5 biggest scandals that rocked the MLB world
The MLB, just like any other professional sports league and organization, has had its fair share of scandals and controversies throughout its long history. It hasn't always been smooth sailing for the league and sport in more than a century of existence.
From throwing world championship games, to players using all the substances in the world to pad their numbers, we take a peek at the darkside of the MLB and rank the biggest scandals it has ever been embroiled in.
5 Biggest MLB scandals of all time
#5 Steroid era to the The Mitchell Report and Biogenesis scandals
This in itself is sort of cheating as we listed three incidents in one number. But the sheer gravitas and controversy of the two consequential events all stemmed from baseball's Steroid Era.
It was 1988 American League MVP Jose Canseco that revealed to the world the use of steroids and other performance-enchancing drugs by him and his colleagues that stemmed to Congressional hearings about the Mitchell Report and the subsequent Biogenesis scandal wherein many players, including future Hall of Famers like Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez, were prevented from entering the hall. These events signaled it was time for the league to reform and rehash its rules regarding the use of illegal substances by its athletes.
#4 Pete Rose's Gambling
The all-time hit king Pete Rose was a beloved figure in all of baseball during his time as a player. It all went crashing down in 1989 when it was exposed that he was betting as a manager in games for his Cincinnati Reds.
It was special counsel John Dowd who exposed the scandal to then-MLB Commissioner Bart Giammati, and per Rule 21d of the Major League Baseball rules, it was decided that Rose would be banned for life. Rose accepted the ban in August 1989 and has not reappealed since.
#3 Owners' Collusion in the 80s
The 1980's actions that were made by the MLB owners, spearheaded by then-MLB Commissioner Peter Ueberroth, were just one of the most disgraceful things the league owners have ever done.
They managed to drive down salaries and keep the players' contracts in check by making an agreement not to sign free agents so that they could keep their current crop of players on a discounted contract. Only a few roster movements happened during this era and the MLBPA filed for grievances.
It wasn't until new commissioner Fay Vincent, who had resigned from his post due to the controversies, took the position that the stories were exposed. This unfortunate period in baseball would be one of the main causes of the players' strike of 1994-1995.
#2 Houston Astros' Sign Stealing
Almost every article and news outlet in the Information Age has covered the controversial path the Houston Astros took in 2017 on their way to their first World Series title as a franchise.
It wasn't until 2019, though, that former Houston Astros and then-Oakland Athletics pitcher Mike Fiers came upfront and accused his former team of sign-stealing using technology. Here is an informative video from Foolish Baseball that covers all the bases regarding the scandal:
The Astros have been fined $5 million by the league in the aftermath of the incident. Several managers and coaches have been fired and suspended, but players are yet to be punished for their roles in this debacle.
#1 Black Sox Scandal
Perhaps the most infamous scandal in MLB history—especially during its early days— involved members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox throwing games during the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds.
Eight men were punished by the first Commissioner of Baseball, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, in the aftermath of the event:
- Arnold "Chick" Gandil
- Eddie Cicotte
- Oscar "Happy" Felsch
- Fred McMullin
- Charles "Swede" Risberg
- George "Buck" Weaver
- Claude "Lefty" Williams
- "Shoeless" Joe Jackson
"Shoeless" Joe Jackson has maintained his innocence and has been vouched for by the other players involved that he had nothing to do with the game-fixing. Still, until his passing in 1951, the superstar outfielder was never cleared of the verdict from the league and has been a talking point ever since.
The event tarnished the reputation of the league in general as it was initially believed that a network of gamblers approached the players to fix the games. Decades later, it was proven that it was the other way around. The 1919 Black Sox scandal has been the biggest scandal in baseball's long history, and even after a century, it is still being talked about as an example of how a beautiful sport can be manipulated by evil and greedy minds.