Every sport is filled with stories which are great, and stories which are not that great. Football has its moments, just remember Zidane hitting Materazzi in the chest with his head, marking the end of his career as a professional footballer. Volleyball competitions get a lot of attention, especially in countries like the Netherlands or Poland, which you can read more about here.
Baseball has lots of such stories, as it has quite a long history. Some stories date back to the 19th century, mind you. Here are the biggest MLB scandals of all time, in no particular order.
The Black Sox – Purposely Losing Matches
The year was 1920, the match was between the Chicago Sox and the Cincinnati Reds.
The Chicago Sox were also called the White Sox, but after the news hit the papers, they were called the Black Sox, at least 8 of them. What happened was that they threw the match against the Cincinnati Reds.
This has a lot to do with gambling and extra money, even though at that time they didn’t even dream of online betting with betting bonus Nigeria. During that period of time, baseball players didn’t earn as much as they earn today.
That being said, match fixing was around since the early 1800s, going that far back. The Commissioner of the time decided to take more serious and decisive action against gambling in baseball.
Pete Rose – From Hero to Zero, Literally
Pete Rose is one of those players who managed to hit so many balls that he had been famous just by showing on the field. But, as fame can drive people crazy, so did Rose do some things which the world of baseball considered unforgivable.
He was involved in an incident with Ray Fosse at the 1970 all-star game. He charged into Fosse for a home run and Fosse ended up with a fractured and separated shoulder. He was heavily criticized for this aggressive play.
His bigger scandal was between 1984 and 1989, when he managed the Cincinnati Reds. He was found guilty of betting while he was managing a team. He bet against the Reds, which was even worse, meaning that he skewed the matches by managing the team poorly in order to gain more money. He was banned for life from participating in any professional baseball environment.
Al Campanis – Racial Comments
When giving an interview at a show called Nightline, Al Campanis, manager for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ at that time, in 1987, made some really bad racial comments which earned him infamy for life.
These are some of the biggest scandals in the MLB.
