Ring Larnder and the 1919 Black Sox scandal

The Chicago “Black Sox scandal” of 1919 shook baseball to its core and nearly ruined the game. Sportswriter Ring Lardner was at the center of the story and regularly reported on the subsequent trial and banning of the eight players involved. The case shook Lardner’s belief in the game and robbed baseball of one of its biggest early writers.

Adapted from Eliot Asin’s baseball classic 8 Men Out, director John Sayles brought Lardner back into the baseball and literary spotlight during the 1988 Hollywood film Eight Men Out. The movie included some big-name talent, including John Cusack and John Mahoney (of many movies and later Frasier fame). Sayles, himself an actor, played Lardner, who quickly figured out something was behind-the-scenes friends with the Chicago White Sox. Strong reviews from major media outlets and critics like the New York Times Janet Maslin (“the story of youthful enthusiasm gone awry in an all-too-grown-up world, Eight Men Out hits a home run”) gave this film its preverbal legacy and now it is considered a classic among baseball moviegoers.

Ring began his career as a sportswriter in South Bend, writing for both the South Bend Tribune and the South Bend Times. He moved to Chicago and wrote for the Chicago Inter-Ocean, the Chicago Examiner, and finally the Chicago Examiner. After bouncing around for a few years, including taking time off to work on the fictional book You Know Me Al, Larnder returned to Chicago and returned to writing for the Tribune.

This brings us to the scandal itself. The official story is this: Many players within the Chicago White Sox organization were upset with White Sox owner Charles Comiskey’s pay and deal tactics. When Joseph Sullivan approached White Sox first baseman Arnold Gandil on behalf of New York mobster Arnold Rothstein, the time was right. Gandil was able to rally seven other players (thus bringing the total to eight) to pitch games against the Cincinnati Reds in the 1919 World Series. For this, the players were promised a total of $100,000.

Ring Lardner wrote articles for the Tribune after the series hinted at and reported on rumors floating around the majors at the time, that the players might have been “in the take.” He followed up on his stories, and eventually, Major League Baseball began to investigate these claims. After the owners appointed a new commissioner in Judge Kenesaw Mountin Landis, the case was tried in a court of law. After a trial that was plagued by news coverage and most likely affected by public opinion, the players were acquitted. However, Judge Landis saw things differently, as he proceeded to ban all eight players involved in the scandal.

After the 1919 Black Sox scandal ended, Lardner continued to cover baseball until he retired from the Tribune. According to the biographies, although Ring covered the sport, he began to subtly question the events and results of the games. Ring Lardner passed away at the age of 48 from complications of tuberculosis in 1933.