Cleveland Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz has been placed on “non-disciplinary paid leave” as MLB launches a probe relating to gambling. It’s the latest in a string of issues that challenge the game’s integrity.
According to ESPN, the issue concerns two pitches and the unusual gambling activity associated with those pitches, specifically bets placed on whether the pitches would be called balls or hit by pitches, which were flagged by a betting-integrity firm and referred to sportsbook operators.
The first instance came in the second inning of a June 15 game against the Seattle Mariners. Ortiz started Randy Arozarena, the first batter of the inning, with an 87 mph slider far outside the zone. The second instance came in the third inning of a June 27 game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Ortiz spiked a first-pitch slider way wide of the strike zone to catcher Pedro Páges, the first batter of the inning.
If those pitches were intentional and related to betting, Ortiz experienced some serious karma. He walked Arozarena, and the Mariners ended up scoring five runs that inning. Pages hit a home run two pitches later, and the Cards scored three times that inning.
A year ago, MLB punished five players for gambling.
–The league banned San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano for life for betting on his own team, even though Marcano did not play in any of the games on which he placed bets.
–The league suspended four other players for one year for betting on baseball.
–MLB also fired umpire Pat Hoberg earlier this year after it was determined that he shared sports betting accounts with a friend who bet on baseball games.
No one in MLB can claim ignorance. The rules from the MLB handbook are posted in every clubhouse in both English and Spanish. The rules are as follows:
Rule 21d(2) in the MLB handbook: “Any player, umpire, or club or league official or employee who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor must perform, shall be declared permanently ineligible.” Rule 21d(3) states: “Any player, umpire, or club or league official or employee who places bets with illegal bookmakers or agents for illegal bookmakers shall be subject to such penalty as the Commissioner deems appropriate in light of the facts and circumstances of the conduct.”
Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds crouches on the field before a game at Shea Stadium in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens, New York, July 24, 1978. The game, against the New York Mets, resulted in Rose increasing his hitting streak to 37 consecutive games (the streak eventually lasted 44 games). (Photo by Gary Gershoff/Getty Images)
Of course, any mention of betting on baseball brings up the issue of Pete Rose and the Hall of Fame. In May, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, acting on a petition from Pete Rose’s family, reinstated Rose, along with the infamous 1919 Black Sox, making them eligible for election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
In other words, Manfred overrode Rule 21(d)(2). Manfred decided that Rule 21 was intended to keep people away from baseball who were considered a threat to the game’s integrity and to serve as a deterrent. He decided the “threat” portion no longer applied once a person is deceased.
To me, this is mere sophistry. “Permanently ineligible” means permanently. Permanently includes after death.
Some argue that Rose, who took 15 years to admit he bet on baseball, bet on the Cincinnati Reds to win when he was manager. Therefore, it didn’t affect the outcomes. That is short-sighted. Rose may have been tempted to make certain decisions to win the games he bet on, which he would not have made had he not bet on those games.
For example, would he leave a starting pitcher who was doing well in the game beyond his usual pitch count? Would he call on an injured player to perform when he should be resting? And those decisions would impact the availability of those players for future games, setting off a chain reaction.
Let’s look at this another way. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that Guardians pitcher Ortiz was not caught concerning those two questionable pitches. Let’s imagine he went on to an incredible Major League career, winning 300 games and establishing Hall of Fame credentials. Then, just when he was about to retire, the scandal involving those two pitches from years ago was revealed, and Ortiz was found guilty. He would then be declared “permanently ineligible” from baseball. At his death, however, he would be removed from the permanently ineligible list and be eligible for the Hall of Fame election. Knowing his involvement in the betting scandal, would you vote for him to enter the Hall of Fame?
I wouldn’t. And I wouldn’t vote for Rose, either.
Several sportswriters have said that Rose’s reinstatement does not change their opinion regarding his eligibility. Consider steroid-era players like Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens, and Rafael Palmeiro. None of those players were declared ineligible because steroids were not banned from baseball when they played. But none of them are in Cooperstown because writers take their position as gatekeepers very seriously.
Rose is no longer eligible for consideration by the writers, who can vote on players for 10 years that starts five years after their last game. His candidacy would be passed to the Classic Baseball committee, which next meets in December 2027.
The “Black Sox” scandal
The Black Sox Scandal of 1919, in which several players on the White Sox conspired to throw the World Series, led to the appointment of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis as the first commissioner of baseball. Even though the eight accused players were acquitted in a public trial in 1921, Landis permanently banned all eight players from professional baseball.
Landis set the standard. Any hint of gambling by players in baseball needs to be thoroughly investigated and addressed. It tarnishes the integrity of the game.
I still have a soft spot for Shoeless Joe Jackson. Years later, all the other seven implicated players said that Jackson was never present at their meetings with the gamblers. Claude “Lefty” Williams, one of the eight and Jackson’s roommate, later said they only mentioned Jackson in hopes of giving them more credibility with the gamblers.
