Throughout the 130 year plus history of Major League Baseball, there has been no shortage of epic moments on the field, historic come-from-behind wins, larger than life heroes and a rich history that would make any die-hard baseball fan proud of their favorite sport. Unfortunately, on the other side of the coin, there have also been many dark and embarrassing times for the game of baseball, going all the way back to the beginning. Gambling, cheating, bribery, collusion and drugs have all found their way into Major League Baseball in the form of massive scandals that put a black eye on the sport every time. Today, we’ll be counting down 10 of the biggest scandals in MLB history – scandals that took over the newspapers to the point that no one cared about the scores or actual games. Some of these scandals threatened to absolutely destroy the popularity of the sport.
George Steinbrenner
#10 Steinbrenner Seeks Dirt
One of the most famous owners in MLB history, George Steinbrenner, was no stranger to controversy or scandal. He was the principal owner and managing partner of the New York Yankees from 1973 until his death in 2010. He is remembered for his constant meddling with the on-field team along with the repeated firing and re-hiring of manager Billy Martin. Steinbrenner was the one who instituted the military style grooming code with the Yankees, forbidding any facial hair except neatly trimmed mustaches. This led to major controversy when star first baseman Don Mattingly refused to shave and was benched. When Goose Gossage was ordered to cut off his beard, he left a hugely exaggerated mustache as a joke, but it became his signature look.
The biggest scandal involving Steinbrenner, however, has to be a situation with his star outfielder, Dave Winfield. After the 1980 season, Steinbrenner signed Winfield to a massive 10-year $23 million contract. Winfield made 8 straight All Star Teams as a Yankee, but hit poorly in the 1981 World Series, going 1 for 22. He also struggled down the stretch in 1985 and the Yankees failed to make the playoffs. Steinbrenner called him out, saying “Where is Reggie Jackson? We need a Mr. October or a Mr. September. Winfield is Mr. May.” But, the scandal goes deeper than just trash talking.
Towards the end of the contract, Steinbrenner tried to trade Winfield, but Winfield had veto rights and vetoed every attempted trade. Winfield had also sued Steinbrenner for not contributing to his foundation as agreed upon in the contract. When things seemingly couldn’t get any uglier, Steinbrenner paid a gambler, Howard Spira, $40,000 to dig up dirt on Dave Winfield and his foundation. Spira owed $100,000 to bookies with connections to the mob and took the $40 grand to help with his debt. Spira told Steinbrenner that he discovered that Winfield has been squandering the foundation’s money improperly. So, now the Yankees, behind Steinbrenner, threatened to sue Winfield for “misappropriation and misuse of funds.”
When word got to the commissioner Fay Vincent that Steinbrenner paid a gambler with mob ties $40,000 to dig up dirt on one of his players, he banned him from the Yankees day-to-day operations for life. He was re-instated two years later on the condition that he drop the lawsuits he filed against Vincent. Meanwhile, Dave Winfield finally accepted a trade to the Angles and Howard Spira ended up in prison for trying to extort $110,000 from Steinbrenner. Dave Winfield eventually made it to the Hall of Fame and decided on the plaque he would be wearing a San Diego Padres cap.
#9 Biogenesis
By the 2010s, it seemed the steroid era was a thing of the past. That is, until a new scandal broke out in 2013 known as the biogenesis scandal. Several MLB players were accused of using performance enhancing drugs – PED’s – in the form of human growth hormone. They reportedly got the drugs from a clinic called Biogenesis of America. This information began to leak out in January of 2013 when the Miami New Times obtained records from a disgruntled former employee who hadn’t received his backpay. Several massive superstars were mentioned, including Melky Cabrera, Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun and Nelson Cruz. Cabrera had already been suspended for a failed test in 2012. Major League Baseball wanted more information and sued the owner of the clinic, Anthony Bosch. In exchange for having his name removed from the lawsuit, he agreed to cooperate and in July of 2013,with documents and proof in hand, MLB began to drop the hammer.
Ryan Braun, after failing a steroid test in 2011 but avoiding suspension due to a technicality in the handling of the sample, gave a 12-minute speech about the power of truth, integrity and honor, saying that he would bet his life that he never put an illegal substance in his body. In July of 2013, he was suspended for the remainder of the season and postseason for taking PEDs obtained from Biogenesis. When presented with the evidence, he admitted his guilt and apologized for embarrassing his supporters. On August 5th, Alex Rodriguez was suspended as well but decided to appeal, allowing him to play through the 2013 season. In 2014, his suspension was upheld and he missed the entire 2014 season. A-Rod also point-blank denied that he ever used steroids. He received a longer than standard suspension for being a multi-time offender as he had failed a steroid test in 2006 as well as for his attempts to cover up his actions and obstruct an official investigation. Twelve other players were also suspended included Nelson Cruz, Everth Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta. A new record was set with 13 simultaneous MLB suspensions.
