Pomrenke: An Opening Day ovation for Black Sox exile Eddie Cicotte
From SABR member Jacob Pomrenke at WordPress on August 9, 2017:
When commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis delivered his famous proclamation following the Black Sox criminal trial in 1921, he said, “Regardless of the verdict of juries, no player who throws a ballgame … will ever again play professional baseball.”
What Landis left unspoken was a promise kept by nearly every one of his successors for a century afterward: Not only were those players forbidden from participating in Organized Baseball at any level, they weren’t even welcome to enter the ballpark. They were persona non grata in every way.
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But there was at least one notable exception to this rule.
On April 22, 1938, the Detroit Tigers planned an elaborate celebration for Opening Day as they reopened the newly renovated Briggs Stadium against the Cleveland Indians.
This article was originally published in the SABR Black Sox Scandal Research Committee’s June 2017 newsletter. Click here to download the newsletter (PDF).
Read the full article here: https://jacobpomrenke.com/black-sox/eddie-cicotte-old-timers-day-chicago-detroit/
Originally published: August 11, 2017. Last Updated: August 11, 2017.