George Kelly: Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1973

Born: September 10, 1895

1914-15: Minor Leagues

1915: Purchased by New York Giants

Debut: August 18, 1915 (Giants)

1917: Selected off waivers by Pittsburgh Pirates

1917: Returns to Giants

1917: Pitched in a game and got the win

1918: WWI service

1921-2: Giants win World Series

1923-4: Giants win Pennant

1924: Hit 7 home runs in 6 consecutive games (NL record-since tied)

1924: Accused of fixing games, but exonerated by Commissioner Landis

1924-25: Signed to play pro-basketball, but never played

1927: Traded to the Reds

1930: Signed by Minneapolis and then traded to the Cubs

1931: Joined MLB tour of Japan

1932: Ended by back in Minneapolis and then traded to Dodgers

1933: Retired

1935-7: Reds coach

1938-43: Braves coach

1947-8: Reds coach

1949: Coached in PCL

1954: Managed in minors

1973: Elected to Hall of Fame (Vet’s Committee)

1984: Died

Accomplishments:

2x World Champ

1921 HR champ (23)

.297 career

819 runs,

1778 hits

148 HR

1020 RBI

.794 OPS

30+ doubles: 5x

40+ doubles: 2x

11 triples (1920)

20+ HR: 3x

100+ RBI: 4x

.300 average: 6x

.500 slugging: 2xx

310 TB (1921)

Led league in games (155): 1920

Led league in RBI: 2x

Pitching: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 game, 5 IP, 1.000 WHIP

Postseason: .248, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 101 AB, .577 OPS (4 World Series)

Kenesaw Mountain Landis: Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1944

No one was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1943.

Born: November 20, 1866 (named after a Civil War battle where his father was wounded)

1887: Applied to bar

1888: Went to Law School

1893-1895: Secretary to Senator Walter Q. Gresham

1895-1905: Law practice

1905-1922: U.S. District Court Judge for Northern Illinois (Appointed by Theodore Roosevelt)

1907: Fined Standard Oil $29 million for violating federal rebate laws

1915: Presided over hearings regarding the Federal League and the Reserve Clause

1916: Baby Iraene Case

1917-1919: Issued stiff sentences to draft dodgers and those opposed to World War I

1919: White Sox conspire to throw World Series

1920-1944: Baseball Commissioner

1921: Banned 8 White Sox for life

1921: Forced John McGraw to sell his interest in a race track

1921: Banned Eugene Paulette for life for throwing games

1921: Banned Joe Gedeon for his involvement in the Black Sox affair (Landis banned 18 players total for involvement with gambling)

1933: Landis supported first All Star Game

1934: Ejected Ducky Medwick from Game 7 of the World Series for the player’s own protection

1941: Offered to shut the major leagues down for World War II.

1943: Banned Phillies owner William D. Cox for betting on his own team

Died: November 25, 1944

1944: Elected to the Hall of Fame

Shoeless Joe Jackson: Timeline

Born: July 16, 1887

1900: Began playing baseball

1905: Began playing semi-pro ball

1905-1907 : Sometime during this period, he earned his nickname because he took his shoes off before an at bat. His cleats gave him blisters.

Debut: August 25, 1908 (Philadelphia A’s)

1910: Traded to Cleveland

1911: Hit .408 (second in the league to Ty Cobb’s .420)

1915: Traded to White Sox

1917: White Sox win World Series (Jackson hit .304 in the series)

1918: Served in World War I

1919: White Sox win pennant, but throw World Series (Jackson hit .375 with a home run and 6 RBI). Jackson admitted to taking $20,000.

1920: Jackson’s final season

1921: The “Black” Sox are acquitted by a jury. Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis bans Jackson and seven other Sox for conspiring to throw the World Series. They never played in the majors again. Jackson continued to play semi-pro ball.

1922: Jackson opened a dry cleaners

1933: Jackson opened a restaurant and then a general store. Ty Cobb wandered in one day and asked Jackson if he knew him. Jackson responded that he did not think Cobb wanted to know him.

