Lousy year for baseball; don't know what more can be said that hasn't already been said, but that's a pretty good summary. Things started off well; the White Sox won the pennant, and their ace, Eddie Cicotte, won 29 games. Babe Ruth established a new home run record, with 29. But then came the worst scandal of them all; eight members of the White Sox conspired to lose the World Series, and Cicotte was one of them.

         You already know that Shoeless Joe Jackson was banned for life for his involvement in the Series fix. Jackson is also barred from the Hall Of Fame, though he has legions of supporters who would like to see him inducted. But Jackson was not the only member of the Black Sox whose involvement in the scandal has kept him out of the Hall; Eddie Cicotte was a great pitcher, a no-questions-asked Hall Of Famer had he not been a crook.
        Why so much support for Jackson, and not Cicotte? Jackson doesn't win any honesty awards; it was Cicotte, after all, who first confessed. True, Jackson played well in the Series, but Cicotte pitched very well in his last two starts, and even won Game Seven (it was a Best-Of-Nine series). Don't get me wrong; I don't think either of them should be in the Hall. But I don't really understand the swell of support for Jackson, and not Cicotte, other than Jackson looked like a good guy in Field Of Dreams.
        While I hate to give any award to a member of the Black Sox, I do think Cicotte deserves the Cy Young this year. He led the league in wins, complete games, and innings pitched; his 29-7 mark was the best in the league by a good margin. Walter Johnson led the league in ERA and shutouts, but Cicotte's ERA was only a little bit higher. I have to take Cicotte, followed by Johnson. Then I'll take Allen Sothoron, a journeyman who had a couple of fine years for St. Louis, and Stan Coveleski, who was his usual outstanding self.
        The choice of Coveleski is not a clear one; I could take Carl Mays, who got stuck with a lousy won-loss record despite pitching brilliantly. Mays was in the middle of an outstanding career, but the Red Sox traded him to New York midway through the season, as if it wasn't enough to send Babe Ruth packing a few months later. I could also select Jim Shaw, who was affectionately nicknamed "Grunting Jim", or Lefty Williams, one of the Black Sox. Williams was one of the few conspirators who seemed to take the whole thing seriously; if it wasn't for his 0-3 record and 6.61 ERA, Chicago might have won the darn thing.
        But I'll stick with Coveleski. He was a big winner, he was versatile, and he pitched very well for the Indians.