭兩場勝差。

Prior to the trial, key evidence went missing from the Cook County Courthouse, including the signed confessions of Cicotte and Jackson, who subsequently recanted their confessions, as discussed on p.257 of Eight Men Out. The players were acquitted. Some years later, the missing confessions reappeared in the possession of Comiskey's lawyer.
在審判之前，關鍵證據消失在庫克市的縣府大樓中，包括Cicotte跟Jackson簽名的自白書，他們隨後撤回他們的自白，在"八人出局"書中的257頁討論到這件事。球員們被宣判無罪。幾年後，消失的自白書重新出現在Comiskey的律師手中。

However, the majors were not so forgiving. The damage to the sport's reputation led the owners to appoint Federal Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis as the first Commissioner of Baseball. The day after the players were acquitted, Landis issued his own verdict:
Regardless of the verdict of juries, no player who throws a ball game, no player who undertakes or promises to throw a ball game, no player who sits in confidence with a bunch of crooked gamblers and does not promptly tell his club about it, will ever play professional baseball.
然而，大聯盟就沒有這麼寬宏大量了。對運動名譽的傷害使得球團老闆們任命聯邦法官Kenesaw Mountain Landis擔任第一任的大聯盟主席。八名球員無罪釋放的隔天，Landis宣判了他自己的裁定：無論陪審團的裁定是什麼，任何一個放水的球員，任何一個接受或答應放水的球員，任何私底下跟一掛賭徒碰頭並且沒有立即通報他的球團這件事的球員，將永遠不能打職業棒球。