NEW ULM – It’s a new ballgame as the New Ulm Film Society starts its baseball film series with the historical drama “Eight Men Out.”

The screening starts at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 13 in the New Ulm Public Library.

“Eight Men Out” was released in 1988 and tells the true story of the 1919 Chicago White Sox and how several of the players allegedly took money to throw the World Series. The incident is considered one of the worst sports scandals in history. After news of the scandal broke, baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis would ultimately institute a lifetime ban against eight White Sox players suspected of taking money.

The story focuses on eight players who were ultimately banned from baseball; Arnold Gandil ( played by Michael Rooker), Eddie Cicotte (David Strathairn), Oscar Felsch (Charlie Sheen), “Shoeless” Joe Jackson (D.B. Sweeny), Fred McMullin (Perry Lang), Charles “Swede” Risberg (Don Harvey), George “Buck” Weaver (John Cusack) and Claude “Lefty” Williams (James Read). 

“Eight Men Out” is a sympathetic character study of the players who lost their careers due to the scandal. The film starts with the 1919 White Sox winning the American League pennant. Despite being considered one of the best teams in baseball, team owner Charles Comiskey (Clifton James) refuses to pay the players what they are worth. In 1919, there was no league minimum and owners could keep salaries low. Baseball contracts gave players very little freedom. Some of the older players like Cicotte were denied bonuses promised to them and were concerned about providing for their families. 

The exploitation of the players by league management allows criminals to further undermine the game. Notorious gangster and gambler Arnold Rothstein (Michael Lerner) seeks to bribe members of the White Sox into throwing the series; however it is not clear if every player is part of the scheme. Several players do intentionally throw games, but others resist the temptation to cheat.

The movie focuses on Buck Weaver as a man with too much integrity to cheat. He outright refused to take a bribe. The film implies Shoeless Joe Jackson might not have understood he was involved in a bribery scheme. During the series he took no effort to throw games. In fact, Jackson hit a home run during the series undermining the theory he was bribed. Regardless, Weaver and Jackson were thrown out of baseball along with the other players.

On its initial release, “Eight Men Out” was a moderate success, appealing to baseball historians. The movie also marked the start of an effort to reform the tarnished reputations of the 1919 White Sox. Six months after “Eight Men Out” was released, “Field of Dreams” hit theaters and featured the ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson and other banned players coming back from the dead to play baseball in an Iowa cornfield. The popularity of the two movies led many to reevaluate baseball history and asked deeper questions.

Who is responsible for the 1919 World Series scandal? Were the players really to blame? Was it the fault of the gangsters who offered the money? Should management have treated the players better? 

The New Ulm Film Society’s screening of “Eight Men Out” is free to the public. Before and after the film, there will be a discussion about the film’s place in film history.