January 27, 1927: Cobb and Speaker Are Cleared

Ty Cobb (left) and Tris Speaker, 1927

January 27, 1927: Two of baseball's greatest players ever are cleared of wrongdoing, in what could have become the greatest scandal in the game's history -- worse than the Black Sox Scandal of a few years earlier, and worse than the Pete Rose gambling scandal of 1989.

Let's take a step back: On November 3, 1926, two of the top baseball players of the last decade -- in the case of one, of the last 2 decades -- resign as player-managers. George Sisler, arguably the greatest 1st baseman who has ever lived to this point, resigns as manager of the St. Louis Browns, but will remain a player. Dan Howley is named his replacement.

On the same day, Ty Cobb resigns as manager of the Detroit Tigers, and announces his retirement from playing baseball. Soon after, a 3rd legend retires as a player-manager, Tris Speaker of the Cleveland Indians.

Cobb still holds the all-time record for highest lifetime batting average, at .366. He had 4,189 hits, which was a record until 1985. A re-check of the records in 1981 forced corrections, as one of his games had previously been counted twice, giving a .367 average and 4,191 hits. However, Pete Rose was still celebrated as breaking the hits record with his 4,192, not his 4,190th. Cobb also stole 892 bases, which was considered a record until broken by Lou Brock in 1977.

Cobb was not, however, celebrated for his defense. He wasn't a liability in center field, but he wasn't great out there, either. Tris Speaker was, considered the best at playing the position until Joe DiMaggio came along. And he was also a great hitter, batting .344 lifetime, collecting 3,514 hits, including 792 doubles, which is still the all-time record. (Before the 1981 revision, he was listed at .345, 3,515 and 793.)

Sisler, known as "Gorgeous George" and "the Sizzler," batted .340 for his career, but just 2,812 hits, albeit 257 of them in the 1920 season, a record until Ichiro Suzuki got 262 in 2004. For his leaving of his managerial post, whom everything seems to have been above-board.

George Sisler

But with Cobb, "the Georgia Peach," and Speaker, "the Grey Eagle," it soon came out that they were coerced into retirement, because of allegations of game-fixing brought about by Hubert "Dutch" Leonard, a former pitcher managed by Cobb.

Not to be confused with the later pitcher Emil Leonard, also nicknamed "Dutch," Hubert, also nicknamed "Hub" (but pronounced "Hyoob"), was a lefthander who, with the Boston Red Sox in 1914, had an earned run average of 0.96. This was long listed in major league records as 1.01, but later revised and corrected. But even at 1.01, it was the lowest ERA for a single full season in major league history, and remains so. The closest anyone has come since is Bob Gibson, with 1.12 for the 1968 St. Louis Cardinals.

Dutch Leonard

Leonard helped the Red Sox win the 1915 and 1916 World Series, and pitched 2 no-hitters. However, he was hurt midway through the 1918 season, and did not pitch in that year's World Series. The Sox traded him to the Yankees, who soon traded him to the Tigers, with whom he played, alongside Cobb and, from 1921 onward, under him.

They already didn't like each other: In 1914, Leonard had hit Cobb in the ribs with a pitch. In his next-at-bat, Cobb dragged a bunt, and Leonard raced him to 1st base, where Cobb spiked him. They openly feuded, with Leonard once calling Cobb a "horse's ass" in front of the other players. Finally, on September 14, 1925, with permission from team owner Frank Navin, Cobb put Leonard on waivers. No team picked him up. He was only 33 years old, with a decent career record of 139-113, but his career was over.

Leonard claimed proof of Cobb and Speaker attempting to fix a game in 1919, so that the Tigers would finish 3rd and qualify for additional postseason money, existed in letters written to him by Cobb and Smoky Joe Wood, the former ace pitcher and hero of the 1912 season before injury wrecked his career, who'd been Speaker's teammate on the Boston Red Sox and again with the Indians.

Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis held a secret hearing with Cobb, Speaker and Wood. A second secret meeting among the American League directors led to the unpublicized resignations of their managerial posts by Cobb and Speaker. Rumors of the scandal led Judge Landis to hold additional hearings, in which Leonard, interestingly, refused to participate.

Was he bought off? Or intimidated into silence? Maybe he had been lying all along, and he realized that Landis, a former federal judge, would see through him. It's also worth noting that Leonard waited an entire year to make his accusation.

Cobb and Wood admitted to writing the letters, but claimed that a horse-racing bet was involved, nothing to do with baseball, and that Leonard's accusations were in retaliation for Cobb's having released him. Speaker denied any wrongdoing.

And so, on January 27, 1927, Judge Landis cleared Cobb and Speaker of any wrongdoing, because of Leonard's refusal to appear at the hearings. Landis allowed both Cobb and Speaker to return to their original teams, but each team let them know that they were free agents, and could sign with any club they wanted.

Speaker signed with the Washington Senators for 1927, and Cobb with the Philadelphia Athletics. Speaker then joined Cobb in Philadelphia for the 1928 season, the last in the majors for each of them. (Sisler played on until 1930.) Cobb said he had come back only to seek vindication, and to say that he left baseball on his own terms.

Cobb's replacement as Tiger manager was George Moriarty, a former Tiger infielder who was, until then, an American League umpire. He remains the only man to hold the positions of player, umpire, scout and manager in Major League Baseball. He will also become the grandfather of Michael Moriarty, who becomes an actor, best known for playing a baseball player in the film Bang the Drum Slowly. Speaker's successor in Cleveland is Jack McCallister, and having succeeded Speaker is about the only noteworthy thing about him.

Leonard became a successful fruit farmer and winemaker in California, living until 1952. Speaker died in 1958, Cobb in 1961, and Sisler (remember, he was never accused) in 1973. Smoky Joe Wood, the other man involved in the alleged conspiracy, lived all the way until 1985.

*

January 27, 1927 was a Thursday. Baseball and football were out of season. Professional basketball was still very minor-league. But there were 4 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Detroit Cougars, 3-1 at the Ottawa Auditorium. The Cougars became the Detroit Falcons in 1930, and the Detroit Red Wings in 1932.

* The Montreal Maroons beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-3 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* And the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 4-2 at the Duquesne Gardens in Pittsburgh. The Pirates were done in by the Depression, first moving in 1930, becoming the Philadelphia Quakers, and then going out of business after one season.