Hooks & Runs · A podcast about baseball, music and culture.

266 - Benny Kauff: "An Apparent Injustice Has Been Done"

·51 min·3 clips

A judge writes that “an apparent injustice has been done” to Benny Kauff, then denies him relief anyway.

The show opens with the usual baseball banter before settling into the Benny Koff story. A card anecdote about Robbie Thompson gives the hosts a chance to correct themselves and reset. That small repair fits the larger subject well. Koff's case is not simple, and the episode does not try to make it so. The hosts work through the Giants' place in the gambling-era turmoil step by step. One account says Rothschild reported Koff's actions to McGraw, and they note that the claim feels self-serving. They also connect that report to Koff's move to Toronto. On September 29, John McGraw testified before the Chicago grand jury. He said he had released Chase and Zimmerman because of gambling. He also said he believed Koff was innocent. The contradiction is left standing there. On October 5, Benny Koff and pitcher Fred Toney testified in Chicago. Both said Heine Zimmerman had approached them about throwing games. The offer was one hundred twenty five dollars. Koff said he turned it down and told McGraw. The hosts treat that report as the thing that may have protected him for a while. Later, Koff returned and hit fourth for the Giants in an exhibition against the Lincoln Giants. He went hitless in a loss. When the grand jury finished its work in the fall of 1920, indictments followed for Red Sox players, several gamblers, and former Giant first baseman Howe Chase. The show points out that rumors about Chase gambling on his own team had followed him for years. Once the weather turned cold, the postseason exhibitions stopped and the story quieted down around Koff. In February 1921, he signed his contract to play for the Giants. Emil Fuchs wanted a winter trial, but the district attorney stalled. By spring training, the defense was still asking for delay. The whole thing comes across as a career living under suspicion, paperwork, and timing.

As heard by us

A baseball scandal told with patience, memory, and measured doubt.

Benny Koff's story is handled as a baseball scandal with steady attention to who said what, when it was said, and why it mattered. Craig and Rex follow McGraw's changing testimony, Zimmerman, Chase, the bribe allegation, and Koff's own defense without sanding down the…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want the scandal, not the gloss, around Benny Koff and the Giants.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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