Lyle Spatz: Triad of Deception, Gebunden

Klappentext

The 1919 New York Giants had more men touched by scandal than the infamous 1919 Chicago White Sox. Foremost among them were Hal Chase and Heinie Zimmerman, but there were others. Leading them was legendary manager John McGraw, who was determined, if not desperate, to return to the World Series.

McGraw signed the controversial and nefarious first baseman Chase, who had long been suspected of throwing games. McGraw's former star pitcher and close friend, Christy Mathewson, also joined the club, serving as the pitching coach, though he and Chase despised each other. Chase and teammate Zimmerman began throwing games after betting against their own team.

The Giants' 1919 season raises many questions that the authors examine. Why did McGraw sign Chase in the first place? Why did McGraw not suspend Chase when he suspended Zimmerman, when the corruption of both men became evident? Why did McGraw bring the principled Mathewson onto the team, when he knew Mathewson and Chase despised each other? Why did Mathewson agree to join the club after Chase had been signed?

While the Black Sox scandal dominates histories of the 1919 season, the New York Giants' connections with known fixers and their own internal bribery issues highlight the precarious state of baseball at that time. The 1919 season was John McGraw's biggest failure as a manager and the turning point after which game-fixing players would no longer be welcome in Major League Baseball. When Chicago's Black Sox scandal erupted, McGraw perjured himself in a grand jury investigating that sordid event. In Triad of Deception, Lyle Spatz and Steve Steinberg provide the first detailed look at the New York Giants during that colorful and corrupt 1919 season.