Original subtitles

Ha, ha, ha.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Tommy sure knows the way to a writer's heart.

The sports writers of the world unite. You have nothing to lose but your bar

privileges. Here comes your woman.

Hello, boys.

Everybody happy?

Hi, Billy.

Tommy. Smitty.

Hey, Sarpo.

Let's go, Huey.

No question. If my boys will win, it's just a matter of how many games it's

going to take them.

You think he could go the full nine?

Nine games? Not a chance.

You sound pretty cocky.

I got the horses, Smitty.

I got the horses.

And more than that, I got the team, fellas.

Kid Gleason's done a heck of a job at the helm this year, bringing these boys

together, smoothing out the defense, building up the offense, getting the

to think and move together.

Hell, they eat together, travel together, room together on the road.

time to play, they let off steam together.

No room. for prima donnas in this ballpark.

Every man for the good of the team.

That one

wake you up, Collins?

Hey, college boy needs a beauty sleep.

What for?

He goes to bed at nine o 'clock.

I bet you guys get a little sleep once in a while.

Shove it, college boy.

It's like a family, you know.

What about the odds on your boys? It's already three to one in their favor.

They are, uh, underestimating us.

Any bet against my socks this series is a sucker bet.

Of course, I'm not a gambling man.

Collins.

Collins boy is the only one on the club getting paid what he's worth.

in his contract where he got traded.

Hey, mister!

Hey, mister!

You think my brother's still a crackerjack?

Mister!

Hey, kid, shut him up, will you?

What about Chip Candle?

He might do business.

Chicky's a sport.

Gandalf, only for a sack in a league, doesn't need a glove to play, hands of

steel.

I'll put my Joe Jackson up against any player in the circuit.

The boy can hit, he can run, he can throw.

If he could read, he'd be perfect.

I won't bet you he'd be walking up. He'd walk.

Tell me when, Betcher.

You ever talk back to you, Joe?

Probably sleeps with it, too.

Lay off, you guys.

Oh, you crackers stick together, huh?

Ask him for a triple, Joe.

Did you hear me?

Sixty years since the Civil War, Lefty.

Ease up.

Besides, you guys lost.

And all the papers.

That wouldn't help Jackson, none.

Just leave him be.

What are you looking at, Busher?

Buck Weaver.

Bucky's one of the boys, but the thing about Bucky is he don't like to lose.

I won't stand it up. Here.

Come on, Buck. We're dead to it.

Can't stand to lose. Put him on the maybe list.

What about shock?

Not a prayer.

Listen, Ray, settle a bet between me and Hap, will you? He says everybody knows

how to smile, even you.

And I said that your puss would crack if you ever tried.

Go piss up a rope.

Okay, Eddie!

Come on, bullfight him, Eddie! Bullfight him! Here we go, Eddie!

Eddie Seacott has had his control back this year.

And I think his record speaks for itself.

I wouldn't be surprised. He's got two, maybe three good seasons left in their

arm.

It'll make me nervous.

Keep it down there. Keep it down there, Eddie.

Hey, Ragar!

Ragar!

Hey, old man!

Get a rocket, sir!

Okay, Eddie, one more strike. Don't worry about it.

Good luck you swinging it, Tim. Come on, Eddie. Come on. Hit it right in there.

One more, Eddie. Come on.

Okay, let's do it, Eddie.

Let's fire. Let's fire, Eddie.

Here we go.

Let's fire, Eddie.

50 years of baseball.

the best knuckleball I've ever seen.

He's such a fan. Why doesn't he pay him a living wage?

Eddie's getting old for this game.

I know the feeling you walk out on the mound with your arm hanging.

You couldn't pitch when you were young, Bernsie.

Eddie's the key. We don't get Eddie, we forget about it.

Why is Al doing that?

What prey?

Shoeless girl is ignorant and half -guilty.

Dumb.

Jesus, Pat. Save it, will you?

Save it for what?

Mr. Scupane.

Mr. Kamitsky sent these down for you.

His congratulations for a successful pennant race.

Well, that's wide of him.

He didn't happen to mention when we could expect that bonus he promised us

took the flag, did he?

This is your bonus.

Cheap bastard.

Fellas, if it was up to me... Kid, we got no beef with you.

Hey, Winslow.

Gentlemen. Hey, Winslow, your boys look sharp.

Yeah.

They're the best I've seen yet.

Best white folks team in anyone.

I say they're the best, Huey.

Best ever.

Time will tell, kid.

Time will tell.

Come on, fellas. Pretend this commie's awake.

You want me to skip the part about you?

Start from the beginning.

Now that we have put the hunt in his place, it is time for Americans to turn

their hunt into more pleasurable pastimes.

Hey, they're saying we got no veg, Freddy. That's you they're talking

Hey, at least put me out. I'm going to put a hole through them red.

Yeah? We're going to fart at them and swing them back.

Hey, wise guys.

Pow. Hey, Freddy got the best hands in the league.

I never once seen him drop a mug of beer once he got his mitts on it.

Look at the way he sits his stool, huh?

That's a professional benchwarmer's butt if ever I seen one.

I hear you're quite a performer, Mr. Gandalf.

Yeah, I ain't bad on the diamond, neither.

They say you don't even need a glove to catch the ball.

Let me see your hands.

Look at them mitts, ladies.

You should have been a punk chick, you mitts like that.

Oh, I done some scrapping.

Working in cops.

If you're looking bird is sports Sullivan.

Anything that moves in Boston, he's got a bet down on it.

Think he's being us to it.

Just fishing around for some inside dope.

My nose is broke.

My eyes are swelled up so bad. I can't hardly see.

And somehow I bust the guy square with an uppercut.

