The next time somebody's talking about "the good old days" when Americans "had their priorities straight" (or whatever), tell them that star pitcher Joe Wood received numerous death threats in 1912, including this one: "Say your final farewells at once as you will be no more within a short time ... Eight of our gang took up your trail yesterday." This was probably gambling-related, as Wood's Red Sox had a huge lead in September when the threat was received. There were a lot of hard men running around in those days (which reminds me of how good Bill James' new book is, but that's a story for another time).
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