Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1920-09-24

lowed hack in It." said Comiskey. THE
rascals must be caught and swiftly and
openIy punished. There must De no
whitewashing. The public must De Iully
informed why the crooks are booted out
Comiskey declared while the exposures
would temporarily hurt baseball, the pub
les faith in the integrity OF baseoaii
..orId he greater than ever because OF
the thoroughness of the Investigation,
At am disguised to think there may be
players and others who would crlInlnaliy
iniure an institution which is the deIlght
OF so many millions of people, ne SAID.
Every possible step must be taken 10
eradicate gambling from baseball and re
store the game to public confidence.
as violent as the shock or exposure
e. snre 70 he the game is big eneugh
10 stand it. no matter IL one or ten or
thirty crooks are caught ana hela up 70
public scOrn. II there Is found 10 De
erookedness among players the game VIII
be stimulated by being eleansed an,
nv fearless scratch for and determined
prosecution of raScalS.
Basebal's greatest peril, Comlskey
said. is gambling. A Federal law deal
ing specifically with the sort OF inter
state Gambling syndicate which he says
has been trying to tasten user upon the
rational game is needed, ne declared.
BETTING MUST
BE SUPPRESSED.
Later. Comiskey further talked on base
ball and gambling. He said:
IF betting Is not suppressed 1t VIII
utterly destroy baseball. The game Will
endure only if it is kept clean. The de-
struction of baseball would be great
loss to the nation and we cannot aHoru
to let it 90 the way OF horse racing.
81 have had under investigation since
the worlds series last year, stories tha'
there were disloyal players on the White
Sox. I think the Investigation has been
very thorough, but | shall not ABANDON
it. We held up the purses OF several
vestfgation, but they were all paid lone
ago. The talk Of thrown games started
BY the switching of betting.
THE betting on the Cincinnati-SoN
series switched twice during the series
At first the White SOX were the faYorltes
then the gamblers began supporting Gin
cinnati's chances for the championship
That switch gave rise 10 much ugly tall
and We Immediately undertook to dis
cover whether there was any foundation
ssIn my estimation there was no com
parisdn between the two teams. l thinl
the SOx was the best ball club the worlc
had eyer SEEN"
Ban johnson also came out touay
with an appeal to fans players, writ
ers and others to cooperate and tel
everything they know that would help
clean up baseball in the big leagues
Now that the question of corruption
Of baseball players, of widespread gam
bling on baseball results and OF the
operation Of the CHASTITY demoralzine
fraud known as the baseball pool have
been brought TO a head, hope to see
them quickly and thoroughly aired.
"The more widely open these ques-
lions are ripped by the press. the grand
jury. the officers of the baseball organi-
cations, the public and the players
themselves. the better 1t viii be fol
baseball and for public morals.
URGES TELLING
OF ALL FACTS.
Il sincerely hope that whoever has any
knowledge of crookedness among base
ball players, or of attempts to corrup
players, and that whoever has any evi
dence which will|lead to prosecution o.
gamblers and the eradica ton of gambling
will not hesitate to come forward anC
tell what he knows.
Il am determined that baseball shall
be divorced from gambling and that th'
black sheep shall be driven out of tbs
game.
II expect the grand jury investigation
now being held in Chicago to be of the
highest benefit, for there is no question
that Judge Mcdonald and the grand jury
have sternly set out to rid baseball o.
its enemies.
THE percentage Of dishonest ball play
er6 Is very small, out We nave some. We
have been at fault in the past by placing
too much faith in the integrity Of al
players.
CROOKS BOUND
TO CREEP IN.
AS officers Of organized baseball, VIC
have thought that the game was safe in
the players hands-that they would not
50 to speak, befoul their own nests.
We ara no longer so ingenious. We
know that crooks may creep in among
honest men, thus endangering the repu-
tation of all OF course, this Information
is not entirely new with us.
We have several times eliminated dis.
honest players, or players suspected Of
dishonesty, from the American League
They were dropped and nothing was said
about It. Various players in both major
leagues have walked the plank and nc
explanation of their going has been made
Magee and Chase walked the plank and
so did Heine Zimmerman"
Ban Johnson was expected to be
recalled today in order to tell the
Cook County grand jury what he knows
about an alleged plot to "blaclKmail'
the Chicago White sox into losing tbs
American League pennant this year.
George Dr.. Cohan, noted actor, and
Mont Tennes, q well-known Chicago gam.
Der, probably will be subpoenaed fol
| questioning regarding reports that be.
tween than they lost $1,000 betting or
the white sox.
| Johnson's statement Of a blackmail
plot il but one of the sensational angles
Eef the baseball scandal thas Azs zhsine