The 1988 film "Eight Men Out" directed by John Sayles is a retelling of the tale of how the great Chicago White Sox, the idols of millions of fans, agreed to throw the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. The team was famed for their great fielder 'Shoeless Joe' Jackson, and the other notable ballplayers that made up their historically great line-up. However, rather than a condemnation of the ballplayers, the movie instead functions as a critique of the men who run baseball, particularly Charles Comiskey, the White Sox owner.
             Comiskey refused to pay any of the members of his winning team what they were worth, even to the point of compromising the team's performance on the field. He benched his best pitcher after twenty-nine winning games, for example, because he promised to give the man a bonus after winning thirty games. Comiskey's actions were often so cheap they seemed more disrespectful than thrifty. He sent the team flat champagne when they won the pennant race, after promising them a financial bonus. The team became known as the "Black Sox" even before the scandal, because their owner, it was said, was too cheap to get their uniforms washed. The film makes it clear that the owner does not love baseball, the players do. Thus the disgruntled players are open to the nefarious suggestions of the criminal gambler Arnold Rothstein that they lose the crucial, final game, even though it will compromise the team, their individual reputations in the history of the game, and the faith of the Sox fans.
             The climax of the film occurs when the team's players are offered more money to throw the game than they ever would have gotten if they had won the series. This is bitterly ironic, and meant to show the dangers of having owners who see their team as a money-making opportunity, not as a group of human beings with unique talents. However, some of the players, despite the treatment t...