Preview

Summary: Corruption In Major League Baseball

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1169 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Summary: Corruption In Major League Baseball
The Chicago “Black Sox” demoralized a city because of their greed for money. Money that was introduced because of the corruption that can occur due to sports gambling. The eight men that threw a World Series might be recognized for participating in one of the worst known scandals in sports, but it isn’t the only time a Major League Baseball Commissioner has had to banish a player for gambling.
Pete Rose is considered by many as one of the best baseball players of all time. On the Major League Baseball list of hits by a batter, Rose is the MLB’s career leader with 4,256 career hits. Being the sports career leader in hits would most un-doughtily get a player inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, correct? Unfortunately, the halls of Cooperstown have no sign of Pete Rose due to his role in unlawfully betting on baseball while a Manager for the Cincinnati Reds. The rule has been around as long as the league began in 1876.
“Any player who shall, in any way, be interested in any bet or wager on the game in which he
…show more content…
What is point-shaving? According to the 2015 Merriam-Webster dictionary, point shaving is, “an attempt (as by a member of the team favored to win) to influence the final score of a game so that the predicted winner wins by less than the point spread.” So, for an example, if a team is favored to win by ten points, players from the favored team are paid to make sure they only win by 9 or less. The reason why this form of conspiring to rig games is popular is because it is sold to the athlete as a victimless crime. The team still wins the game, so the player or players involved in the point-shaving still celebrate a victory. The gamblers also get a win because they can bet more confidently on the other team to cover the point spread. College basketball is ripe for this coercion because all it takes is for the gamblers to get one or two players on the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Bart Giamatti's decision to ban Pete Rose from the Baseball Hall of Fame was not a fair decision at all. Pete Rose was placed on Baseball's ineligible list in 1989 when commissioner of baseball, Bart Giamatti concluded that Rose had bet on baseball games, including games involving his own team, the Cincinnati Reds. In an agreement made with Baseball, Rose accepted his banishment from the sport. Although he never admitted to having gambled on baseball games (Maury). Pete Rose was a phenomenal baseball player and manager. He was accused of gambling. His team while he was managing was supposedly involved. Bart Giamatti's severe punishment of Pete Rose is a very controversial topic in the world of sports. There are a few rules that must have been followed to be inducted to the Hall of Fame. The one that is keeping Rose away is rule five. Rule five states: Voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team or teams on which the player played (Maury). This rule has been tested and beaten many times. Many players have entered the Baseball Hall of Fame such as the very unlikable Ty Cobb, the drinking Babe Ruth, the umpire abusing John McGraw, the racist Cap Anson, Gaylord Perry a suspected cheater, and the gambling Leo Durocher. Those are just a few of the baseball players who somehow made into the Hall of Fame and got passed rule five (Ritter). Pete Rose's problem was not even as severe as all of these other men. The argument to this is that if these men can make it into the Hall of Fame why is Pete Rose banned. It is obvious that these players made it there with just their playing abilities and not by all of the other characteristics needed to be inducted into the Hall of Fame (Maury). Pete Rose started playing professional baseball in 1960 in the minor leagues and by 1963 he reached the Major Leagues as a rookie second baseman with the National League's Cincinnati Reds. Rose won…

    • 1998 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Baseball, like many other things in the early nineteen hundreds, was quickly becoming popular. Almost every American at was a fan of baseball, which meant that any gamblers who were excellent at guessing could make a very large sum of money by picking the winning team. Some people, however, did not feel the need to guess, but simply rig the game, which is how the Chicago Black Sox Scandal of 1919 came about. It started out with a group of gamblers who came up with the idea, one used to be a pitcher, so he had some connections with baseball players. There were eight players involved, which was plenty for the black sox to throw the game. Each of the players involved were offered $100,000. With so much money offered, more people became involved in the scandal, and soon word began to spread. Because of all the…

