No professional sport is really complete without the occasional scandal; and baseball, of course, is no different from the rest. Over the years there have been quite a few scandals in the MLB. However, there are 4 scandals that are perhaps the most infamous of all in MLB history, and in the baseball scoreboards article, I have taken a look at 2 of the 4 first.
1 – The Pine Tar Scandal – ‘twas July 24th, 1983 when it looked like the Yankees had the Royal’s on their knees in the 9th innings, with the baseball scoreboards showing 2 outs and a runner only on the first. When George Brett came to the pitch, much to the Royal’s delight and the Yankees’ misfortune, he hit a home run, giving the Royals a one run lead. Of course this did not sit well with the Yankees, and in a desperate attempt to win the game, Billy Martin, the Yankees manager, ran up to the umpire (before Brett even had a chance to complete his home run) and spoke to him. After what looked like a heated debate, the umpire laid Brett’s bat on the home plate and soon after declared Brett as out. Obviously infuriated, Brett went up to the umpire and Billy Martin, inquired about the incident and had to be physically restrained from slugging the umpire.
Soon after, it was told that Martin had pointed out that Brett had broken the “Pine Tar” rule. Apparently, Brett had used more pine tar on his bat than the allowable amount. The rule was rarely exercised, and mostly overlooked, but the match was awarded to the Yanks. This caused a flurry of protests from the team and fans, creating a pressure to which the A.L. President yielded and over ruled the out. The match was resumed again on August 18th with a score of 5-4 to the Royals. Ultimately, the Royals won causing a lot of bad blood to arise between the two teams from that moment on.
2 – The Black Sox Incident – In 1919, the Chicago White Sox would have been the best team in the MLB had they not thrown away the game. Even though the White Sox were the best team, they were the worst paid team in the MLB in those years. Charles Comiskey was the owner then, and the extent of his miserliness can be assessed by the fact that once he promised his team a bonus if they won the game. When they won the game, their bonus turned out to be a box of champagne, and not even an expensive on at that.
In retaliation, 8 players headed by Chick Gandil made a deal worth $100,000 with gamblers to throw away the 1919 World Series game against the Reds. However, after losing 2 games it became apparent to these 8 that gamblers had no intension of paying the money. Therefore, they decided that if they win, at least Cormisky would pay them $1,500 a piece. As fate would have it, Arnold Rothstein, one of the gamblers in the scheme, was infuriated and sent one of his men to threaten Lefty Williams that if he did not throw away the game, his wife and children would be in trouble. Scared, Lefty threw the game and the Red won 10-5.
For more information, go to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sox_Scandal