#8 1980’s Owner Collusion
Bud Selig
In October of 1984, a new MLB commissioner by the name of Peter Ueberroth sent out a message to every MLB team that he thought it was not smart to sign players to long-term contracts. The message was heard loud and clear and the owners and front offices all agreed to avoid them, creating a massive collusion scandal that went on for a number of years.
The problem started to become evident after the 1985 season when free agents had trouble finding any teams that wanted them for any decent amount of money. The 1984 postseason hero for the Detroit Tigers, Kirk Gibson, had just hit .287 with 29 home runs and should’ve been one of the hottest names in free agency. Instead, no one wanted him. Phil Niekro was one of the most reliable starters in the game. No one wanted him. Of the 35 free agents that offseason, only 4 switched teams – and none were paid anything serious. Agents and players knew something was going on and filed a grievance .
After the 1986 season, things got even worse. Superstar outfielder Andre Dawson didn’t want to play on the artificial turf in Montreal anymore, but somehow couldn’t find one team that would offer him a decent salary. The 6-time gold glove rookie-of-the year power hitter was one of the best players in the game and no one wanted him. He eventually had to take a pay cut to sign with the Chicago Cubs. Meanwhile, all the other star free agents including Jack Morris, Tim Raines and Ron Guidry had to re-sign with their previous clubs. Salaries were plummeting across Major League Baseball. The player’s association filed a second grievance.
The collusion was blatant and beyond obvious. This didn’t slow the owners down, though, and they continued to find ways to collude using an “information bank” to share information on contract offers so no team would overpay. A third grievance was filed. An arbitrator who looked into the 1st grievance ruled that the owners had violated the CBA by conspiring to restrict player movement. He ordered the owners to pay $10.5 million in damages to the players. The free agents who had to sign with their previous clubs got a free chance to offer their services to any team without losing their current contracts, which led to Kirk Gibson signing with the Dodgers. The MLBPA also won the second grievance and this time, owners had to pay $38 million with more “new look” free agents getting an opportunity to switch teams. The third grievance estimated the damages at $64.5 million. In 1990, a final settlement on all three cases was reached and the owners had to pay the players $280 million. Unfortunately, there have been more accusations of collusion since then and owners will likely continue to do whatever they can to put as much money in their own pockets as possible.
#7 The Houston Astros Cheating Scandal
In 2017, just two months after Hurricane Harvey struck Texas and devastated the city of Houston, the Houston Astros won the World Series in 7 games against the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was an amazing story not only due to the hurricane but also the Astros were one of the worst teams in baseball only a few years prior. They had done an amazing job of developing stars like Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve and George Springer. Then, more than two years later, in November of 2019, the entire baseball world exploded in drama with an article written in The Athletic by Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drelich, detailing the methods the Astros used to steal signs during the 2017 season – and these methods involved the use of electronics, a big no-no in baseball. Stealing signs has been part of the game for more than 100 years, but using electronics to do it is considered cheating.
The whistleblower in the case was a pitcher named Mike Fiers, who pitched for Houston in 2017. He explained that a video camera was placed in the center field seats to record the opposing catcher’s signs. The recording was fed into a monitor behind the dugout where Astros personnel – sometimes players themselves – would decipher the signs and bang on a trash can to signal to the batter what pitch was coming next. With this knowledge, the YouTuber known as “Jomboy” was able to break down a moment in a White Sox Astros game where the trash can banging can be clearly heard. The White Sox pitcher also heard it and realized exactly what was happening. He called time out and had a meeting with the catcher to change the signs.
MLB performed an investigation and determined that the sign-stealing took place in 2017 and 2018, but could not find evidence of any wrongdoing in 2019. Apparently in 2018, after teams were onto them about the trash can banging, they found an alternate method to notify hitters of the incoming pitch, but determined it was ineffective and gave up. The culprits named included bench coach Alex Cora, who worked with several players including veteran Carlos Beltran, to create the system. It was determined that manager A.J. Hinch did not approve of the monitor and even destroyed it on two occasions. Nevertheless, he never banned it or got rid of it completely. As the 2020 season neared, baseball fans were livid and it was going to extremely interesting to see how Astros games would play out on the road – but as it turned out no fans were allowed in the stands during the Covid-shortened 2020 season. By 2021, fans still booed but some of the anger had subsided.
