If not for tired clichés, I don't think Sayles would have had a script. "Make way for the Clean Sox!"; "Ya gotta pitch them one at a time." - spare me. Seems like all he did for research on the era was view old Hollywood baseball films and read anecdotes about the Black Sox. Another bad decision on the director's part is acting in his own film. His sarcastic singing in the train scene is the low part of the movie. The part about the selection of Landis as baseball commissioner is a farce. Could have been a great period piece about the times and America's early infatuation with the pastime. Instead, a cartoonish version of the story is presented. Sayles strikes out.