    • 461 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Another one was from horse races that he won money from. On July 19th Rose was sentenced to five years of security prison camp at the US penitentiary in Illinois and was fine the amount of 50,000 dollars. On January 7, 1991 after paying almost half of the amount which was $366,041 in back taxes and interest and was finally released from the prison. He also had to do a mandatory 1000 hours of community service. In 1991 rose had a chance at being in the MLB’s hall of fame but for the bad actions that he made in the years past years the committee did not want anyone that was on the ineligible list to be able to be one of the inductees in the hall of fame. Rose is the only member to this day being on the major league baseball’s ineligible list. After all of this Rose has made some appearances on many different things such as being a Fox sports commentator also appearing on shows such as WWE’s Raw as a wrestling commentator. Ever since his mistake of gambling he has cost himself a lot of damage because he could have been in the hall of fame and maybe could still to this day be involved in the MLB such as being the Reds manager or maybe even being another teams manager but the price of this is that he will never have anything to do with the MLB because of something stupid that he did in the…

    • 1720 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The topic i choose from the 1920s was the Black Sox scandal. It was where the White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds were in the world series and gamblers paid White Sox players to lose the game, this happened 95 years ago. ‘’On October 9, 1919, the Cincinnati Reds defeated the heavily favored Chicago White Sox 10-5 to clinch an unlikely World Series win’’ (Andrews). ‘’The players on the Charles Comiskey's 1919 Chicago White Sox team were a fractious lot. The club was divided into two "gangs" of players, each with practically nothing to say to the other. Together they formed the best team in baseball--perhaps one of the best teams that ever played the game, yet they--like all ball players of the time--were paid a fraction of what they were worth’’(Linder).…

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sox, and to this day the “dark” chapter in American sports history is known as the Black…

    • 265 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The 1919 Black Sox Scandal refers to the Chicago White Sox baseball team “ throwing” the 1919 World Series to the Cincinatti Reds. According to Wikipedia, the entire conflict was started by 1st Baseman Arnold “Chick” Gandil in retaliation for some of the teams’ players hatred for the owner, “ Charles Comiskey. Eight of the members that took the field during the 1919 World Series were forever banned from playing the sport of baseball. Gandil is believed to have started the incident with his underworld ties.…

    • 1264 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    But what did he do exactly? He received a $10,000 payment from Rothstein, the New York Gangster. But oddly enough, his batting average (total hits divided by attempts) in the series was higher than his average compared to his batting average for the rest of the 1919 season. This fact is what raised eyebrows worldwide. Why should one of the best players in baseball history be accused of fixing a series even though his batting average was better than his normal average? But he still accepted the $10,000 bribe; it does not make logical sense. And the lawsuit prevented Jackson from participating in the Major League of Baseball and banned him from the Hall of Fame. Even though he accepted the money, Jackson should still be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Main reasons of this are his possible innocence, his ignorance to what he was saying when taking the money, and other cheating…

    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Eight Men Out was a baseball scandal taken from the 1919 Chicago Black Soxs where the games demands would not be taken so seriously. The coaches wanted to win every game, but the players had other plans especially seen noticeably in the World Series between the Chicago Black Soxs and Cincinnati Reds. Some players took advantage of the opportunity to acquire money offer to throw the series, however, only some were paid and others were not. Could this happen today? No. The MLB now has its own regulations and rules where disciplinary action could be enforced if any cheating or unprofessionalism takes place. When playing the game of professional baseball now, most all the coaches and players want to showcase themselves and allow others to see the…

    • 217 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pete Rose Research Paper

    • 787 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Pete Rose, all time hit leader in the MLB, is banned from the Hall of Fame. Rose, a player and coach for the Cincinnati Reds, gambled on a numerous amount of games for the Reds to win while he was a coach. With this the MLB banned him from being on the ballet to gain entrance into the Hall of Fame. People still debate wether or not Rose should be allowed in the Hall of Fame. Supports of Rose say He only gambeled when he was a manager not a player while people against him say that gambling in MLB as a player and or coach is illegal within the league.…

