Gambling in Baseball :: Essays Papers

Gambling in Baseball What has changed the way America’s pastime is looked at forever and prompt worldwide discussion? Joe Jackson and his seven teammates changed the face of baseball forever during the intimate scandal of 1919. No other time in baseball history did Americans question the state of the game. Pete Rose had also brought a debate like no other before in baseball. Since his banishment in 1989 the country has been split on the issue. Gambling by these men and others has caused great problems in baseball. The game of baseball has been destroyed by gambling. Gambling will forever be a part of American’s pastime. As soon as the New York Knickerbockers organized in 1845 and started competing against other teams, spectators were betting on the outcome (Fleitz 190). In the mid 1800’s, speculations of gambling had reached the news. Three men of the New York Mutuals were banned from baseball for taking $100 each to throw a game to the Brooklyn Eckfords; nevertheless, the men were reinstated within a few years (Rielly 110). The next few decades only had been occasionally marred by gambling scandals. The Black Sox scandal of 1919 rocked the sports world and brought up even more scandals. Baseball’s gambling problems were not always bookies looking for that prized fight; it sometimes involved the role models of the game. Several owners had been linked to the 1919 scandal. Charles Stoneham of the Giants and Arnold Rothstein of the Dodgers were believed to play an important part of the scam (Lieb 189). Base ball slowly rid itself of gambling until the last big scandal hit in the name of Rose. Gambling has been a part of baseball ever since the start and will continue to tarnish the game whenever it is brought up. Baseball has been through lots of adversity throughout the years. Strikes, wars and corruption have given the game a black eye but nothing has hurt the integrity of the game more than gambling. Having baseball played honestly is the most important part of baseball and doubting the integrity can cause serious harm to the game.