Death: December 5, 1951

1963: Eliot Asinof’s Eight Men Out released.

1988: The movie Eight Men Out is released.

1989: Field of Dreams is released with Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe.

1999: The House of Representatives voted to honor his baseball achievements and support his candidacy for the Hall of Fame.

2009: New evidence calls into question Eight Men Out and Jackson’s guilt.

Accomplishments:

.356 Career Hitter

1917 World Champion

168 Career Triples

100+ Runs: 4x

200+ hits: 4x

Led league in hits: 2x

40+ doubles: 3x

Led league in doubles (39) in 1913

20+ triples: 3x

Led league in triples: 3x

121 RBI in 1920

30+ steals: 2x (41 in 1911)

Hit .300 or better: 11x

Hit .350 or better: 5x

Hit .408 in 1911

.400+ OBP: 5x

Led league in OBP (.468) in 1911

.500+ Slugging: 5x

Led league in slugging (.551) in 1913

1.000+ OPS: 4x

Led league in OPS (1.011) in 1913

300+ Total Bases:2x

Led league in TB: 2x

Postseason: .345, 1 HR, 8 RBI, .823 OPS

Charles Comiskey: Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1939

A timeline of his life and career.

Born: August 15, 1859

Debut: May 2, 1882 (St Louis Brown Stockings)

1883-1889: Managed the Browns (563-273 record and four championships)

1890: Player/Manager for the Chicago Pirates (75-62 record)

1891: Back to St. Louis

1892-84: Played for and Managed the Cincinnati Reds (202-206 record)

1900: Became owner of the White Sox

1901: White Sox win Pennant (No World Series until 1903)

1906: White Sox win World Series

1910: Built Comiskey Park

1917: White Sox win World Series

1917: Becomes bitter enemies with AL President and Founder Ban Johnson

1919: White Sox throw World Series because their owner is ridiculously cheap

1920: Grand Jury convened in Black Sox Scandal

1921: Key evidence in the trial disappeared.

1921: The Black Sox are acquited, but Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis banned the eight men for life. The team collapsed and took a long time to recover. The White Sox do not win another pennant until 1959 and another World Series until 2005.

Died: October 26, 1931

1939: Elected to Hall of Fame on the Second Ballot

1958: Comiskey Family sell the White Sox

1974: The Godfather Part II mentions the fixed World Series.

1988: The movie Eight Men Out chronicles the 1919 World Series.

2010: HBO’s Boardwalk Empire covers the scandal.

Accomplishments:

Led league in At Bats in 1888 (576)

Managerial Record:

840-541 Record (.608) with four pennants

As an owner:

Four Pennants (1901, 1906, 1917, 1919)

Two World Championships (1906, 1917)

Built Comiskey Park

His frugal nature resulted in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal

Ban Johnson: Baseball Hall of Fame 1937

1864: Born in Ohio

1893: Sportswriter Johnson elected president of the faltering Western League

1899: Expanded the Western League following the National League’s contraction and moved other franchises to fill the void left behind. Grand Rapids moved to Cleveland and St. Paul moved to Chicago.

1900: Renamed the Western League, the American League. The AL remained a minor league.

1901: Moved the Buffalo franchise to Boston

1901: NL cut salaries, so Johnson raided their rosters. The AL became a major league.

1917: Harry Frazee bought the Red Sox leading to a clash with Johnson. Johnson did not handpick Frazee and tried to drive him out. The league split into factions. Some supported Johnson while others Frazee. The controversy led to a break with Charles Comiskey.

1919: The Black Sox throw the World Series. Johnson ignores Comiskey’s complaints about the series.

1920: The Black Sox scandal breaks. The owners agree to an independent commission to investigate undercutting Johnson’s authority. Kenesaw Mountain Landis is appointed commissioner with absolute power.

1924: Johnson demanded the World Series be cancelled after allegations surfaced that players accepted bribes. Landis refused and threatened to resign if Johnson did not shut up.

1927: The AL owners forced Johnson out rather than lose Landis.

1931: Died