Famous Baseball Scandals

Famous Baseball Scandals And Their Appeal

Sports and scandal are two words that often appeal to sports fans as a guilty pleasure, or as an understood method for changing the way many look at the games.  From college sports scandals to professional sports scandals, players are scrutinized in the public eye, and their actions carefully examined.  Many sports scandals are appealing because they show different sides of celebrities and famous athletes, but to others they may be appealing because of the way these tumultuous events can shake up sports and the specific games played by the athletes. 

One area of sports has often been plagued by public scandals.  A number of famous baseball scandals have existed over the years, from college sports scandals involving young baseball players, to professional sports scandals in Major League Baseball.  To explore the overall effects of scandals on sports like baseball, as well as the guilty pleasure that comes from gossip and rumor, it can help to examine five of the most famous baseball scandals throughout history.

Major Sports Scandals:  Gambling

For a long time during professional baseball's early years, gambling was known to influence the game.  This practice continued widely until the 1920's.  It was at this time that a number of major sports scandals took place in the MLB regarding gambling, but not before the infamous 1877 Conspiracy and the bribery attempt of 1908.

During the 1877 Conspiracy, four professional baseball players were involved in a famous sports scandal after they either threw four games for gamblers or had knowledge of the plan to throw the games and did not cooperate.  Jim Devlin, George Hall, Al Nichols, and Bill Craver were suspended by their baseball teams.  Despite the fact that Louisville and St. Louis both dropped out of the circuit, the major league still looked the other way.

In 1908, the Chicago Cubs and the New York Giants were prepared to play against each other for the title of National League Champions.  For this professional sports scandal, it was not the players who were being bribed, but the attempt of bribery of the umpire, Bill Klem.  Klem refused and the Cubs would go on to win the series.  As a result, the matter received little attention at the time.  Recent research suggests that while Dr. Creamer, the physician for the Giants that year, took the fall for the bribery and was banned from the sport for life, the true culprit may have been John McGraw, the Giants' manager. 

Perhaps the most prominent famous sports scandal in baseball is the conspiracy of the 1919 World Series between the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds.  Eight players from the White Sox were accused of throwing the series, although the details of this famous sports scandal would remain contentious.  While the eight players would later be acquitted of any criminal charges after the scandal was uncovered in 1920, the men would be banned from organized baseball for the rest of their lives.  Perhaps the most famous ball player to suffer this fate was Joe “Shoeless Joe” Jackson, but also included such players as “Lefty” Williams, Buck Weaver, “Chick” Gandil, and Fred McMullin.  As a result of this horrendous scandal, huge measures were taken by the commissioners of baseball to eliminate gambling from the sport and punish those who took part in it.

Another one of the major sports scandals in baseball involved Pete Rose.  Rose is the all-time hits leader for baseball and managed the Cincinnati Reds.  His actions were called into question in 1989 after he was believed to have bet on MLB games, including those in which the Reds were participating with Rose as the manager.  Striking a deal with Major League Baseball, Rose accepted a voluntary lifetime ban from baseball.  While efforts have been made to reinstate Rose, he remains banned to this date.

Professional Sports Scandals:  Illegal Substances

While steroids are a new factor of professional sports scandals, it was preceded by alcohol and drug problems.  One such famous scandal was the 1985 cocaine scandal.  Despite the fact that cocaine was a problem substance for almost all baseball teams during this time, the Pittsburgh Pirates in particular were isolated and publicly scrutinized by the media.  The attention and sensationalism bestowed to the players at this time increased awareness for later drugs, including amphetamines and marijuana.  Still, during this time, court proceedings revealed that drug dealers frequented the clubhouse of the Pirates.  Rod Scurry left a game before it ended to try to find cocaine, and John Milner bought two grams of cocaine in a stadium bathroom.  The next year, several players were suspended for their involvement with cocaine.  Their suspensions varied in length. 

College Baseball Scandals:  Why They Are Often Overlooked

Of the potentially famous sports scandals, one area that is frequently overlooked is college sports and the subsequent college sport scandals.  One potential reason for this is that the individuals involved in college sports scandals are not often household names.  As a result, there are fewer reasons for everyday individuals to care about what they are or are not doing.  Professional sports also have a larger audience base in most cases when compared to college sports, college baseball in particular, so more people are interested in that type of news or scandal. 

Still, perhaps one of the biggest reasons for the lack of college baseball scandals is the fact that the players are using designer drugs, and the college baseball testing is spotty.  Infrequent and non-specific tests allow college baseball athletes to engage in behaviors that might get them more notoriety, were they playing professional ball.  At Thomas University, located in Thomasville, Georgia, thirteen baseball teammates were known to be using steroids during a recent season.  Since so many players use, and reap the benefits of, steroids, it can make it very tempting for other players to want to use them. 

Those who do not use the drugs are left at a very serious disadvantage when it comes to playing ball.  It is also important to consider the fact that junior colleges, as well as smaller universities, are unable to provide financial coverage for steroid testing.  While Division I baseball teams test for steroid use, they are administered randomly, and many tests do not catch new or improved steroids, such as the human growth hormone, which the tests neglected to pick up for quite some time.