In the aftermath, several firings and suspensions took place. The Astros immediately fired GM Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch. Alex Cora, who was the Red Sox Manager, agreed to part ways with Boston. Carlos Beltran, who had recently been hired as manager of the New York Mets, was fired before managing a single game. Hinch and Cora were suspended for the 2020 seasons and had been fired anyway. Both returned to baseball afterwards, Hinch as manager of the Tigers and Cora was re-hired as manager of the Red Sox. The Astros were fined $5 million and were forced to forfeit their first and second round draft picks in 2020 and 2021. The players were given immunity in exchange for their truthful testimony, which angered many baseball fans. The Astros players gave apologies at Spring Training in 2020 but it did little to calm the situation. Even players from other teams were being vocal about the scandal, with Cody Bellinger saying that Altuve stole the MVP Award from Aaron Judge. Correa defended his teammate, saying Altuve wanted no part of the sign-stealing and would get mad if they banged a trash can while he was at bat. Mike Trout said he lost some respect for those guys.
A couple months after the Astros scandal broke, it was revealed the the Boston Red Sox, who beat the Dodgers in the 2018 World Series, used the video replay room to steal signs during the 2018 season. Alex Cora was their manager at the time. It was deemed “more limited in scope and impact” than the Astros sign-stealing. Only one person, J.T. Watkins, a member of the club’s scouting staff, was punished for transmitting information on the opposing team’s signs during in-game play using the video room.
#6 The Banning of Pete Rose
The cardinal sin for some one involved directly in Major League Baseball is betting on a baseball game, especially if there is direct involvement in said game. Any player, coach or manager who does it will be banned for life. The fact that this happened is not so shocking – but who it happened to that is – the Hit King Pete Rose, who retired after 1986 as baseball’s all-time leader with 4,256 hits and 3,562 games played. He was known as Charlie Hustle, one of the hardest working players of all time – some one who always gave 110% every single day.
He became manager of the Reds in 1984 while he was still a player, and continued to manage after his playing career. It was no secret that he was a gambler, but at first there was only suspicions that he was betting on baseball. In February of 1989, Commissioner Peter Ueberroth met with Rose to discuss those suspicions. Rose denied betting on baseball, but evidence started piling up that said the opposite. The IRS had seized betting slips with the name of Pete Rose on them, his handwriting, his fingerprints and they showed he was betting up to $10,000 per day on baseball.
Investigator John Dowd prepared a report, known as the “Dowd Report” and submitted it to the new commissioner Bart Giamatti in May of 1989. It contained proof that Rose bet on at least 52 Cincinnati Reds games in 1987. Giamatti confronted Rose with the evidence and Rose agreed to accept a lifetime ban with both signing a document confirming the ban, with the condition that Rose would still not admit to any wrongdoing and that he would be able to appeal the ban after one year. Bart may have given him the impression that he would be willing to lift the ban at that time. It was not meant to be as Bart Giamatti passed away in September of 1989 of a heart attack.
The downward sprial of Pete Rose continued as the was sentenced to five months in prison in 1990 for falsifying tax records. Then, in 1991, the National Baseball Hall of Fame decided that any player banned from the game would also be ineligible for the Hall of Fame, which destroyed Pete Rose chances of ever being a Hall of Famer. Rose continued to deny he ever bet on baseball until finally, he came clean in 2004 with his autobiography My Prison Without Bars. Pete Rose has continued to submit applications for reinstatement every few years, but the commissioner, whoever it may be, has continued to deny them. Rob Manfred is the most recent to turn down Rose, saying that "In short, Mr. Rose has not presented credible evidence of a reconfigured life." Pete Rose is now 82 years old and if he is ever inducted into the Hall of Fame, he likely won’t be around to witness it.
#5 The Pittsburgh Drug Trials
In 1979, the Pittsburgh Pirates won the World Series, led by superstars like Willie Stargell, Dave Parker, Bill Madlock and Dock Ellis. By 1985, however, the team hit hard times, losing 104 and finishing in last place. This was the least of their problems, however. During the early to mid 80’s, freelance photographer Dale Shiffman and, believe it or not, the Pirate Parrot – were working together to help operate a drug ring around the city of Pittsburgh. Okay, it was actually the man inside the costume – Kevin Koch. They supplied not only random drug addicts with cocaine, but also the Pirates themselves and Shiffman estimated that about 2/3rds of the 25-man roster were on coke. Their man connection on the team was Pirates pitcher Rod Scurry, who had pitched with the Pirates since 1980.
