New Britain herald., 1926-12-28
BY BILLY EVANS

Scandal has again crossed the baseball horizon, discriminating two of the games greatest stars. Seven years ago the sport world was startled by the knowledge that eight members of inc Chicago White Sox had conspired 10 throw the 1919 world series with Cincinnati.
 It was a terrific shock, one that for time had baseball on the ropes
 The national pastime soon revived. however, because the fans realized the game was far greater than any individual star or group of stars.
 Now. seven years later. two of the greatest players of all time, two idols of the game. are involved in scandal that on the surface appears to be as messy an affair as was the 1913 expose.
 It was an easy matter to excuse some of the White Sox players on A player who could neither read nor write certainly couldn't be expected to give much consideration to the moral phase of crooked transac- ton.
 One of the White sox players eral others were but slightly more advanced, intellectually. It was an easy matter for the slick gamblers aided by couple of the smarter players, to draw the slow thinkers into the gambling coup that for q time rocked the very foundations of baseball.
 Ty Cobb, greatest ball player Of all time. and Iris Speaker. the in- comparable, are men of education, keen minds. supposedly superior in tellect. IL is hard to imagine these super players of super-intellect as plain fiXers.
 What makes the episode all the more incongruous is the fact that the flxers. if any, in this case gamhled for petty stakes. There was no big killing 10 sway conscience or morals. according 10 the allegations.
 It is difficult to picture Tyrus Raymond Cobb and Tristan Speaker as fixers. for here we have two of the wealthiest men in baseball. Cobb. a millionaire, playing penny ante game with marked cards. That's the charge.
 Cobb and Speaker have passed on. They resigned their manaserships shortly before the allegations against them were made public.
 Sport followers are likely to con- clude 1t was this brewing scandal that brought to such an abrupt close thcir major lcagua careers. and 10 remember them for this rather than for the deeds of un1ucstioned dia- mond eallantry they so often per formed.
 r. is too bad 10 have the rcputa- ton of years Of mcritorious service erased by ono alleged act of wrong doing.
 AS for baseball, it will go serenely on it's way. The game f1ourished be- fore the rise of Cobb and Speaker. and will continueto flourish.
 Regardless of tho innocence or srilr of tho four players named in baaehall's latest scandal. "Dufch" Leonard cncrers from the expose with more murlc clinEine to his uni form than any Of tho others.
 In tho world of sport. Leonard has already been branded as tho "sQuoaler' Even in our kid days thc fat'lc-talc was never q very popular person.
 There was NO uplift motive back of Lconard's allegations incriminat- ing Ty Cobb, Iris Speaker and Joo Wood. It was purely matter of personal revenge.
 Leonard was peeved at Cobb be- cause he rolcgated him to the minors, when hc believed he was still good enough 10 stick in the big show. Cobb became target for his ani- mostly.
 Personal Revenge
 He was sore at Iris Speaker. be- cause inc manager of thc Cleveland Indians waived on him. thereby en- abling Cobb 10 include him minor ,oacue trade. Speaker. the man Leonard once idolized, was placed in tha samn category as Cobb.
 Then, failing in his effort to get h'5 unconditional release on the ground that he was 1Q-year man