El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-02-13
Gamblers and Players.


| many men at the head of the sport whS
! were vitality interested in its welfare
/ and were giving their time and money
to its promotion, it is not to be won-
dered at that the relations between the
| gamblers and the players became very
close and that suspicious as to the hon
| esty of the sport became widespread
| and seriously affected the attendance
/ which was meager enough at the best
| Official inquiries into this condition
were made, but they produced no re-
/ suits and in the meantime the aSsocia-
ton of players and gamblers became
more and more pronounced.
| They were betting on the number Of
hits to an inning. the number of tallies
to a certain number of innings and
| about every combination that could
| possibly develop in the course of a
I game. And in the meantime. some
games were lost that the public thought
! ought to have resulted the other way
| and star pitchers had sudden reversals
/ Of form which were almost inexplicable
\ and which continued to cast dark
clouds over the game.
! This condition went on until late in
/ the season of 1877. Louisville, which
/ had been one of the mainstays Of the
| league, had a cracking good team and
| numbered among its players a star
/ pitcher named Jim Devlin, a catcher
| named Hall and two players. Craver and
| Nichols. Devlin had been a consistent
] winner and the town was wild about
MIN. BUSINESS men COurIeQ MS dC-
quaintanCe, and of course the gamblers
were always to be found about him.
Not Wide Interest OF Now.
There was not the wide public inter-
est in baseball that we have in this
day, but some Of the newspapers main
tanned baseball reporters. and among
these was John Halderman. Of the
Louisville COurier-JOurna and o. P.
CaylOr, of a Cincinnati paper. These
men were very close to the clubs and
understood the play so well that they
would be quick to notice anything IN
usual in the results.
Their suspicious were aroused against
the Louisville club, particularly when
Devlin began to lose more games than
his marked talent seemed to warrant.
They watched the contests for some
time, and finally got their heads to-
gether and agreed that there was an
African in the woOdpile. So they
agreed to keep tab on the play and un-
earth the mystery as soon as they
could.
In the meanwhile Devlin was losing
rather consistently and Louisville was |
dropping lower and lower in the per- |
centage column. While on the road |
with the club one day they learned that |
kilograms were passing between some |
Of the players and gamblers in various ]
cities. This seemed to be a clew to the |
whole situation, so they summoned all /
their courage, procured a search war /
rant and broke into DeTlin's room.
Games Decided in advance.
Here they found what they were |
looking fOr-the code that was used by /
the players in letting their gambling /
friends in other cities know how the |
game was going to result.
Buy corn" was one Of the code /
terms, which meant that certain team 4
was to win.
Sell oats" was another. which /
meant that some team was scheduled
to lose. AS Devlin was known every
where as a great pitcher it was not
hard to get bets of considerable size
on him when he was scheduled to start.
Consequently he could throw a game
at considerable profit to the bookmak-
ers and himself, presumably.
Halderman and CaylOr bundled up I
their evidence and sent it to president
who was an operator on the
Chicago board of trade, and a. meeting I
of the league was Immediately called
Devlin, Hall, Craver and Nichols were
the men involved in the scandalous af-
fair, and thew were called before the |
however, Devlin confessed that there !
had been dishonest relations between |
the players and a cOterie of gamblers,
and as result all four players were
suspended and a watch was set over an |
of the other players in the league.
Punishment Is Severe.
TINS last precautlOn does not appear ]
to have been necessary, as the punish
AllNAAL lAlILNu Jul 10 ll6 AOulSNllAb AIN I
letes threw such scare into the others
that it is reported they would cross the
street to keep from meeting a gambler. !
It is the course Of events following
this action that really stamped gam
bling out Of baseball, and made Hurl- J
but, who died a few years later. one of
the great men of the game-a position
which has not been accorded him by
history, by the way.
Devlin, as a fallen hero, received a
great deal of n11b1ir Hv- nd :
became more pronounced as his repeat
ed petitions for reinstatement were re-
fused. In fact, before the year of 1877
had passed he had petitioned for rein
statement.
II have admitted my guilt. which was
The result of circumstances more than a
desire to be dishonest" he said. but L
think it would be only fair to give me
chance to earn a living"
The plea had no effect and Devlin I
began to feel the need of money
sharply. He was happily married, and
was said to have been an excellent man !
except in the one respect for which he
lad been punished. His wife took up !
his cause and appealed to the big
American public that had admired him o.
when he worked so skilfully in the box /
She wrote letters to ball players and !
and the next year petitions
'Or Devlin's reinstatement were circu-
ated all over the United States.
OLeary's "Reminiscences.
II was managing a club in Spring
ield, Mass, at the time Dan O'Leary
elates 'and We went to work with a /
Will to save Devlin to the game and ,
give him a chance to make some mon i
" Ball players and statesmen signed ] {
ne petition, our own list from Spring
ield numbering almost 1000 names ana I
many of them were names that were
worth something, too" &
Armed with these petitions, Devlin
another hearing from the {
eaGue and he was given this privii eye. C
lis wife accompanied him when he ap- a
cared before the magnates. He pre- I
ented his voluminous petitions and t
rOmised to be good He said he had r
10 other way Of making a living eX- h
ept by playing baseball and argued
hat this should not longer be denied h
i'm. h
have been punished enough" he a
eclared with tears in his eyes Il
Mrs. Devlin seconded his efforts dra- A
and forcefulIy. KneeIing at
he feet Of president Hurlbut, she F
egged him to give her husband one
lOTa chance !,