During the 1984 season, FBI agents were onto the Pirates and began to interview Scurry. They compiled a list of drug dealers and players who bought the drugs from them. They interviewed more players to help extend the list, offering immunity to the players if they agreed to testify against the dealers. Seven dealers and distributors were ultimately charged including Shiffman and the Philadelphia Phillies caterer, Curtis Strong, who provided more than just food and beverage. Through multiple trials, all 7 would be charged and convicted. It turned out that the number of players purchasing cocaine extended much further than just the Pirates and many huge names showed up in court to testify.
Tim Raines said he kept a vial of cocaine in his back pocket during games; hence why he would always slide headfirst. Keith Hernandez estimated that about 40% of players were on cocaine. Pirates players who testified included Dave Parker, Dale Berra, Rod Scurry, Lee Mazzilli, Lee Lacy and John Milner.
There were some other huge names as well such as Vida Blue, Alan Wiggins, Jeffrey Leonard, and Lonnie Smith, who had publicly struggled with a cocaine addiction in prior years. The entire thing was a media sensation and rocked the baseball world. Commissioner Peter Ueberroth suspended 11 players, but they were commuted in exchange for fines and community service. Seven of them were considered long-time drug users and had to donate 10% of their salary to drug-abuse programs along with 100 hours of community service. By 1987, Ueberroth declared MLB to be drug-free and several of the players involved in the scandal had a sudden rejuvenation in their careers including Lonnie Smith, Dave Parker and Keith Hernandez. Others continued to struggle with drugs as Rod Scurry died of a cocaine-related heart attack in 1992 at the age of 36. Alan Wiggins died in 1991 at age 32 after contracting AIDS due to his drug use.
#4 The 1994 Strike
Although a work-stoppage might not be considered a scandal, the way things went down in 1994 almost destroyed the entire game as for the first time in 90 years, there would be no World Series. It was not known if fans would ever forgive the players for walking out over monetary reasons, despite the minimum MLB salary being in the six figure range, while minor leaguers who were paid less than minimum wage, continued to play on. No other American major professional sports league had ever lost an entire postseason due to a labor dispute.
After the previously discussed collusion scandals of the 1980’s, the relationship between owners and players was at an all time low entering into the 1990’s. The owners were continuing to do whatever they could to keep payroll low and when colluding to do so backfired, they decided to try something else – a salary cap. The previous Collective Bargaining Agreement between players and owners expired on December 31st, 1993 and now, owners not only wanted to put a cap on player salary but also wanted teams to share local broadcasting revenues to increase equity among all teams including those in smaller markets. At this time, Fay Vincent was no longer commissioner since the owners forced him out after he supported the decisions in the collusion grievances and said publicly that they had stolen $280 million from the players. Bud Selig, who was one of the owners during the collusion scandal, was acting commissioner at the time and did not do much to help the two sides come to a compromise.
The owners offered a proposal in June of 1994 that enforced a salary cap, eliminated salary arbitration, and allowed owners the right to keep a four or five year player simply by matching the best offer from another club. The executive director of the MLB Player’s Association was Donald Fehr, and had no trust in Selig or the owners. He rejected the offer and told the owners if they weren’t ready to get serious quickly, the players would go on strike. The owners only doubled-down, now withholding $7.8 million worth of pension and benefit money that was previously agreed to go to the players. A strike date was set for August 12th, 1994.
A few proposals went back and forth but neither side was willing to agree and when the strike date came, players walked out and the MLB season game to an abrupt halt. The Yankees were going to finally get back to the postseason for the first time since 1981 – it would have been the first postseason appearance for Don Mattingly. The Montreal Expos were 74-40, having their best season of all time and were looking to win their first World Series. Tony Gwynn had a chance to be the first player since Ted Williams to hit .400. And Matt Williams of the Giants was on a pace to threaten Roger Maris’ single season record of 61 home runs. All of that was out the window as the strike continued and on September 14th, Bud Selig officially canceled the remainder of the season and postseason, including the World Series.
