Buck Weaver: Silent Partner?

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - It became known on this date in 1922 that former Chicago White Sox third baseman Buck Weaver personally appealed to the Commissioner who banned him to get reinstated. The New York Times reported that Weaver met with Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis the previous week, but since it was not a formal appeal, it was not publicly disclosed.

Weaver had been kicked out of major league baseball for life for being part of a conspiracy to throw the 1919 World Series. Despite he and seven other players being acquitted of taking bribes from gamblers (mainly because their confessions were mysteriously lost), baseball  banned them anyway for associating with gamblers. The evidence was that Weaver refused to take part in the plan but never spoke up about it either.

Weaver hit .324 in the series and played errorless third base, which lent credence to his declaration that he wasn't involved, but Commissioner Landis wouldn't budge. This was the first of several unsuccessful attempts by George "Buck" Weaver during his lifetime to get his named cleared. He died in 1956 at age 65.

Contributing sources:
The New York Times, January 14, 1922
1919 World Series

[Photo in the public domain, source: www.wikipedia.org]