He goes down.

Somebody does 50 bucks in my hand.

50 bucks.

I'm stepping on something, and it's the other guy's teeth.

What's he get, I said.

Referee kneels over the guy and says, from the look of his jaw, he gets a

diet for six weeks.

Now, what we should have done was waltz around for a few rounds.

Then one of us hit the cameras, and we split 25 bucks apiece later, and nobody

gets hurt.

Jicky smart money.

Whenever I'm in town, he's the man I see.

You don't play the angles.

You're a sack.

Say, why don't you ladies go powder your noses for a while?

The way I figure it is that son of a bitch Comiskey is the only one who's

to make a killing on this series.

His ball club, his stadium, his grass, his dirt, his air.

In fact, Commie owns you, Buck.

I'm surprised he ain't got you all doing yard work for him in the off season.

Nobody owns me.

That's a laugh.

Claude!

Be in page, Lester.

It's time, Claude. You promised.

The police were trying to sneak him back at the curfew one night in Philly.

Asked him what his wife would think.

He said that's who he'd gone to see.

His own wife on the road?

Pitiful.

Just a poser.

You need at least two starting pitchers, a couple of infielders, a

couple of heavy hitters.

I mean, if you really want to be short.

What about the top?

Six, maybe seven, they'd go for it.

I say you'd need at least 10 ,000 apiece.

Of course.

Who could put that kind of money together?

I could.

You go back to Boston and turn 70 grand at the drop of a hat.

I find that hard to believe.

You say you can find seven men on the best club that ever took the field

to throw the World Series?

I find that hard to believe.

You never played for Charlie Comiskey.

Four seasons, sweating it out for comedy to make ten grand.

Now, if we get it in advance, we put it down on the reds, it gets heavy odds,

and it starts to multiply.

A couple of games, we're talking, or the whole series?

That's one thing we'd have to work out.

Now, the way I figure it... Hey, guys.

Damn.

Freddy.

You don't have to creep around like that, pal. You made Chick wet his pants.

How about letting me in?

In what?

What are you talking about?

Whatever you guys got going.

The fix.

You're in, Fred.

What?

You want in, Freddy?

You're in.

Now, uh, you can just leave us alone here.

We got some things to hang out.

Sure, sweetie.

Freddy, put the lid on him.

Sure, sweetie.

You know me.

I know he's your buddy and all, but... He's in.

Sweet. Hey, he's not even going to play. Chick.

He's in.

Okay. He's in.

What?

Chick Kendall.

Hey. Long time no see.

Bill Burns.

Remember me?

Oh, yeah, yeah. That's right.

Listen, Chick, as long as we're here, there's a couple of things I'd like to

pitch to you.

But he'll chase after almost anything with two strikes on him.

I saw him whip on a curve in the dirt against the Cubs last month.

Congratulations, fellas.

Hell of a season.

Thanks, Huey.

Surprised to see you fellas in a gin mill.

It's a celebration.

The whole team should be here.

I had some of this once.

I think I was six, maybe seven.

Suppose that's what they're drinking over there.

Everybody's got their own way of letting off steam ring.

It's what you do on the field that counts.

So, if the thing was Port Paul's, then we can try it in two parts, huh? Why

don't we just deal with them both?

That way it's twice the payoff for the same game.

Well, what if they find out about each other?

Big deal. What are they going to do?

Call a cop?

It's a different guy.

$10 ,000 each.

One guy's got to scratch the back of that kind of action.

Rothstein. If we can get Rothstein and they get Eddie Seacott.

Eddie. Eddie's the man.

Real bad?

No worse than it's been.

You'll get your rest of it pretty soon.

I'll go three games in the series.

You'll do fine. You always do.

Every time I throw a fastball, I feel it all the way down my spine.

And the knuckler, well, you don't try to put it where it don't want to go.

Some days it just does what it wants to.

You always worry, and you always do fine.

Hi, girls.

Your daddy's going to pitch in the World Series.

Hey, Mr. Weaver.

Don't you fellas never go home?

You saw how you played today.

I need your two bits back.

I stunk up the joint.

No. You'll straighten out before the series.

Sure. His name's Bucky.

We named him after you on account of you're his favorite.

No kidding?

Sure, this Joe is my favorite.

Joe's a heck of a player.

Can you show me some trick?

No, it's getting kind of late.

I gotta go to life, you know.

Please?

All right.

January 3rd, Pakistan.

Sure thing, Mr. Weaver.

Buck. Call me Buck.

You ready?

And it is.

Forget it. I make six grand a year.

A lot of people are out of work.

How old are you, Eddie? How long is the arm going to hold up, hmm?

Arm's fine.

You got hurt, Tommy wouldn't even pay your train fare home.

What do you do then?

I hear you plan on sending those girls of yours to college. Look it, Chick,

you just get off my back?

Just hear me out, will you?

Hey, what's your hurry? I got a meeting with the old man.

Right now?

Five, please.

You wouldn't say nothing, would you, Eddie?

You said if I won 30 games this year, there'd be a $10 ,000 bonus.

So?

I think you owe it to me.

Harry, how many games has Mr. Seacott won for us this year?

29, sir.

You had Kid bench me for two whole weeks in August. I missed five starts.

We had to rest your arm for the series.

I would have won at least two of those games.

You knew that.

I have to keep the best interests of the club in mind, Eddie.

I think you owe me that bonus.

29 is not 30, Eddie.

You will get only the money you deserve.

Anything else?

No, Mr. Comiskey.

That's it.

Ten grand.

Huh?

Before the first game.

Cash.

What?

You heard me.

