Sleepy Bill Burns

William Thomas "Bill" Burns (January 27, 1880 – June 6, 1953), nicknamed "Sleepy Bill," was an American baseball player who played as a pitcher for five different Major League teams. He is also noted for his involvement in the Black Sox Scandal.

In his five-year career, Burns played for the Washington Senators, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies and Detroit Tigers. [cite web | title=Bill Burns | work=baseball-reference.com | url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/burnsbi01.shtml | access date=2007-06-20] In his rookie season, by|1908, Burns had a 1.69 ERA (sixth best in the American League). However, he had a career record of 30-52 as a pitcher and never won more than eight games in a season.

Involvement in the Black Sox Scandal

Quote box
width=40%
align=right
quote="I told them I had the hundred thousand dollars to handle the throwing of the World Series. I also told them that I had the names of the men who were going to finance it. I told them they were waiting below." Testimony of Sleepy Bill BurnsPrior to the start of the 1919 World Series, a group of players from the Chicago White Sox agreed to intentionally lose the world series in exchange for money from gamblers. Burns met with Eddie Cicotte and Chick Gandil at The Ansonia, a hotel in New York City during the formative stages of the event.cite web | title=The Major Players | work=blackbetsy.com | url=http://www.blackbetsy.com/jjmajor.htm | access date=2007-06-05]

It is likely that Burns operated on behalf of Arnold Rothstein, a New York businessman and gambler. Burns relayed messages back and forth between the players who had agreed to fix the games and a person whose initials were "A.R.".cite web | title=Key Figures in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal | work=davidpietrusza.com | url=http://www.davidpietrusza.com/Rothstein-BlackSox.html | accessdate=2007-06-05]

After news of the scandal broke, a trial took place in Chicago, Illinois. During this trial, Burns served as a witness for the prosecution. Assistant State Attorney Edward Prindeville examined Burns during the trial.

References

External links

* [http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/blacksox/trialtestimony.html law.umkc.edu] Excerpts of Bill Burns' Trial Testimony