*Note – Because there is a lot to say about this subject, this narrative will be in two edition segments beginning today and concluding next week. I’m not a huge fan of the “to be Continued” blurb, so I’m giving you a heads up now. I hope it doesn’t change your mind about reading it.

As a huge baseball fan, I try to keep up with the history of the game as best I can, including the bad that comes with, what I feel is the greatest sport of all. That’s not to say I don’t care for other sports, but baseball seems to be the sport most often statistically discussed and debated, the sport that’s been immortalized and remembered most through feel-good stories, quotes, and comeback stories. It’s the sport that’s been most romanticized in books and movies (big and small screens), the sport most connected to fathers and sons (and daughters who love the sport too) through backyard catches, soft-tossing BP, attending games (from Little League to Major League) together, with dads teaching the game, strategy, positioning, etc., even the art of taking a mouthful of sunflower seeds, shucking them one at a time, and discarding the shells in a manner not exactly one that moms prefer seeing their kids do in public.

Baseball seems to be memorialized more than other sports, with large numbers of baseball museums in stadiums, towns where Major Leaguers were born or played, or places where minor league teams, and/or players from certain towns and cities played as youngsters and worked their way up to what is often called The Show. It used to be quite a thrill to drive by sandlots and see kids out there on summer days, playing pickup games with their friends.

(I was one of those kids back then.) It always gives me a thrill to watch B & W movies showing kids playing stickball on busy neighborhood streets in big cities, some of those kids making it to the Big Leagues and some of them winding up in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. So, baseball, as Garrett Morris, from an early Saturday Night Live cast, playing one of his characters, Chico Escuela, said, “Baseball been berry, berry good to me.” I can say that about my involvement in America’s Pastime.

Unfortunately, baseball has gotten some black eyes throughout its history, starting on the Big League level, sadly seeping down into lower levels of the game. Many have heard of most of these scandals, some being topics of movies/documentaries that have been made about the game, and some by the amount of publicity some scandals have received as they happened. The movie “Eight Men Out,” told the story of the 1919 Chicago “Black Sox” Scandal where even though the eight players were acquitted of any crime in taking money from gamblers for “throwing” the World Series, the players were suspended for life by baseball’s first Commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Prior to that there were many times baseball and gambling came to light, though some didn’t result in long term suspensions. Included in those were the 1877 Louisville Grays scandal, the 1908 Bribery attempt, the 1914 World Series upset, and the suspicions of 1917-1918. Later came Mickey Mantle’s and Willy Mays’s involvement with an Atlantic City Casino, Pete Rose’s Betting Scandal, all the way up to the situation, last season (and still being investigated), with MLB investigating Cleveland Guardian Starting Pitcher, Luis Ortiz, and his alleged connection to two situations where one pitch in two separate games are suspectedly responsible for having huge effects in winnings and losing in the betting world. Also, all-time Cleveland closer, Emmanuel Clase (who now leads the franchise in saves and he basically set that record in just three and a half seasons) is being investigated for possible involvement with gambling on certain pitches (rumored at over 40 in number), as well. I find it so incredibly ironic that betting has been a huge bug-a-boo and an extremely punishable offense in baseball, yet in today’s world of baseball (and now all sports), Betting Agencies and such places are now paying MLB, and other leagues too, to be sponsors of Major League Baseball, and the other leagues too. You now see stadia, arenas, and venues adorned heavily with ads for betting (and just because gambling is now legalized, people making hordes of money for illegal actions by players for money is not legal). There are also huge numbers of advertising commercials enticing, tantalizing, and teasing anyone trying to make a fast buck the “easy” way. Seems to me, all of that’s a bit hypocritical. Apparently, the sponsorship allowance gave MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, Colleges, and other committees of special sporting events, chances to become filthier rich, so now gambling is deemed okay to promote and practice.

There have been other situations that have left scars and bruises on the face of baseball/other sports as well. Some of us remember the 1980s Collusion situation that was investigated regarding possible unfair labor practices by owners. There was the 1985 Cocaine Scandal regarding allegations that drug dealers frequently visited certain teams’ clubhouses where the possibility that drugs were being dealt to players. Suspensions resulted from that as well.

Late 90s, early 00s, and still going on, there were/are numerous investigations into PEDs/Steroid usage by players. That was followed by the 2013 Biogenesis Scandal, the 2021 Pitcher’s Spider Tack scandal, and the 2017 Houston Astros “Bang the Garbage Can Slowly” (my name for it) Scandal which resulted in two managers, a former player, a replay system operator and one GM being suspended in a scandal that may, or may not, have resulted in the Astros winning the World Series that year. (Ironically, no players were suspended, but many had to have known and obviously benefitted from the alleged cheating.)

(Though I’m not a fan of it, To Be Continued.) That’s half of this story. Tune in next weekend for the conclusion.