    • 787 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    When I go watch my Chicago Cubs at beautiful Wrigley field I am concerned with the game and what is in front of me, not what is going on off the field. I go to enjoy the game and the talent of the athletes that play. I could care less about what Sammy Sosa is doing off the field, he is the man because of his skills on the field and what he does for Americas' past time. Last time I was sitting on the third base line and Sammy stepped up to the plate I did not think to myself "I wonder if he hits his wife like he hits a baseball," or "he looks like a big time gambler," I was shouting his name and clapping in support for hope of another homer being sent over the ivy covered wall. My enthusiasm was booming for this mans talent and what he brings to the table to help my cubbies win. Now would you not think that a baseball player in the Hall of Fame should be looked at the same way? Should a hall of famer not be jugged based on his baseball skills and what he did on the field? Well that does not seem to be the case when it comes to Pete Rose. Since being banned from baseball in 1989 for off field actions he denies, he has repeatedly been denied access to Cooperstown. Pete Rose was one of the greatest baseball players ever and should be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame because of it.…

    • 1304 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    After discussing what they needed and had to do they realized that they would need more players to fix the series. So they went along and picked up six more players a pitcher, centerfield, shortstop, third baseman, utility man, and the most popular in the scandal the left fielder Joe Jackson. After getting all the people that were going to participate in the fix of the World Series they needed to get some money from someone fast so they went to someone named Arnold rothstein also known as "The Big Bankroll". Gamblers were betting nearly half a million on the reds, while also agreeing to pay the players a hundred thousand dollars to split. Back in the day pay for baseball players wasn't that great they weren't getting paid like how the players are getting paid now, so getting paid a hundred thousand dollars was taking a years worth pay. These players thought they were the only ones that knew about the fix but little did they know that a lot more people knew about the scandal. A lot of people were needed to raise enough money to make the fix happen so therefore a lot of people were in on the fix they all bet on the reds and they told their friends to also bet on the reds. Rumors were flying around and suspicion was starting to raise people say that Joe Jackson told the white sox coach that the fix was going on but…

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pete Rose was arguably one of the greatest baseball players to ever play the game. Many people believe he should be in the Hall of Fame, but others do not want him in the Hall of Fame because of his gambling. The reasons why Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame are, his statistics, his leadership, and how he left his mark on the game.…

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The act of wagering on the outcome of an event is one of mankind’s oldest activities. Gambling has been present in ancient civilizations and gained its prevalence during the Ancient Olympic Games. But when it comes to the oldest form of gambling, Sports betting, there are just a handful of locations where it is legal to wager on the outcome of amateur or professional sports. The fact that wagering on sports is illegal in the majority of the United States is puzzling when it plays such a large role in American society. After looking into this issue further I believe restricting sports betting so heavily is the wrong stance the U.S. should have. Sports betting should be legalized and closely regulated due to the fact that the Professional and…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Watching sports has been a significant aspect of America’s culture and pastime. For instance, the NFL now practically owns a day of the week during football season, and the final minutes of playoff games can cause us to stay awake until two in the morning. We love watching sports, but we love betting on sports even more. Companies, like Fanduel and Draftkings, have sprouted among our love of betting and competition. They host daily betting games, which cost only a few dollars and enables sports fans to challenge themselves in predicting the outcomes of games. Although each game costs only a few dollars, the probability of winning is low, so the cumulative fees can cost fans hundreds annually. In result, I believe that daily fantasy sports is…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The movie “Moneyball” based on true story of the General Manager of the Oakland A’s, Billy Beane who decided to challenge the conventional wisdom in the professional baseball which selection and purchasing of players should rely on their performance rather than public perception of a player. Together with a Yale graduate, Beane looked at data on actual performance, not public opinion which real possibilities emerged for players that had been overlooked and underpaid. Beane exchanged some of his highly paid players with undervalued new ones, and began to win the record for the most successive wins in baseball. All the reason why he was willing to rethink the system of rewards, based not on tradition, but on math and hidden performance of the players which is basically relied on motivation of the undervalued players.…

    • 501 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays