Major League Baseball found itself another massive revenue stream this week when it officially partnered with MGM Resorts International.
MGM Resorts is now the “official gaming partner of MLB” after they gave the league a four-year deal worth $80 million, as the Los Angeles Times and other outlets have reported. In turn, MGM will also have access to “enhanced statistics” from the league and will have a presence at the All-Star Game, World Series, and other major MLB events. MLB becomes the third major professional sports league in the country to cash in on a Supreme Court ruling that could allow sports betting to occur in every state in the nation, not just Nevada.
This is a smart financial and practical move by MLB. Whether or not it is legal in the U.S., and whether or not they approve of it, people are going to gamble on baseball anyway. Despite this, MLB needs to answer for its past aversion to betting, and consider lifting their ban on Pete Rose and putting him into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Best known as MLB’s all-time hits leader (4,256), Rose got a lifetime ban from the league for betting on games during his time as the Cincinnati Reds manager in 1989. Rose violated MLB rule No. 21, section D, subsection 2, which states, “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 has a duty to perform, shall be declared permanently ineligible.”
However, there are no records of Rose betting on his own team to lose or instances of him intentionally throwing a game, like the 1919 Chicago White Sox did in the World Series.
As a player, Rose had a reputation as a competitor who always gave his best effort. There’s a reason why he earned the nickname “Charlie Hustle,” and why he barreled over then-Cleveland Indians catcher Ray Fosse to score the game-winning run in the 1970 All-Star game, risking a shoulder injury in a game with absolutely no meaning.
Earlier this year, Rose’s now-estranged wife claimed to this day Rose’s competitive nature is still hurting him financially. She said he still gambles most of his money, meaning he is most likely a gambling addict. After all, he earns more than $1 million per year and is still in debt.
MLB should understand Rose’s addiction, and if they are going to chase capital while possibly getting more people hooked on gambling, they should accept that addiction does not make someone a bad person.
If they didn’t think Rose should be allowed to coach or have a front office job in the league for the threat that he could cost them games, that’s understandable. But he is certainly Hall of Fame-worthy. The 17-time All-Star and 3-time World Series champ was on MLB’s All-Century Team for the 20th century, so maybe they should look at that success he enjoyed as a player, not a personal demon that has harmed his life far beyond baseball.
It’s not just Rose’s association with the betting world that Major League Baseball has taken issue with in the past. When Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle retired from baseball, they had no involvement with the game anymore and yet, each of them were banned by MLB in 1980 and 1983 respectively. Their offense? They worked with casinos in Atlantic City, N.J., signing autographs and doing meet-and-greets to attract customers. Ultimately, both were reinstated by the league in 1985.
However, it does not change what the league did — and Peter Ueberroth, the league’s commissioner at the time, did not admit the initial decision was wrong and said their intent was to keep baseball and gambling separate.
There’s nothing wrong with the government allowing betting on sports or Major League Baseball for wanting to earn some revenue from it. Regardless, if MLB really wants in on this, there are a couple of wrongs they could make right so that they’re not quite so hypocritical about it.
Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports) is a freelance writer who has been published with USA Today, the Boston Globe, Newsday, ESPN, the Detroit Free Press, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Federalist, and a number of other media outlets.