The offseason came and went with no agreement and things got really ridiculous when Bud Selig declared the season would be played anyway – with replacement players. 1995 Spring Training was like no other as random baseball players showed up to replace true MLB talent. Some, like Kevin Millar, went on to play MLB later but would never be allowed in the MLBPA. Any current or former MLB players lost their membership with the union for crossing the picket line. An agreement was never really reached but on April 2nd, 1995, a judge issued an injunction stating that the players and owners would be bound to the terms of the previous expired agreement until a new one can be reached. And so, the players returned to action for a shortened 144-game season. But, the question was, would the fans ever come back? Which leads us to...
#3 BALCO & The Mitchell Report
Rafael Palmeiro and Jose Canseco
Major League Baseball had survived a lot, but whether it could survive the 1994 strike was a huge question mark going into the 1995 season. As it turned out, many fans did come back, although attendance dropped about 20%. But there’s nothing like a great baseball story to bring fans back as Cal Ripken Jr. broke Lou Gehrig’s seemingly unbreakable record by playing in an astonishing 2,131 consecutive games. In 1996, something interesting started happening as the long ball became more common than ever. An MLB record 4,962 home runs occurred in 1996, with Mark McGwire crushing 52 and typically light-hitting Brady Anderson smashing 50. Seventeen players hit at least 40 bombs. And that was just the beginning.
In 1998, for the first time in MLB history, over 5,000 home runs were hit as Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa captured the attention of the nation, going back and forth in a battle towards history. Both were on a pace to break Roger Maris’ record of a 61 homers and it was McGwire who set the record with #62 on September 8th. Sosa ended up with 66 bombs while McGwire crushed an unbelievable 70. 3 years later, Barry Bonds shattered that record with an absolutely video-gamish 73 home runs – at the age of 37, despite being walked 177 times.
Where were all these home runs coming from? The answer started to become clear during the mid-2000’s. Jose Canseco wrote a tell-all book called “Juiced” about his experiences with steroids during his MLB career. He named names such as Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Ivan Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez and Jason Giambi. Also, a nutrition center called BALCO was identified as having distributed steroids among many star players including Giambi and Bonds. A congressional hearing was held in which Mark McGwire famously dodged every question, saying he did not want to talk about the past. Rafael Palmeiro wagged his finger, saying he had never used steroids. On August 1st of 2005, he tested positive for PEDs and was suspended 10 games.
Only after all the pressure from Congress did the MLBPA and Commissioner begin to apply stricter regulations regarding steroids. Books began to be published regarding Bonds and Roger Clemens among others, such as Game of Shadows, which described how Bonds’ trainer Greg Anderson provided PEDs to Bonds and other athletes. Bonds said during a grand jury testimony he only used a clear cream that he thought was to treat arthritis. George J. Mitchell led an investigation into steroid use in MLB and released what is known as the “Mitchell Report” in December of 2007. 89 former and current players were named including Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite, Miguel Tejada and Eric Gagne. He included recommendations for MLB in order to curtail the use of steroids in the game.
Around this time, federal investigators decided to go after Barry Bonds and charged him with 4 counts of perjury and 1 of obstruction of justice. The trial did not take place until 2011 and Bonds was found guilty of obstructing justice and sentenced to 30 days house arrest. In 2015, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the conviction, saying that nothing Bonds said was material to an investigation.
The entire steroid scandal of the mid-2000’s did serious damage to the game. Shoe-in future Hall-of-Famers like Palmeiro, McGwire, Bonds, Sosa and Clemens among others have been snubbed due to their steroid connections. As of right now, the National Baseball Hall of Fame not only does not have a plaque for the Hit King Pete Rose, but is also missing one for the all-time MLB home run leader in Bonds as well as one for one the greatest pitchers of all time in Roger Clemens. It’s almost impossible to discuss baseball statistics or records without getting in an argument regarding steroids. The steroid era has clouded the entire landscape of baseball in a negative way and the effects continue to be felt, especially because the steroid scandals are not even completely in the past and can always pop up again, as proven by the more recent Biogensis scandal.
#2. The 1919 “Black Sox”
In 1919, the Cincinnati Reds won the World Series 5 games to 3 in a best of 9 contest against the Chicago White Sox. It was a major upset as the White Sox were heavily favored but uncharacteristically played poorly and sloppy in multiple games. As it turns out, there was an explanation for that.
The White Sox players had a strong dislike for their owner Charles Comiskey, who they considered cheap. He had a reputation for underpaying his players even though some more modern research papers indicate he wasn’t any worse than the other owners; in fact the White Sox were one of the highest paid teams in baseball. Nevertheless, the players felt underpaid and underappreciated and they played at a time before the union, so they had no way of voluntarily switching teams or bargaining for better pay. The clubhouse was also divided between the more clean and straight players led by Ivy-League graduate Eddie Collins and the more scrappy, tough and rough players led by 1st baseman Chick Gandil. It was this second group that began to discuss the possibility of throwing games for money.
