The 1919 World Series. "Black Sox" scandal. "Shoeless" Joe Jackson banned from baseball. Any hardcore baseball fan knows this story well, and Eight Men Out is a fascinating retelling of this dark moment in baseball history. Myself being a ridiculously huge baseball fan, the odds that I would love this movie were pretty high, and any baseball fan will love it. I think that even if you aren't a big baseball fan, you can still appreciate the impressive snapshot of early 20th century American history, and an interesting portrayal of culture during the time period. Also impressive is how well Eight Men Out has aged, a period piece with impressive costume and set design that holds up 24 years later. As far as sports movies go, Eight Men Out is up there with the best.
1919 was a different era. There was no NFL, no fantasy sports, no round the clock ESPN coverage of every piece of sports minutiae painfully scrutinized ad nauseum. In 1919, there was big league baseball. This film starts as the Chicago White Sox are finishing up their American League Pennant victory, preparing to meet the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. The White Sox are one of the greatest teams ever assembled, led by Buck Weaver (John Cusack), 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson (D.B. Sweeney), Hap Felsch (Charlie Sheen), ace hurler Eddie Cicotte (David Strathairn) and managed by the great 'Kid' Gleason (John Mahoney). But Sox players become increasingly frustrated with their cheapskate owner, Commie Comiskey (Clifton James), who pays them well below what they are worth and doesn't live up to his promises. He promises Cicotte a $10,000 bonus for winning 30 games, and benches him for 3 weeks in August. As frustrations begin to boil over, the gambling community finds a way to exploit this, paying the players their due wage in exchange for throwing the Series. The men are conflicted, but several give in, and as the Series starts, the White Sox are ready to lose to get rich.
Not all players approached give in to the scheme. Buck Weaver and Joe Jackson just want to play. They love the game, and even though they feel cheated by their owner, they can't stand to lose. Weaver is played as the hero in the film, the guy that despite the temptation of money, just wants to win a World Series. He develops a relationship with a couple of Chicago neighborhood kids who adore him. These scenes are very cute, and a great dichotomy of how things get complicated from childhood to adulthood. When you're a kid, there's just fun and baseball. When you're an adult, it gets a little bit more muddled. Joe Jackson is one of the tragic players in baseball history. A great ball player but not the brightest bulb in the box, Jackson is walked upon by others who are smarter than him. He just wants to play the game, but the harsh reality of the world won't let him.
If I had a time machine, one of the first places I would visit would be a Major League Baseball ball park in the early 20th century. The era fascinates me. The game was so much different back then. Fans packed the stadiums in suits and hats, scrutinizing every detail of the game. Every child wanted to grow up to be a baseball player. The players were of the rough and tumble type, the kind that fought when it was (un)necessary and threw back the whiskey after games. Spitballs and all other types of illegal pitches of today were legal and prevalently used. One interesting quirk that is highlighted in the film is that the players of opposing sides would actually share their gloves. At the end of an inning, the fielders would leave their glove at their position for the other team to use. The game that is played today, while at it's purest is still the same, is so dissimilar to the early days.
I loved how the movie showed the internal conflict of the players trying to throw the game. Losing on purpose is a harder thing than it would seem. One of the beauties of baseball is that once you're on the field, nothing else but the game matters. The guys who are on the take know what they must do, but most of them don't want to. By the end most are ready to quit the rouse, but once you've made a deal with the devil, you can't go back. The team is so tense, as most of the guys know who is on the take and who isn't. Manager Kid Gleason doesn't want to believe his boys would throw the game. Could you imagine looking a teammate in the eye after you purposefully make an error in the field in the World Series?
The movie follows the events of the 9-game World Series, and the aftermath that led to the eight men involved being banned for life from the game. The set pieces, the costumes, and especially the ragtime musical score wonderfully immerse you in the era. Like I said, it's hard for me to be unbiased because I love this era and subject matter so much. But the story is a great portrayal of the struggle between getting rich and the love of the game. Could you imagine if something like this happened in 2012? What if it was discovered that Nelson Cruz was on the take and his woeful attempt at David Freese's game tying triple in the 9th in Game 6 of last years World Series was purposeful? It would be national scandal that would bring baseball to its knees. This is similar to the "Black Sox" scandal, except imagine that today's MLB was by FAR the country's most popular sport. What a big deal it was to the country is an interesting facet to this story to me.
Even though the NFL might be the most popular sports league of today, our nation was founded on baseball. Eight Men Out is a great film about one of the low points in American sports history. Great sports movies are hard to come by, and any fan of the genre should give this movie a look. Baseball nerds like me will especially adore it.
4/5
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