Nearing the end of a career that would have ultimately put him in the Hall of Fame, frustrated by a grasping and penurious owner, and seeking a one big payday, Cicotte took the gamblers cash and threw two Series games in 1919. Frustrated by crooked gamblers who reneged on part of the deal, he did win one.

While there are mitigating factors in his case, as there are in Joe Jackson's, there is no doubt of his guilt (he admitted it). The lifetime ban on his participation in organized baseball was eminently fair.

I remember that he hit the first batter in the fixed series that gave the signal that the fix was on.