In September of 1919, Gandil met up with bookmaker and gambler Joseph J. Sullivan to discuss payment for throwing the 1919 World Series. A figure of $80,000 was reached. On the 21st, several other White Sox players joined Gandil in a meeting for more information in order to determine if they were willing to go through with it. These players included star pitchers Eddie Cicotte and Lefty Williams along with one of their better hitters, Buck Weaver. They were concerned that it would be tough to throw the series with future Hall of Fame pitcher Red Faber as the ace of the rotation as he was with the clean group and would not be in on the fix. Then, a case of the flu hit Faber and it was announced he would miss the entire series. The fix was officially on.
As money poured in on the underdog Cincinnati Reds, gamblers already had an idea that the series was fixed. Cicotte’s stuff was intentionally off and he gave up 6 runs before being taken out in the 4th inning. The offense produced just 6 singles and the Sox lost 9-1. Lefty Williams started Game 2 and suddenly lost his control, walking 6 batters and allowing 4 runs. They lost again 4-2. Rookie Dickey Kerr, who was not in on the fix, threw a shutout for the White Sox in Game 3. But they lost again in Game 4 with Eddie Cicotte back on the mound, although he threw much better this time. Lefty Williams was lit up again in Game 5 and the White Sox were down in the series 4 games to 1. As the series continued, the gamblers refused to pay previously agreed upon payments after losses, causing the 8 players in on the fix to starting trying. The White Sox won Games 6 and 7 but now gamblers were threatening violence against the players and their families if they did not go through with the fix. Lefty Williams started Game 8 and pitched poorly again. The White Sox lost the game and the series.
Rumors swirled regarding the White Sox throwing the 1919 World Series and in 1920, 8 players and 5 gamblers were charged with conspiring to defraud the public. Eddie Cicotte admitted to accepting a $10,000 bribe before Game 1, famously saying, “I did it for the wife and kiddies.” A jury acquitted the men in 1921, but MLB’s first commissioner, Kennasaw Mountain Landis, suspended them for life anyway with the statement
“Regardless of the verdict of juries, no player that throws a ball game, no player that entertains proposals or promises to throw a game, no player that sits in a conference with a bunch of crooked players and gamblers where the ways and means of throwing games are discussed, and does not promptly tell his club about it, will ever again play professional baseball.”
Among the banned players was the great Shoeless Joe Jackson, who confessed to having accepted $5,000 from Lefty Williams. However, he never met or spoke with gamblers and was not part of the meetings. Jackson claimed he gave it his all in the series and the extent of his involvement has been debated ever since. Regardless, he is one of the “8 Men Out” and, like Pete Rose, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and others mentioned in this video, has never been given a plaque in the Hall of Fame despite being one of the greatest players of his time.
#1. The “Gentleman's Agreement”
Satchel Paige
Although the “Gentlemen’s Agreement” is not your typical scandal since it lasted 55 years and there was no public outcry about it, there certainly should have been one. The agreement was basically an unwritten law – a gentleman's agreement – that no team would sign a black player. Before about 1887, teams could sign whoever they wanted to and several black players were in the minors and at least 3 played in the majors, including Moses Fleetwood Walker, who hit .263 in 42 games for the Toledo Blue Stockings.
In the late 1880’s, owners got together and agreed that they none of them would ever sign, draft or scout a black player. It was created a de facto segregation as black players now had no place to play professional baseball and had to create their own leagues where hundreds of extremely talented players who could have lent their skills to a Major League Team, played ball. Rube Foster founded the Negro National League in 1920, marking the start of these leagues which produced stars like Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Satchel Paige and so many others who played in the Negro Leagues as the gentleman’s agreement continued throughout the first half of the 20th century.
Even as over a million black soldiers served their country in World War II, they were banned from playing in the country’s National Pastime. Eventually Branch Rickey, part owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, signed Jackie Robinson to play for the Dodgers organization. When he was promoted to the majors on April 15th, 1947, the color barrier was officially broken and Robinson became the first African American in the 20th century to play Major League Baseball. Even then, he faced bigotry and hatred from teammates, opposing players, umpires and fans. Robinson thrived anyway and had a Hall of Fame career, helping to lead the way to the Civil Rights movement and a future for Major League baseball players of all races and nationalities.
