Eddie Cicotte

Edward Victor Cicotte (June 19, 1884 – May 5, 1969), known as "Knuckles," was a right-handed pitcher for the Chicago White Sox and other teams. He is most remembered as one of eight players banned from professional baseball for life due to the Black Sox scandal, the only gambling fix to stain a World Series.

Cicotte was born to French-Canadian parents Ambrose Cicotte and Archange Mary Drouillard. He married Rose Ellen Freer; her parents later lived with the couple. They had two daughters, Rose and Virginia, and a son, Edward Jr.

A knuckleball specialist, Cicotte started 208 wins against 149 losses over 14 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, and Chicago White Sox. At the time of his ban, he was considered a top American League pitcher. He debuted for Detroit on September 3, 1905, after playing minor league ball with the Augusta Tourists alongside Ty Cobb. In three games that year, he went 1–1 with a 3.50 ERA. He returned to the majors in 1908 with Boston, where he went 41–48 before being sold to Chicago in July 1912.

His breakout came in 1913 with an 18–11 record and a 1.58 ERA. He led the league in winning percentage in 1916, but his best season was 1917, when he led in wins (28), ERA, and innings pitched. That April, he threw a no-hitter against the St. Louis Browns. From September 1916 to July 1917, he pitched 25 straight starts allowing three earned runs or fewer over at least six innings—a streak later called the quality start record, unmatched until Bob Gibson. The White Sox won the 1917 World Series over the New York Giants; Cicotte won Game 1, lost Game 3, and pitched six relief innings in Game 5 for a no-decision.

Injuries dropped him to 12–19 in 1918, but he rebounded in 1919 with 29 wins, again leading the league in wins, winning percentage, innings pitched, and complete games. His salary that year was $6,000, with a $10,000 bonus for 30 wins. Legend says owner Charles Comiskey ordered manager Kid Gleason to bench Cicotte for five games, costing him the bonus.

According to the book Eight Men Out and its film adaptation, Cicotte resisted teammate Chick Gandil’s attempts to fix the 1919 World Series until just before it started, when it became clear Comiskey would not pay the bonus. In the Series, Cicotte pitched three games, winning one but losing two ineffectively. He was the first of the eight players to confess, signing a statement and waiving immunity. He later recanted, and a jury acquitted him of all charges. Nevertheless, Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis permanently banned him and the others from baseball. On May 13, 2025, Commissioner Rob Manfred reinstated Cicotte along with other deceased banned players.

After baseball, Cicotte returned to Livonia, Michigan. He ran a service station, worked as a game warden for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, then joined Ford Motor Company, retiring in 1944. He later farmed strawberries on 5.5 acres near Farmington until his death at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit on May 5, 1969, at age 84.

In the 1988 film Eight Men Out, David Strathairn played Cicotte; Steve Eastin portrayed him in the 1989 film Field of Dreams. His grandnephew Al Cicotte (1929–1982) pitched in the majors for six teams between 1957 and 1962, compiling a 10–13 record.