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Jim A Devlin
Devlin’s pitching vaulted Louisville to the top of the standings by August 1877, but on the ensuing Eastern trip they lost all eight of their league contests (tying one), and lost several exhibition games too. Left fielder George Hall, who on August 16 was hitting .373 as the Grays held first place, proceeded to bat .149 over the next eighteen games as the club plummeted from the top. Devlin and Hall confessed to throwing games and, with accused infielder Al Nichols and catcher Bill Craver, were banned for life. In the winter of 1877–78, the distraught Devlin made his way north to Chicago to plead with Hulbert. Albert Spalding, present in the adjoining office of the suite he shared with Hulbert, recalled the meeting many years later, in America’s National Game (1911):
The situation, as he kneeled there in abject humiliation, was beyond the realm of pathos. It was a scene of heartrending tragedy. Devlin was in tears; Hulbert was in tears… I heard Devlin’s plea to have the stigma removed from his name. I heard him entreat, not on his own account, he acknowledged himself unworthy of consideration, but for the sake of his wife and child. I beheld the agony of humiliation depicted on his features as he confessed his guilt and begged for mercy. I saw the great bulk of Hulbert’s frame tremble with the emotion he vainly sought to stifle. I saw the president’s hand steal into his pocket as if seeking to conceal his intended act from the other hand. I saw him take a $50 bill and press it into the palm of the prostrate player. And then I heard him say, as he fairly writhed with the pain his own words caused him, “That’s what I think of you, personally; but, damn you, Devlin, you are dishonest; you have sold a game, and I can’t trust you. Now go; and let me never see your face again; for your act will not be condoned so long as I live.” - “I Am Honest, Harry”, John Thorn, Aug 2017
Redid the facegen from the same painting.
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