Name: Eight Men Out
Genre: Drama, History
Released: 1988-09-02
Duration: 120 min
Rating: 6.8
Cast: John Cusack, Clifton James, Michael Lerner, Christopher Lloyd, John Mahoney

Eight Men Out

Champions and the Allure of Money

Abe Attell They say that six or seven guys. I find that hard to believe.

Arnold Rothstein Doesn't surprise me.

Abe Attell Yeah, but they're the champs.

Arnold Rothstein You were champ, Abe, you went down for the bucks.

Abe Attell This is different.

Arnold Rothstein Look, champ. I know guys like that. I grew up with them. I was the fat kid they wouldn't let play. "Sit down, fat boy'. That's what they'd say, "Sit down, maybe you'll learn something." Well, I learned something alright. Pretty soon, I owned the game, and those guys I grew up with come to me with their hats in their hands. Tell me, champ, all those years of puggin', how much money did you make?

Abe Attell The honest fights or the ones I tanked?

Arnold Rothstein Altogether, I must've made ten times that amount betting on you and I never took a punch.

Abe Attell Yeah, but I was champ. Featherweight champeen of the world!

Arnold Rothstein Yesterday. That was yesterday.

Abe Attell No A.R. you're wrong. I was champ, and can't nothin take that away.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Eight Men Out

Tension Among Players in a Critical Moment

Joe Jackson C'mon, Betsy. We need a big wallop, now. Big wallop. Tell me when, Betsy.

[Talking to his bat, "Black Betsy" as he starts to walk to the on-deck circle]

Swede Riesberg She ever talk back to you, Joe?

Fred McMullin Probably sleeps with it, too.

Lefty Williams Lay off, you guys.

Happy Felsch Oh, all you crackers stick together, huh?

Swede Riesberg Hey, ask her for a triple, Joe! You hear me?

Fred McMullin It's been sixty years since the Civil War, Lefty. Ease up.

Happy Felsch Besides, you guys lost. It was all in the papers.

Fred McMullin That wouldn't help Jackson, none.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Eight Men Out

Mocking a Somber Moment

Buck Weaver Come on, guys. Pretend it's Commy's wake.

[as the team prepares for a team photo; team laughs and the picture's taken]

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Eight Men Out

A Prediction of Loss and Intrigue

Hired Killer You're gonna lose tomorrow.

Lefty Williams Oh, is that so?

Hired Killer I know it for a fact. That your wife?

Lefty Williams Yeah, what's it to you?

Hired Killer You don't lose tomorrow, she dies.

Lefty Williams Who sent you?

Hired Killer You made a promise to certain people.

Lefty Williams You son of a bitch!

Hired Killer You can't protect her. If I don't do it, somebody else will. First inning, Mister Williams.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Eight Men Out

Uncertainty Surrounds Betting Promises

Abe Attell It's all out on bets.

Chick Gandil That's not good enough!

[Shoves Attell]

Abe Attell Hey! Don't worry, you'll get your money soon enough.

Chick Gandil When?

Swede Riesberg And how much?

Abe Attell A hundred grand, like I said. Twenty after each game.

Happy Felsch Wait a minute, that's five games. I thought we were just dumping a few.

Abe Attell No, you lose the first three.

Eddie Cicotte Kerr's pitching the third. He's not with us.

Swede Riesberg So, what? We don't hit for him, he'll fold. He's a busher!

Abe Attell After that, we gotta play it by ear. We gotta make this look good, fellas....

Eddie Cicotte Chick, where's the money I asked for?

[quietly to Gandil]

Chick Gandil Look under your pillow.

Eddie Cicotte What?

Chick Gandil Compliments of Sport Sullivan.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Eight Men Out

Disillusionment in Baseball and Gambling

Ring Lardner I'm forever blowing ballgames, pretty ballgames in the air. I come from Chi; I hardly try. Just go to bat, and fade and die. Fortune's coming my way, that's why I don't care. I'm forever blowing ballgames, and the gamblers treat us fairrrrrrr!

[Singing in front of the whole team on the train, to the tune of "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles"]

Swede Riesberg ...A crackpot.

[to his teammates]

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Eight Men Out

The Aftermath of Cheering: Eight Men Out

Taglines When the cheering stopped, there were...Eight Men Out.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Eight Men Out

The Scandal That Shook a Nation

Taglines The Scandal That Rocked A Nation

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Eight Men Out

The Joy of Playing Baseball

Buck Weaver I still get such a bang out of it, playing ball. Same as I did when I first came up. You get out there, and the stands are full and everybody's cheerin'. It's like everybody in the world come to see you. And inside of that there's the players, they're yakkin it up. The pitcher throws and you look for that pill... suddenly there's nothing else in the ballpark but you and it. Sometimes, when you feel right, there's a groove there, and the bat just eases into it and meets that ball. When the bat meets that ball and you feel that ball just give, you know it's going to go a long way. Damn, if you don't feel like you're going to live forever...I couldn't give all that up. Not for nothing.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Eight Men Out

The Ethics of an Easy Fight

Sport Sullivan Look at those hands, ladies. You should have been a pug, Chickie.

Chick Gandil I did some scrapping. Once, I'm standing there in the ring. My eyes are swollen so bad, I can hardly see. All of a sudden, I bust the guy with an uppercut, he goes down. Somebody stuffs fifty bucks in my hand. Fifty bucks. Now, I'm stepping on something, and it's the other guy's teeth. "What does he get?" I ask. The referee bends over and looks, and says, "From the look of this jaw, he gets the liquid diet for six weeks." Now, what we should've done was waltz around for a few rounds, one of us falls, and we split the fifty dollars even and nobody gets hurt.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Eight Men Out

Consequences of Game Fixing in Baseball

Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis Regardless of the verdict of juries... no player who throws a ball game... no player who undertakes, or promises to throw a game... no player who sits in conference with a bunch of crooked players and gamblers where the ways and means of throwing a ball game are discussed, and does not promptly tell his club about it... will ever play professional baseball again.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Eight Men Out

Betrayal and Heartbreak in Baseball History

Taglines The inside story of how one team, for a price, broke all the rules...along with the heart of every kid in the USA.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Eight Men Out

A Conversation Among Former Athletes

Billy Maharg See, Bill, what did I tell ya? It's the little champ!

Abe Attell They don't take nickel bets here, fellas.

Bill Burns Abe Attell, right?

Abe Attell Yeah. And you...you were a ballplayer.

Bill Burns Bill Burns.

Abe Attell Sleepy" Bill Burns! Strictly bench material.

Bill Burns I won a few games.

Abe Attell Well, you lost a few more. And you, my friend, didn't get that nose bobbing for apples.

[To Maharg]

Billy Maharg I'm a fighter, sort of.

Abe Attell Sort of. Let's see...Philly?

Billy Maharg Yeah.

Abe Attell Billy Maharg!

Billy Maharg Yeah! You've seen me fight?

Abe Attell Yeah, I've seen ya - you're a bum!

Billy Maharg Hey!

Abe Attell Yeah. So, what do you two birds want?

Billy Maharg Word is that you work for Arnold Rothstein.

Bill Burns We've got a proposition to make. Could mean big bucks.

Abe Attell Well, I'm Mr. Rothstein's ears, so let's hear it.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Eight Men Out

Discussion on Player Contracts and Business

Billy Maharg (Eddie) Collins?

Bill Burns Nah. Collins boy is the only one on the club getting paid what he's worth. Had it in his contract when he got traded.

Billy Maharg What about Chick Gandil?

Bill Burns He might do business. Chickie's a sport.

[Gandil hits a foul ball]

Billy Maharg Buck Weaver?

Bill Burns Bucky's one of the boys, but the thing about Bucky is he don't like to lose. Can't stand to lose. Put him on the "maybe" list.

[Weaver grounds out, and then kicks the ground in disgust]

Billy Maharg What about (Ray) Schalk?

Bill Burns Not a prayer.

Bill Burns Eddie's getting old for the game. I know the feeling. You walk out there to the mound, with your arm hanging.

Billy Maharg You couldn't pitch when you were young, Burnsie.

[Burns gives him a look]

Bill Burns Eddie's the key. If we don't get Eddie, we forget about it.

Billy Maharg Guy could knock his brains out doing that!

Bill Burns What brains? Shoeless Joe's ignorant; Hap Felsch is just dumb.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Eight Men Out

Contractual Promises and Performance in Baseball

Eddie Cicotte You promised me a $10,000 bonus if I won 30 games this year.

Charles Comiskey So?

Eddie Cicotte I think you owe it to me.

Charles Comiskey Harry, how many games did Mr. Cicotte win for us this year?

Harry 29, Mr. Comiskey.

Eddie Cicotte You told Kid to sit me down for two weeks; that cost me five games.

Charles Comiskey We had to get your arm ready for the series.

Eddie Cicotte I would've won at least two of those games, and you know it.

Charles Comiskey I have to keep the best interests in the club in mind, Eddie.

Eddie Cicotte I deserve that $10,000.

Charles Comiskey 29 is not 30, Eddie. You will get only the money you deserve.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Eight Men Out

Underhanded Changes in Major League Baseball

Taglines 1919. The year America saw major league baseball played a whole new way...underhanded.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Eight Men Out

Eight Men Out - Eddie Cicotte

Eddie Cicotte I always figured it was talent made a man big, you know, if I was the best at something. I mean, we're the guys they come to see. Without us, there ain't a ballgame. Yeah, but look at who's holding the money and look at who's facing a jail cell. Talent don't mean nothing. And where's Comiskey and Sullivan, Attell, Rothstein? Out in the back room cutting up profits, that's where. That's the damn conspiracy.

Eight Men Out

A Risky Bet on Cincinnati

Jimmy Holy mother...

[After Sullivan has been given money from Rothstein for the fix]

Sport Sullivan Will you look at it, Jimmy? All spread out like that?

Jimmy Whose is it?

Sport Sullivan Who do you think? Now, I want you to take this 10 grand back to Boston. I want you to go to Mulcahy, you know the password, and I want you to put it all down on Cincinnati for the first game. Tell them it's just a hunch I've got.

[hands Jimmy part of the money]

Jimmy Some hunch.

Sport Sullivan Then, you take this to McGinnis. You tell him that I've sure gone crazy, but I want to place 10 big ones on the Reds for the whole show.

[Gives another bunch of the money to Jimmy]

Jimmy I'm laying bets for Mr. Rothstein?

Sport Sullivan You're laying bets for me. That thieving Jew, he's just given me a loan.

Jimmy Then what's left for the players?

Sport Sullivan Jimmy, do you know what you feed a dray horse in the morning if you want a day's work out of him?

Jimmy What?

Sport Sullivan Just enough so he knows he's hungry.

Eight Men Out

The Scandal Behind America's Favorite Pastime

Taglines The inside story of how the national pastime became a national scandal.

Eight Men Out

Discussions of Missing Figures and Finances

Lefty Williams I thought you were supposed to be in charge of this thing. What happened to Sullivan?

Chick Gandil He switched hotels, we can't track him down.

Lefty Williams And what happened to Attell?

Chick Gandil Shot his wad in the third game when Kerr won; said he's busted.

Happy Felsch Well, to hell with them, then.

Chick Gandil You two made an agreement!

Happy Felsch Hey, we lose one more and it's over. I've dumped four games; I've only been paid for one.

Chick Gandil Hey, you don't know what these guys are like. Once you're in, you're in! You can't welch on these guys! Your funeral! Assholes...

[Williams and Felsch grin and walk off; throws his glove to the ground]

Swede Riesberg Problems?

[Comes walking up]

Chick Gandil Nah. We still got Eddie.

[Puts on a brave smile]

Eight Men Out

Debate on Team's Excellence and Future

Hugh Fullerton Hey Winslow, your boys look sharp.

[to one of the groundskeepers]

Winslow They're the best I've seen yet. Best white folks team, anyways.

Ring Lardner I say they're the best, Hughey. The best ever.

Hugh Fullerton Time will tell, kid. Time will tell.

Eight Men Out

Eight Men Out - Dialogue 4

Eddie Cicotte What's the scoop, Harry?

Harry Mr. Comiskey sent these down for you. A congratulations for a successful pennant race.

Eddie Cicotte That's awfully white of him. He didn't happen to mention when we can expect that bonus he promised us in return for taking the flag, did he?

Harry This is your bonus.

Swede Risberg Cheap bastard.

Kid Gleason Look, fellas, if it was up to me...

Eddie Cicotte Kid, we've got no beef with you. It's flat.

[opens one of the champagne bottles - nothing happens; glares at Harry; tosses the cork back at Harry, and the team leaves]

Eight Men Out

Doubts About Integrity in Baseball

Chick Gandil You go back to Boston and turn seventy grand at the drop of a hat? I find that hard to believe.

Sport Sullivan You say you can find seven men on the best club that ever took the field willin to throw the World Series? I find that hard to believe.

Chick Gandil You never played for Charlie Comiskey.

Eight Men Out

A Fan's Provocation and Jackson's Response

Mean fan Jackson! Hey, Jackson! Can you spell "cat"? Hey, Shoeless Joe! Can you spell "cat"?

[taunting Jackson from the stands]

Joe Jackson Hey, mister! Can you spell "shit"?

Eight Men Out Quotes

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