Buck Weaver should be reinstated by Major League Baseball
“Though they are hopeless and heartless, the White Sox have a hero. He is George Weaver, who plays and fights at third base. Day after day Weaver has done his work and smiled. In spite of the certain fate that closed about the hopes of the Sox, Weaver smiled and scrapped. One by one his mates gave up. Weaver continued to grin and fought harder…. Weaver’s smile never faded. His spirit never waned…. The Reds have beaten the spirit out of the Sox all but Weaver. Buck’s spirit is untouched. He was ready to die fighting. Buck is Chicago’s one big hero; long may he fight and smile.” — Cincinnati Post, October 10, 1919
If you want to feel sorry for someone associated with the Black Sox Scandal, don’t feel bad for criminal Shoeless Joe, shift your sympathies to George “Buck” Weaver, a talented infielder who found himself in the middle of an insidious conspiracy and was swept out of the game despite his innocence.
Many words and several books have been written about the 1919 World Series. There was a celebrated movie (Eight Men Out) that got much of the story wrong, which unfortunately furthered the erroneous notion that the men who fixed the Series were victims. They were not, except for Weaver, who was guilty only of not ratting out his teammates. Weaver was never party to the fix, and he was never directly involved in the…
