Over the course of time baseball has transformed from a simple game played by kids and adults alike, into more than a billion dollar industry. Big league teams today market themselves as well as their players in every way possible. From baseball cards to tee shirts to hats and every other item with a team logo on it. Not to mention television and radio broadcasting rights, each team takes in hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenues from these streams alone. Therefore Major League Baseball(MLB) should take pride in promoting not only a safe environment for its players but also that of its fans.
In 1919 MLB was given a black eye when a gambling scandal involving eight ball players from the Chicago White Sox rocked the headlines of every major newspaper of the day. If you are unfamiliar with this story eight players were paid off to throw the 1919 World Series in order for bookies to make even more money. These ball players which included one "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, committed blatant errors, didn't run out ground balls and committed numerous other questionable acts during games. After the Series ended rumors began to leak out that numerous ball players were paid off to throw the series. Once an investigation was completed it was proven that the eight ball players were in fact guilty and MLB punished these players. Were they suspended? NO! Were they fined? NO! Were they slapped on the wrist? Once again NO! These eight men were banned for life from ever playing organized baseball again. Baseball made it a point to prove to its players that gambling and baseball did not coincide and that if you did gamble on the game you would suffer the consequences.
Fast forwarding now to 1989, once again gambling becomes a threat to the game. It has come to the attention of MLB's Commissioner that one of its Managers is betting on the game. Pete "Charlie Hustle" Rose is the Manager of the Cincinnati Reds and has become the center of the commissioner's attention. Pete was an amazing player, in fact one of the greatest who ever played. He accumulated more than 4,ooo career hits and holds the major league record for most career hits accumulating a total of 4,256. There has been only one other player in the history of the game that had more than 4,000 hits that player was Ty Cobb(4,189). Pete swore up and down that he never gambled on the game and when it was proven that he did he was also banned for life from Baseball. Rose has since stated that he did bet on the game however, he claims to have only bet on his team winning!
Lets once again fast forward, this time to the early Twenty-first century, once again a scandal rocks baseball giving it yet another black eye! This time however it isn't gambling, its STEROIDS! It is rumored that steroids began to infiltrate the game in the mid to late 1980s and became popular among players in the 1990s. Players used steroids to gain an advantage in order to be more productive for example hit more home runs, to beat out others in earning roster spots on major league clubs and to even extend their careers well past their expectancy. When it came to steroids, MLB decided that in order to avoid another work stoppage such as the ones it suffered in the 1980s and 1990s, it was going to take the easy way out and work with the players union to iron out an agreement in regards to drug testing and suspensions. Many of the players saw this as a joke yet others saw it as though being caught would be a major blow to their careers. Taking into consideration the fact that most players saw this as a joke goes to prove that the policy is not effective and needs repair.
Finally my belief is this... In order for MLB to restore order in the big leagues they must hold steroid use in the same class as betting on the game. These two issues have had the same result on the game, both having given the game a black eye and therefore should be held to the same standards. MLB needs to take a stance that no other professional league has so far and set the bar as high as possible for it's players, owners and fans alike. They must not only ban the use of steroids in baseball but the use of all other controlled substances as well. Excuses aside all ball players must be held to the same standards and the penalty for use must be banishment for life from the game!
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