I've seen Burns. I've seen him fight once, just before he lost the

title. Helped some kid up for three rounds, just so he could drop the

It takes a real artist to dump a fight without hitting the canvas.

See, I told you, Bill.

It's the little champ.

They don't take nickel bets down here, fellas.

Ava, I tell, right?

You.

You were a ball player.

Bill Burns.

Sleepy Bill Burns.

Strictly bench material.

I won a few games.

You lost a few more.

And you, my friend, did not get that nose bobbing for Apple.

I'm a fighter.

Sort of.

Sort of.

Let's see.

Philly? Yeah.

Philly, my heart.

You seen me fight? Yeah, I seen you. You're a bum.

Hey. Yeah.

So what do you two birds want with me?

Where did you work for Arnold Rothstein? You got a proposition to make.

Could be big money.

Well, I'm Mr.

Rothstein's ears, so let's hear it.

No dieting.

You're a practical man, Lefty. You can see the advantages.

John, who's that?

We got Seacott in the bag already.

The hell you do. He's in, Lefty. You can ask him.

Eddie can dump three games all on his own.

The thing is done, Lefty, with you or without you.

We just didn't want to leave you out of the payday.

If you got Eddie... You got me, too.

Salesman. Well, whatever he says, we don't want none.

Maxie Schwartz and Irish Tommy Flynn.

Pretty tough boys.

What's the action on them?

Both of them young and stupid.

Trying to make it the hard way.

I'd lay off if I was you.

But it's on the level, huh?

Listen, they are a bit serious thing, those Ham and Eggers pitch.

Not interested.

We could see a good hunk of change on it.

If it burns them hard, you're worried about we could just cut them out and do

ourselves. Word gets out Arnold Rothstein's betting against the Sox.

What happens to the odds?

They drop down the job, but I can bet through these guys.

How long do you think they're going to keep their mouths shut?

20 minutes?

Half hour?

What? Yeah, but they got six guys, maybe seven.

Doesn't surprise me.

But they're the champs.

You were the champ once, Abe.

You went down for the bucks.

This is different.

Look, champ.

I know who these guys are.

I grew up with guys like that.

I was the fat kid they wouldn't let play. Sit down, fat boy.

That's what they tell me. Sit down.

Maybe you'll learn something.

Well, I learned something, all right.

Pretty soon, I owned the game.

And those guys I come up with, they come to me now with their hats in their

hands.

Tell me, champ.

All those years of pugging, how much you make?

The honored fights are the ones I tanked.

All together, I must have made ten times more betting on you than you did

slugging it out.

And I never took a punch.

Yeah, but I was champ.

Featherweight champion of the world.

Yesterday.

That was yesterday.

No, you're wrong.

I was champ.

And can nothing take that away.

About this fix thing, maybe if we... I'm not interested, Abe.

I'm going to go get me some air. I'll see you later.

Gramercy 8 -4 -3 -9.

8 -4 -3 -9.

Right.

Matt.

A .R.

Tell your Mr. Sullivan he can stop by tonight.

Have him use the servant's entrance.

Yeah, he's in.

He wants his name kept out of it.

Mr. Rothstein don't like publicity.

No problem. Because if this gets out, the Ives go to shit, the deals.

Kendall wants $100 ,000 for the players.

That shouldn't be any problem for Al Rothstein.

Oh.

It's a cinch.

Yeah, yeah, I understand, Joey. My heart bleeds. But Mr. Rothstein's been

carrying you on this for months now. You ain't come back with a nickel.

That's right. I'm collecting for him now. What, you'd rather talk with Monk

Eastman?

No, no, Joey, I don't expect a whole 40 grand right up front. But listen, Joey,

how about 10 or 15 as a gesture of good faith?

It makes me happy to hear you say that, Joey.

Come in.

Mr. Rothstein.

Let's hear it.

It's a series, Mr. Rothstein.

Seems to be a popular topic today.

I can get eight men in, including Seacott.

So what do you need me for?

Well, I'm a big man in Boston, but Boston's a small town. The kind of cash

I need, I... A man shouldn't bite off more than he can chew.

People watch what you do real close, Mr. Rothstein.

If you or one of your people were to bet heavy on the Reds, well... If I lay the

action, the odds stay flat and there's no direct link to... Go home.

Don't do anything till you hear from me.

Yes, sir.

Good night, Mr. Rothstein.

Good night, Mr. Rothstein. Big man in Portland.

You could have seen it. The big bankroll.

I've never seen the like of it outside of a museum.

Message from Mr. Rothstein.

You, go away.

Jimmy, go get me some cigarettes for the trip.

Sure.

Mr. Rothstein says he's in.

Forty grand to the players up front.

You hold the other forty till they blow the series.

Tell Seacott to hit the first batter if the fix is on.

Anybody connects Mr. Rothstein with us, I come see you again.

You don't want that.

You tell Mr.

Rothstein he's got my word.

I never knew you smoked, sport.

Holy mother.

Will you look at it, Jimmy?

All spread out like that.

Whose is it?

Who do you think?

I want you to take this $20 ,000 back to Boston.

I want you to go over to Mulcahy. You know the password.

I want you to put it all down on Cincinnati for the first game. Tell him

just a hunch I've got.

Some hunch?

Then I want you to take this to McGinnis.

You tell him you're sure I've gone crazy.

But I want to place ten big ones on the Reds for the whole show.

I'm laying bets for Rothstein.

You're laying bets for me.

A thieving Jew don't know it, but he's just giving me a loan.

Then what's left of the players?

Jimmy, you know what you feed a dray horse in the morning if you want a day's

work out of him?

What?

Just enough so he knows he's hungry.

Hey, boys.

Hey,

you guys want in on this?

No.

I hear Gandalf eels from the bottom.

Good luck with the reds, fellas.

Thanks, Frank.

Hey, fellas.

Hi, Frank. Good luck. Knock them dead. Thanks, Frank.

Hi, Eddie.

How's the old soup phone feeling?

Not bad.

Huey's bringing his nest egg down to lay it on you birds for the series.

I should not do that.

Anything can happen in baseball.

Huey's a lucky man.

I hope it won't have nothing to do with it.

Eddie?

Excuse me, Ring.

Come on. It's in the bag. I just wanted to let you and Buck in on the take.

You know what take?

Well, it sounds like you're already in pretty deep. Come on, Hap. We lose a

couple games, we make $20 ,000.

Hey, a couple or the whole thing.

Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you guys talking about?

What about Jackson? The Swedes pitching him right now. He'll come around.

Because if Shula's Joe ain't in, I ain't in.

So what if they find out that you're dealing double? You cross a guy like

Rothstein, they're going to find you in the gutter with your little toes curled

up. Say, fellas, who's this?

Anyone care for a drink?

Hey, Joe.

What then?

Do the other one.

Huh?

Scooping my bat now.

Uh -huh.

Something wrong?

Hey, you're the doctor.

Listen, Joe, we got together.

Most of the guys. And the thing is, we're going to drop a couple of games in

series.

Who? Oh, everybody.

Chick, me, Seacott, Lefty.

Lefty? Sure, Lefty. And Fred, and Hap, and Bucky.

Everybody.

And Joe, some of them, I won't name names, but I had to tell him no. We

leave Joe out of this.

He's one of us.

I says... You want me?

We need you, Joe.

I don't know.

You'd be an awful sap to turn it down at this point, Joe.

Lefty and Eddie. I mean, it would just be stupid not to do it.

You don't want to be stupid, do you, Joe?

I don't know.

People are going to be awful pissed if you fuck up their plans, Joe.

You don't want to piss everybody off, do you, Joe?

You don't want me mad at you, do you?

Everybody else is in.

Everybody we need.

There's a good boy.

You won't have to look bad.

Just ease off a bit.

That's all we want.

Yeah. Oh, uh, about the money. At least ten grand.

On top of your regular series pay.

Check's working on it.

Hey, Bucky.

Welcome to the club.

Now, sport out, Bucky. If your feathers come through, Chicky, you'll see the

rest of it. But you've got to show us something first.

Now, listen, I told you, boy.

You're looking fit, boy.

You come through?

Everything's well.

Listen, uh, Burns and Mayharker are in the bar car with a Save Battelle

character. They say they got the jack lined up.

So go in there, have a couple of pops with him till I'm through with the boys

here, okay?

Sure. And what's with Bucky?

No problem.

Bucky's one of the boys.

a bet last night of seven to three on the stock. Now it's even money. You're

kidding. No, I'm not kidding. Some very big money from New York went down on the

red. Maybe they know something they don't. Think she caught the armor store?

Eddie's got a store out for ten years.

Something's up.

Hey, dude.

Not a trace of it, too.

This is a little racket.

What's all that on bets?

Well, that's not good enough.

Jesus. You'll get it soon enough.

When? How much?

A hundred grand, like I said. Twenty after each game.

Now, wait a minute. That's five games.

I thought we just can't dump a few.

No, you lose the first three. Kerr's going in the third. He's not with us. So

what? We don't have four mil fold.

He's a busher. After that, we'll play it by ear. We gotta make this look good,

see?

Burns will bring the money after each game. I said before the first game,

Look under your pillow. Huh?

Compliments of fortune. When Arnold Rothstein fixes something, it stays

You had to jump on us, Bucky?

Oh, hey, kid.

No, I was just... All them reporters at the hotel, I couldn't think.

Just some of you fellas got together on the train last night.

Cut talk, you know?

Something on your mind, Bucky?

You don't look so good.

Kid, what would you... No, forget it. It's just nerves. It's nerves is all.

Remember all them ground balls they hit you when you first come up?

Yeah.

Made a ball player out of me. Yeah, you were a ball player all along.

I just took some of the rough edges off that song.

You miss it, kid, playing?

Every day and every night.

Yeah, I don't know what I'd do without it.

Better go back and get some sleep, huh? You're gonna be sharp for them rents

tomorrow. All right.

See you in the morning.

All right, son.

These guys don't look so tough.

That's what Custer said when the Indians took the field.

You don't believe me, do you?

I'd like to have heard the same thing, fellas.

Every series I've been to, there's been some rumor about a fix just to shake up

the odds.

You hang out in bars, you hear a lot of screwy things.

Doesn't mean they're not true.

My guys would have told me something, something.

Sure they would, kid.

Give him a hand out there.

Let's keep separate scorecards.

You circle every play that smells fishy, I'll do the same and compare them after

the game.

Probably nothing to it.

Yeah, nothing to it.

How's it feel, Joe?

I don't want to play.

What? I don't want to play.

And you can tell the boss that, too.

You don't play, Jackson.

You don't play.

I've been hearing a lot about odds lately.

Like this is a racetrack. Everybody's a damn handicapper.

Or sometimes the smart money gets a little too smart for its own good.

But I'll tell you, I've been in this game over 30 years. I've never yet seen

club could hold a candle to you fellas.

That's the straight dope.

The way I figure we can't be beaten.

We can only beat ourselves.

You fellas know what I mean.

All right! Let's get him!

Excuse me.

Would

you

like a seat, Mr. Rothstein?

I won't be here that long.

Chances to first.

How's he doing?

No one wants to look bad, and he's going to have to do it all by himself.

Okay. Give me the ball.

Take it easy.

Give me the ball.

