MLB has a century-long history with gamblers that has led to some of the game’s juiciest scandals, from the banning of star Jim Devlin and three other players in the late 1870’s, to the Black Sox scandal of 1919-20, to the Pete Rose affair of 1989. The latest installment of the soap opera that is MLB’s long history with gambling is the Ippei-Shohei affair that came like a bolt from the Dodger blue courtesy of a bombshell report that Shohei Ohtani’s legal team was accusing long time interpreter Ippei Mizuhara of “massive theft” totalling into the millions of dollars to cover massive gambling debts. The facts of the case remain unclear at the time of writing this, caked in the mud of mutually contradictory statements and chronological holes that will only bear out as time passes and the rightful investigations run their course. I will not speculate on whether Ippei stole from Shohei, Ippei covered for Shohei, or Shohei tried to save Ippei, making payments to an illegal bookie and in so doing, venturing into stormy legal waters. I instead want to highlight something some people are already pointing out regarding MLB’s relationship with gambling now versus a hundred years ago.
In today’s day and age, one can scarcely ever get through watching any sporting event without watching multiple ads related to sports betting. Betting lines are always discussed openly on MLB Network and ESPN with Draftkings, MGM and all ensconced in the ad revenue. Unlike a hundred years ago, when MLB had something of a moral high ground whenever something like this came up because it wasn’t railing against players betting whilst also making money off of hapless addicts like what Ippei Mizuhara is now being portrayed as. Today, any statement MLB makes condemning gambling on games, baseball or not, will be viewed as blatantly hypocritical. So far, they have remained largely mum and for good reason. Shohei Ohtani is the Golden Goose, the Cash Cow. They are investigating. We will see what happens.
Another thing that will now be called into question again is the long standing ban on Pete Rose. If MLB is happy to take the millions sports betting firms are happy to dish out for air time, why does MLB continue to treat its best known gambler as a pariah? He may not be hirable anymore as a coach or manager, but at a minimum, Pete Rose does deserve to take his place in Cooperstown. He is the game’s all time hit king after all, who played twenty five seasons, was an All Star more times than people have fingers, and is a three time World Series champion. He was also an addict who bet on games and has paid his price with a jail sentence and the stigma that comes with it. He wouldn’t be the first inveterate sinner induced into the hall, nor the last. A plaque exists for racists like Cap Anson who is on the record for saying things about blacks that were considered abhorrent by 19th century standards. Roberto Alomar has accusations of sexual impropriety over his head. Ty Cobb has Ty Cobb’s reputation. Multiple recent inductees have suspicions of PED us hanging over their heads. The Hall Of Fame is full of highly flawed characters, and that’s okay. They are inducted for their on-field accomplishments, not their purity. Yes, Hall Of Fame voters are instructed to consider character in filling out their ballots. But such an admonishment is so vague as to be pointless.
MLB has gambled for decades that fans would largely see eye-to-eye with the Pete Rose ban, agreeing that gambling on games was a deed dastardly enough so as to merit not having a plaque in a Central New York museum and not being able to give that once in a lifetime speech on a hot July afternoon. But if social media is any indication, the ridiculousness of it all is as apparent to fans as it was in 1999, when MLB was forced to suffer Rose’s presence at the All Star game on account of being named to the All Century Team. He has paid his price already, both legally and in baseball terms. It’s time to give him his rightful place in the hall. And while we’re at it, let’s rehabilitate the game’s other excommunicated legend, Joe Jackson. Jackson is long dead however. It would be a nice gesture for his descendants but no more. But Rose is alive. It’s time for MLB to admit the continuance of the Rose ban is a losing gamble and let him take his rightful place among the game’s greats.
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