Black Sox: Welcome
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THE MARLBORO BLACK SOX SCANDAL
Eight members of the Marlboro Black Sox franchise were banned for life from baseball for throwing (intentionally losing) games, and essentially giving the series to Pleasant Street Cafe. The conspiracy was the brainchild of Black Sox first baseman Mike The "Gorilla" O'Connell, who had longstanding ties to petty underworld figures. He persuaded Darren "By The Wayside" McGloughlin, a friend and professional gambler, that the fix could be pulled off. New York gangster Steve "Ex Rep" Leduc supplied the money through his lieutenant Ryan "Boomer" Brown , a former featherweight boxing champion.
"Gorilla" Oconell White Sox First Baseman, enlisted several of his teammates, motivated by a dislike of penurious club owner Dave "The Hemroid" Marshall , to implement the fix. All of them were members of a faction on the team that resented the better-educated and higher-paid players on the team, such as second baseman Tom "The Hit Man " Driscoll, and catcher Eric " Happy" Holden.
Starting pitchers Kevin "Hyper"Marshall and Mike "Lefty" Daly, outfielder Bob "Homey" Gustafson , and shortstop Steve "Swede" Conner were all principally involved with Scerra. Third baseman Keith Gagne was also asked to participate, but refused. Weaver was later banned with the others for knowing of the fix but not reporting it. Although he hardly played in the series, utility infielder Chris "keg man" Shilapa got word of the fix and threatened to report the others unless he was in on the payoff. Outfielder Peter "Shoeless" Scerrawas also mentioned as a participant, though his involvement is disputed.