Baseball imagery
This famous story really happened, and the imagery of baseball was originally just the setting of the story. But, now it is considered one of the epic narratives of the game. The questions of the imagery are teamwork, sportsman-like conduct, and most essential of all, the attachment to the good of the game. The players love baseball, but many of them are guilty of misconduct. That betrayal of baseball as a sport also yields martyrs, like those players who were loyal to the game.
Gambling and cheating
Why would someone throw a ballgame? Because of money. The imagery of money interferes with the justice of the game by tempting important men to pay off players to cheat, not by winning when they should not, but by throwing a game they have a good chance of winning. In exchange for losing, gamblers will pay them using their profits. By conspiring to make money by manipulating the future, this conspiracy threatens the very integrity of the game.
Pride and victory
For Lefty Williams, Buck Weaver, and also Shoeless Joe Jackson, the integrity of the game was not worth any amount of money. Lefty went back on his agreement to throw the game for pride, but when the gamblers threaten his wife, he succumbs again and throws the game not for money but for safety. For Buck and Shoeless Joe, though, the game was worth an attempt of winning. They play well, but without their team, they lose and are then wrongly indicted in the Commissioner's investigation.
Loyalty
Although their legacy is stained by the confusion of the fixed World Series, Joe Jackson and Buck Weaver are still demonstrations of loyalty. The imagery of loyalty takes these characters through trial and tribulation, threat and bribery, in an attempt to buy their souls for money or security. They are loyal to the game and loyal to each other. Years later, Shoeless Joe benefits again from loyalty when Buck Weaver and he protect each other from recognition.