Says it's not your day, Eddie.

Guess not.

Dandles, Browns out to second base.

Final out.

Redlegs, nine.

White Sox, one.

So what's the story, Bob?

What does it look like?

Looked like you skunked out on us. Look, I haven't taken a nickel.

I don't owe anybody a damn thing.

We let you in on the meetings.

Look, you just play your ballgame and I'll play mine and we'll see how it

out.

Not since he was a dry town.

Laws were made to be broken.

Catch.

What's this?

It's a new ball they're thinking of using next year.

It's wound tighter.

This thing will take off like a rabbit.

The word is they'll outlaw the spitter next year. And your shine ball.

Things will be tough for pitchers.

Things are always tough for pitchers.

Really took a shelling out there today.

They got their wraps in.

That one Ruther caught hold of looked like you tossed it in underhand.

It didn't break.

You didn't put anything on it.

Why should it break?

Did you bring me up here to tell me I had a lousy day?

I want to know if the series is on the level, Eddie.

What if I told you we're doing our best?

I'll believe you.

We played like a bunch of bushers today.

But nobody's in the bag.

Don't be sore at me for asking, okay?

No.

We're just dumb ballplayers.

And we need a mug like you to keep us honest.

Yeah.

It's me, Joe.

I got something for you, Joe.

Own dresser.

Sweet said he'd appreciate it if you'd ease up a little on the field.

You looked awful good out there today.

That's what I proved. Looked pretty straight to me.

the Confederacy.

print what you want smitty

What do you two birds want?

We need to ask the players to cut.

It's all out on bets.

What's this?

You heard me.

I made an agreement with those guys.

Well, that's your problem, ain't it?

You little prick.

A couple of Boy Scouts here, they made a deal.

The players are in now, get it?

We got them by the short ones.

What are they going to do, call a cop?

Here.

That's all of it. That's the end.

Here, you get it to him. No, Barsie, not me.

Come on, Billy.

Get Dinks in here.

And tell them bums to make it look good tomorrow.

Good morning.

President League. He has to do something.

He isn't even talking to you, Tommy.

Now, I just talked to Gleason. He think... Now,

you saw the game. All I saw is that your boys are now the stuff.

You sure did, sport.

They lost it fair and square.

I'm being robbed and you're going to do nothing about it.

I knew this was a waste of time.

That's the wealth of a beaten curve.

You get it now? Every penny. Six to five for the Reds, though. Even those

Chicago buggers don't think Dickie Kerr will win.

How's it feel, Dickie?

My arm's great.

It's my knees.

Just another ball game.

Sure.

Let's pitch them one at a time, son.

Remember the time I threw a clean slate at the Cleveland club? You beat Cy Young

one to nothing.

Huey Jennings hit a homer in the ninth. Huh?

My grandfather took me.

First big league game I ever went to.

Kid Gleason beat the Indians with a no -hitter.

No kidding.

Having a hell of a series, Buck.

What's that supposed to mean?

Nothing.

Just keep it up is all.

Why wouldn't I?

You'd know the answer to that better than I would, Buck.

I've beaten that throw out and my shoes tied together.

Never get work as an actor.

Think you can stake me the train fare back to Philly?

Yeah, hello, Joey. I hate to bother you, Joey, but it's about that 20 grand

you're stealing Mr. Rothstein. You're going to come up with it?

What?

Well, if it's all clear between you two, I'm delighted to hear it. Uh, listen,

Joey, since you're sitting pretty over there, I could use a couple grand

What do you mean? It's all out on bets.

Kerr had the day of his life.

But if it wasn't five out of nine this year, they'd be cooked.

I'll have to see what Eddie Teacut shows them tomorrow.

Yeah, Eddie's the ticket.

So that's where you went.

Keep you up last night?

It won't make any difference.

The other one needs to sleep.

You shouldn't worry so much.

You're going to wallop them today.

You've got the home field, the whole city there backing you up.

If I tell you something, you swear you'll never tell a soul.

What is it?

Some of the guys ain't playing on the level.

Nah.

Pick, Swede, Lefty, Eddie, some of the others. It's hard for me to tell. Eddie?

Eddie.

They wanted me in on it, too.

What'd you tell them?

I told them to take a hike.

Hell, I go out there in the field, you know, I make the plays.

I don't feel right.

Isn't there somebody you can tell?

The kid knows.

He's got to.

Except I figure he's like me. He's waiting for the boys to straighten up in

to take the series.

He's... In the dugout. He's like...

Nobody can look each other in the eye.

You go out on the field, and you don't know who's trying, and you don't know

who's not.

I wish I didn't know.

a butcher.

The boys will be right tomorrow.

Thanks for sticking up for us.

Guy's got to stick up for his friends. Even when I play like a bunch of stiffs?

Yeah, especially then.

Guy don't stick up for his friends, well, there ain't much to say for him.

Right, Buck?

Forever blowing ball games.

Pretty ball games in the air.

I come from shy.

I hardly try. Just go to bat and fail.

Do something here now, Chick.

Come on, Chick.

Come on, Chick, show me something.

No.

It's open.

See you, Eddie.

How's it going?

Okay.

Still no word from Chick about the money.

I don't care about the money.

Yeah.

Peculiar way to find that out, isn't it?

to do out there tomorrow, Eddie?

I don't know yet.

I thought that you were supposed to be in charge of this thing. What happened

Sullivan? He switched hotels.

We can't seem to track him down.

And what happened to Attell?

He says he shot his rod in the third game when Curry won. He says he's

Well, to hell with them, then.

You two made an agreement.

Hey, we lose one more game and it's over.

We dump four games, I'll aim and pay for one. You don't know what these guys are

like.

