Rosenthal: 100 years after the Black Sox Scandal, MLB’s gambling ties mean Buck Weaver, Joe Jackson owed another look
From Phil Rosenthal at the Chicago Tribune on April 3, 2019:
Never in 100 years would Buck Weaver have imagined Major League Baseball going into business with a “sports gaming” outfit.A century removed from the start of the 1919 season that gave us the Black Sox scandal that made Weaver, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and others outcasts, however, baseball no longer is the national pastime.
Gambling is.
If everything turned out the way it should, there would be nothing on which to bet.
So here’s rooting for a major upset — a show of fairness and compassion by the lords of the sport although they’re unlikely to benefit financially from it.
Here’s hoping MLB commutes its eternal banishment of Weaver, who was present when White Sox teammates conspired to fix the 1919 World Series against the Reds but wasn’t one of them.
If MGM Resorts International can be welcomed into baseball as “Official Gaming Partner of MLB,” why must Buck remain on the outs?
Read the full article here: https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/ct-spt-white-sox-gambling-buck-weaver-shoeless-joe-jackson-20190403-story.html
- Related link: Check out SABR’s Eight Myths Out project on common misconceptions about the Black Sox Scandal
Originally published: April 3, 2019. Last Updated: April 3, 2019.