Eight Men Out Movie

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Posted By: DJ

Errors in "Eight Men Out":

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: While The Star-Spangled Banner was not officially made the national anthem until 1933, it was sung during the first game of the 1918 World Series and had been popular for years, so it's reasonable for it to be sung before a 1919 game.

Factual errors: Dickie Kerr who pitched game 3 of the world series is seen throwing right handed in the movie. But in actuality he was a left handed pitcher.

Factual errors: Eddie Collins, who was a left handed batter, bats right handed in the movie.

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Some of the neighborhood kids are listening to the game on a "crystal set" radio. Although the first "real" radio station in the USA (KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) wasn't launched until 1920, less well organized broadcasters were operating as early as 1909. It is not inconceivable that an enthusiastic local was broadcasting details of the game and so, whether accurate or not, it seems reasonable to allow artistic license.

Anachronisms: In Charles Comiskey's office after word of the scandal is out, Comiskey's lawyer is bouncing an autographed baseball in his hand made by Rawlings. During the Black Sox scandal, A.L Reach was the official ball of MLB.

Factual errors: During the trial, Buck Weaver exclaims that he batted .327 in the series. Actually he batted .324. The .327 probably came from a researcher's haste: Weaver's lifetime world series batting average was .327, but he batted just .324 in the '19 series.

Continuity: On the train, Ring Lardner undoes his bow-tie. Moments later, his tie is once again tied.

Factual errors: In the film, Risberg makes an error at shortstop in the first game. In the real-life first game, Chick Gandil was recorded with the only error.

Anachronisms: In the scene in the room where the live coverage of game one was being announced, after all the men had left the announcer states the final score. However, instead of saying the "Reds" he says the "Red Legs". This is inaccurate because Cincinnati was not called the Red Legs until the 1944 season.

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In one scene, Dickie Kerr tells manager Kid Gleason that he remembers the first ball game he ever went to - Kid Gleason pitches a no-hitter to beat Cy Young one to nothing. Kid Gleason stopped pitching to become a full time infielder in 1895. Dickie Kerr was born in July of 1893, so it is unlikely that, at 15 months old at the most, Kerr would remember ever seeing Gleason pitch. Not certain when Gleason hurled his no-no, but he did pitch for St. Louis (Kerr's home town) in 1892,93, and 94, so it's possible Dickie did attend the game, but remember it, probably not.

Factual errors: The end of the film leads you to think that Chick Gandil's career ended with the official banishment of the "Black Sox". Actually, Gandil sat out the 1920 season because of a salary dispute with the Chicago White Sox.

Anachronisms: Many of the newspapers are shown with headlines set in the differing varieties of the Helvetica typeface. Helvetica was designed in 1957.

Factual errors: During the first game of the series, the scoreboard is shown in the bottom of the 4th inning with the score being Reds 1, White Sox 0. The actual box score shows that the Reds scored one run in the bottom of the 1st inning and the White Sox scored one run in the top of the 2nd inning. The score should have been tied 1-1 at the bottom of the 4th inning.

Continuity: Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis elected 1st baseball commissioner on November 12, 1920. The scene directly following the announcement of his commissioner-ship shows a newspaper date of January 14, 1920, 10 months earlier.

Factual errors: When the confessions disappeared, the next newspaper headline shows a date of Feb 2, 1920. The trial for the White Sox scandal didn't even open until June 27, 1921.