Once you're in, you're in for good. You can't welch on these guys.

It's your funeral.

Assholes. No.

You still got Eddie.

Put it away, Eddie. I'm going with Wilkinson today.

Why?

You haven't had the stuff lately, have you?

But I feel right today, kid.

You can't take any chances. I'm sorry.

Like I can't lose. That's how right I feel.

Sure you do, Eddie.

Kid.

I can't miss.

Watch him.

Your move, Eddie.

think he'll go before he dumps it.

blue -chip ballplayers. You have faith in your fellas that come around.

The Reds only need one more game to take the series. That's do or die for your

club. No sweat.

What makes you so confident, kid?

I think the boys are back on the form.

They've gotten a look at Moran's staff now, and they'll be swinging free from

this point on.

I'll tell you, class always comes through in the clinches.

Eddie came to me this morning. He says, kid, he says I can't miss.

We got Lefty Williams rolling for us tomorrow.

One of the finest pitches I ever seen. Let's do it for big game, Lefty.

How do you explain the way your boys laid down in the other games? What do

mean, laid down?

Well, they didn't seem too enthusiastic about their jobs. Nobody did any laying

down.

Might have been a little overconfident. Maybe we didn't have the fine edge. But

the boys have been putting out. The boys have been put out more than they've

been putting out.

You really think you can turn the series around, kid? No sweat.

The odds are pretty steep.

My boys don't care about the odds.

Anything can happen in this game. Anything.

So you figure the boys will be hitting tomorrow?

I sure hope so.

You've got to pitch better than your last time out. I suspect I will.

Thank you very much. You're welcome.

Hello, friend.

Do you want me to sign this, too? You're going to lose tomorrow.

Oh, is that so?

I know it for a fact. Is that your wife?

Yeah, what's it to you?

You don't lose tomorrow if she dies.

Who sent you? You made a promise to certain people.

You son of a bitch. You can't protect her. If I don't do it, somebody else

First inning, Mr. Williams.

What are you on, honey?

Oh, nothing. He just gave me some advice on how to pitch a game tomorrow.

Everybody's an expert.

Didn't take you long, did it, Lefty?

Told you it wouldn't have passed the first.

Got a tip on it.

Maybe more.

You prove it that Tom will never forgive you.

Yep.

You had a damn fine series, Bucky.

We lost.

We didn't get the breaks.

Maybe we just weren't good enough.

It's a load of... Bull kid.

You know it.

Such writers are leeches, sucking the lifeblood of honesty.

and should never again be allowed to darken the threshold of a professional

arena. You're a leech, Huey.

Keep breathing.

These writers use up valuable newspaper space that would be better employed for

an expose of the long -nosed, thick -lipped gambling elements that prey upon

boys in the field.

Makes you proud to be a sports writer, doesn't it?

I don't want any reward money, Mr. Comiskey.

I just figure you should know what's what.

Why'd you wait till now to tell me this?

Well, I thought maybe with only one or two games that they'd straighten it out

themselves.

I didn't want to be a squealer.

I'll take it under advisement.

What's that mean?

You're the college boy. You tell me.

It's your ball club, Mr. Comiskey.

Get me Alfred Austrian.

Protecting the organization that you've built and maintained is what's best for

baseball.

Now, some kind of investigation is going to be launched.

Our job is to control that investigation.

In fact, to appear to be leading that investigation.

Alfred, if I lose those players... You might not have to. They are guilty.

Well, that, from a business point of view, is irrelevant.

What's important is that your business, baseball...

is going to take a shellacking at the ticket window unless you and your fellow

owners make the public think that you are absolutely clean in this matter.

How do we manage that?

We felt that with your record of service and with the high esteem the public

holds... We need a commissioner.

Someone outside of baseball who would have certain power to work.

Absolute power.

Absolute powers.

Won't work any other way.

People won't believe it.

Absolute power.

Well, anyhow, we felt that the man that cleaned the Reds out of the country

during the war was the right man to clean up baseball.

We are prepared to offer you a two -year contract. Lifetime contract.

Lifetime?

A man worried about his job, found to play favorites.

You gentlemen don't want that, do you?

Well, a lifetime contract seems...

I'm back in court in five minutes, gentlemen.

Let's talk salary.

A man who in the dark days of the last great conflict made use of his official

trust to fight the Hun on these very shores.

A patriot of the first order, a family man.

Landis used to lead the league in reverse decisions.

He says he's going to clean up baseball.

He can start with the birds up in the stairs with him. Over our all -American

pastime of baseball, it gives me great honor

to introduce Judge Kennesaw Mountain

Landis.

Yo soy Americano.

Busco La Cantina.

Buenas noches,

señoritas.

Eddie?

This is the man handling the grand jury, Eddie.

He's got the goods on you. You come clean, he'll take care of you.

Eddie?

Sign this, Eddie.

I know what you want to know.

I know.

Yeah, we were crooked.

We were crooked.

What's the story? How'd you tell him?

How was the brains, Eddie? Did you get immunity, Eddie?

We're spilling the beans. Did you get immunity?

What's that?

They just want to clean out the gamblers, Joe.

Not the ballplayers.

I gotta stay out of trouble.

Well, they don't want you in jail. They want you to be a witness. You just sign

right there.

My wife, you... You've got to sign to be a witness, Joe. Everybody does.

Eddie signed it.

Lefty.

Word is, you made a bundle.

Yeah, sure, I saw some cash.

They promised to sell 20 ,000 each, but all I saw was five. What am I going to

do, call a cop?

You look pretty good out there for a guy dumping games.

Something must have come over me. You mean you double -crossed the gamblers?

No. No, I'm a man of my word.

So, why'd you do it? Did somebody lean on you?

Everybody else was getting some.

And I figured without the pictures, we're going to lose anyway, so why

I get fat too?

Maybe dumb, fellas, but...

I'm not stupid.

Well, that wasn't so bad, was it, Joe?

Kind of felt good to get it off my chest. You did the right thing, Joe.

proud of you.

Joe, over here. Hey, what'd you say, Joe? Were you in on it?

Come on, who was the big cheese? Who did all the brain work?

Why'd you wait so long? Just fill it, Joe. Hard guy. Was as sweet as a hard

Joe!

Say it ain't so, Joe.

I want to introduce you to Mr. Ben Short, Mr. Tom Nash, and Mr. Michael

Now, you may not be familiar with their names, but I would say they're the Ty

Cobb, Tris Speaker, and Zach Wheat of the legal world.

Who's the Babe Ruth?

That's me.

Now, these are the men who are going to be taking care of you during the trial.

You have only two choices.

Do exactly what we tell you to do, or go to jail.

You guys are such hot shots, you don't come cheap. Who's footing the bill?

Well, you boys have a lot of fans in this town.

Some of them are very wealthy people. How about a name?

Rule number one in a conspiracy trial.

The less you know, the better off you are.

Mr. Rothstein feels that he and your Mr.

Comiskey have certain interests in common.

Negative publicity can be very bad for both of their businesses.

What does he want?

The confessions?

And the players?

I'm certain that you can help them understand where their best interests

They'll do what they're told.

If I had the jack, I'd get my own damn lawyer.

I think Commie won't let us have our series bonuses.

Well, you think it's paying for the guys you've got?

You think it's Commie?

Put your shoulders back.

Of course, it's him.

You think he's going to let the best ballplayers in the game slip away

fight?

You look handsome.

You look like a future jailbird.

Such trial starts today!

Looks like school's out.

There's Commie's lawyer. He's got counsel lined up for the boys.

I thought Commie was testifying against him. Depends which way the ball rolls.

If Commie says one thing that'll hurt him in the cash register, I'll eat my

Three signed confessions. That's a tough hand to beat. This is Chicago, my

friend. Anything can happen.

Edward Seacott, Joseph Jefferson Jackson, Arnold Gandil, Charles

Risberg, Oscar Felch, Frederick McMullen, Claude Williams,

and George Weaver are hereby accused of conspiracy to commit a confidence game

on one Charles Nims.

Who the hell is Charles Nims?

Some sucker who bet on us in a series.

When did you first become aware of the conspiracy?

You mean the possibility of a conspiracy?

Pardon me, the possibility of a conspiracy.

Shortly after the series began.

And you took no action?

I informed Commissioner Ben Johnson, I hired private detectives to check on the

players, and I personally kept a scorecard of every game.

What did you find?

Hearsay.

Nothing that would warrant publicly slandering honest ballplayers, if

honest. So you think they're innocent?

I'll abide by the ruling of the court.

Why are you appearing today for the prosecution?

I owe it to baseball.

So you are making an accusation?

Not if they're innocent.

But you have suspicions.

They have been indicted by a criminal court.

If that isn't suspicious, I don't know what the heck is.

They pitched it to me.

They asked me if I knew somebody willing to put up money if they dumped the

series.

And you made this connection?

I know a few people.

Did you ever stop to think about the legality of your action?

Introducing people who want to get together?

Betting on the Reds?

I'm just acting on a tip, some inside dope, like any guy would.

And how much did you profit from your inside dope?

Not a red cent.

They busted me in the third game.

So the players double -crossed you. There's no honesty in this world.

In fact, your reason for testifying is revenge, isn't it, Bill?

If the players had really been crooked and lost the third game, you would have

been satisfied.

You think you're even with them now?

I will be before I leave here.

You don't like me much, do you, Bill?

Sure I do, Ben.

If we'd had a smart fellow like you at the head of this deal, we'd all be rich

now.

Who was present at this meeting?

Chick Campbell, Risberg, Hat Felch, Seacott, Williams,

McMullen, and Buck Weaver.

Joe Jackson was not present?

No, but he knew what was going on, just like he said in the confession.

To what confession are you referring?

The confession he gave to the grand jury.

Can I ask that the prosecution produce these alleged confessions?

Please bring them forward.

We don't have them, Your Honor.

They've been stolen.

Order!

Order! Sit down or I'm going to clear this court.

Must have cost somebody an arm and a leg. Rothstein's or Comiskey. Or maybe

Rothstein's arm and Comiskey's leg.

out to farm if i go to jail you think they'll decide guilty

i always figured it was talent made a man

big you know if i was the best at something i mean we're the guys they

see without us there ain't a ball game yeah but look at who's holding the money

and look at who's facing a jail cell hey talent don't mean nothing

Worth Comiskey and Sullivan, Attell, Rothstein.

Out in the back room cutting up profits, that's where.

That's the damn conspiracy.

You would have won, too.

You would have beat those guys so easy.

Well, won't nobody ever know that now.

Worked with these men every day.

Shared frames and hotels and locker rooms.

And they never purposely or inadvertently let slip of their plans.

I find that hard to believe.

Relations between me and most of the defendants were strained.

Why was that?

Personal differences.

And yet you were positive that there was a fix on.

It sounds like you had it in for the defendant.

I suspected there was a fix. You said you were positive.

No, you said that.

And if you want, I can show you where in the court transcript.

On what were these suspicions based?

Some of the guys didn't seem to be putting out 100%. Mr. Collins, have you

played a game when you were not in peak mental and physical condition?

Occasionally. Have you ever played a game where you were distracted or upset

couldn't find it in you to give your best effort?

No. Couldn't or didn't put out 100 %? Didn't give it the old college try?

No, never.

And you're a very remarkable man, Mr. Collins.

Well, you said it, I didn't.

Your Honor, please, can I say something, please? This man is not asking the

right questions. Can we have some order here, please?

He's punching us all together. Who is he to talk? Collins wouldn't even hit his

own weight.

Your Honor, if it pleases the court... Sit down, Bucky. Shut up!

If it pleases the court, I would like to take the stand.

You'll take the stand when you're called.

What if they don't call me? Please be seated. Wait a minute now. What if they

don't call me? Be seated.

Your Honor, I want a separate trial.

The fact that I never took a penny has been brought up once.

I hit .327 in this series. I didn't make an error. I'm being charged for a

conspiracy I didn't have nothing to do with.

Sit down, Mr. Weaver. I'm going to have to hold you in contempt of this court.

Come on, Buck. Sit down.

Nobody's interested in your batting average.

prosecution carry the cross -examine?

No, Your Honor.

Trial will continue tomorrow with Black Sox manager Kid Gleason expected to take

the stand.

What's all this Black Sox stuff?

Smart guys. Reporters think they're smart guys.

All I want to do is go back and play ball and forget about it.

I don't know if they're going to let you do that, Joe.

There's all this stuff about how baseball can't have no cheaters.

I played good.

You gotta let me play.

If they don't, what are y 'all gonna do?

Were you a player in the big leagues, Mr. Gleeson?

A long time.

Over 20 years. I was a pitcher.

As a pitcher, you had a great deal of control over the outcome of a game.

Well, sometimes the other team had more control than I did.

But yeah, the pitcher, catcher, they had the most control.

Were there gamblers involved in sports in your day, Mr. Gleeson?

Sure. Are you going to keep them out? Were there incidents where games were

thrown?

I heard stories.

Were you ever approached personally?

Oh, no, no, not personally.

I had a, you know, a reputation for being the kind of guy who wouldn't go

something like that. So you never had any thought of instigating a deal?

Oh, no, no, I never... I mean, I can see, though, where...

Well, maybe if a guy feels he's being underpaid and maybe...

falls in with the wrong kind of people and they feed him a line, how he

You know, people are human.

But I never... Well, not that I'm a holy Joe, nothing like that.

You don't have to apologize for being honest, Mr. Gleeson. Yeah.

Well, what do you think of these players of yours now, Mr. Gleeson?

I think they're the greatest ball club I've ever seen. Period.

Hi, fellas.

Seen you outside court today.

Some circus, huh?

Is it true what they're saying in there?

About you and the others?

Don't be too down on the guys, fellas.

When you grow up, things get complicated.

You didn't do nothing wrong, did you, Buck?

Guess I never grew up.

I still get such a bang -eye with playing ball.

Same as I did when I first come up.

You get out there, and the stands are full, and everybody's cheering.

It's like everybody in the world come to see you.

And inside of that, there's the players. They're yakking it up.

Pitcher throws.

You look for that pill.

Suddenly, there's nothing else in the ballpark but you and it.

Sometimes, when you're feeling right, there's a groove there, and the bat just

eases into it and meets that ball.

When the bat meets that ball, and you can just feel that ball just give, and

know it's going to go a long way.

Damn, if you don't feel like you're going to live forever.

Couldn't give that up.

It's not for nothing.

I think they're going to call it tomorrow.

If you look down at third base next year, you're going to see Buck Weaver

playing his butt off.

Yeah.

The aforementioned parties are also accused of conspiracy to commit a

game, an offense which, in this case, carries a maximum penalty of five years

jail and a $2 ,000 fine.

Does anyone have a statement to make before the final verdict is made?

I do, Your Honor.

Very well.

Mr. Weaver.

I want to put on the record somewhere that I asked for a separate trial and I

was refused.

That evidence of my play in the World Series games is not admitted, and I

got a chance to take a stand on my own behalf.

It will be so noted.

Big setup.

Will the foreman read the verdict?

Yes, Your Honor.

We find the defendants not guilty on all charges.

That was a bigger fix than the series.

Cameras, eight, face cloths, nothing.

people in Chicago got some Lauren Bird.

Dr. Buffalo ran off the nickel. He put your mind to it.

What did I tell you, fuck? He was in the bag all the time.

Regardless of the verdict of juries, no player who throws a ball game,

no player who undertakes or promises to throw a game, no player who

sits in conference with a bunch of crooked players and gamblers,

where the ways and means of throwing a ball game were discussed, and does not

promptly tell his club about it, will ever play professional baseball again.

He's playing kind of shallow and center, isn't he? He's new.

Damn if that doesn't look like him.

Look like who?

Nah, couldn't be.

He's gonna get burned playing in so close.

How'd he get back there?

Who is that guy?

It is. It's him.

What's his name, the new guy?

He don't look so new to me.

Well, it says his name's Brown.

That name is easy to change. It's him.

Who's him?

It's Joe Jackson.

What? Get out of here.

Who's Joe Jackson? Look at how he's hitting us. He's killing us out there. A

double, two home runs.

These Bushers make peanuts less. Jackson made a fortune on those games.

It's him.

You ever see him play?

Yeah, I saw pictures.

Pictures.

I saw him play.

Yeah?

What do you think?

He was the best.

Run, hit, throw.

He was the best.

So what do you think?

Is that him?

Nah.

Those fellas are all gone now.

Who's Joe Jackson? He was one of the guys that threw the series back in 19.

One of them bums from Chicago, kid.

One of the Black Sox.

You tell me that you're going away.

Don't say that we might part.

Please don't break my aching heart.

Change!