Five People Banned From Baseball

With all of the talk in the news over the past few years about baseball players taking steroids, I thought it would be interesting to find out if there were any other people who had been banned from baseball for various offenses. These players and managers have crossed the breach of confidence that is expected of our sports heroes. You might find some of these offenses minor by today's standards, but I am sure there is at least one in here that will find you shaking your head and wondering 'How did that ever happen???'

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"SHOELESS" JOE JACKSON

Jackson was a part of the 1919 "Black Sox" - the scandal which involved the Chicago White Sox throwing the World Series. As a result of Jackson's association with the scandal, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Major League Baseball's first commissioner, banned Jackson from playing after the 1920 season. Although Jackson and his other 7 teammates were acquitted, they all lost their chance to play baseball. Apparently, Jackson was given $5000 to throw the games. He still had a great series, batting .375, but fielding only average.

PETE ROSE

Known as "Charlie Hustle", Pete Rose had an amazing career as a player and manager. He played infield and outfield, finally settling as a first basemen, but as a hitter, he was unparalleled. Gambling was his downfall, which was discovered in 1989. It is believed that Rose gambled as both a player and a manager. He was permanently banned from baseball which disallows him from entering the Baseball Hall of Fame.

GEORGE STEINBRENNER

Steinbrenner was the owner and manager that everybody loved to hate. His troubles came down when he had a problem with free agent, Dave Winfield. When Steinbrenner refused to make a contractually guaranteed $300,000 donation to Winfield’s charitable foundation, Winfield sued the owner. Instead of simply making the donation, Steinbrenner paid Howard Spira, a self-described gambler, $40,000 to “dig up dirt” on Winfield. The baseball commissioner, Fay Vincent, didn't look kindly on the affair and in 1990, "The Boss" lost his ability to be a day-to-day manager.

MICKEY MANTLE AND WILLIE MAYS

Who would have thought you could get in trouble years after you retired? Certainly, not these two legends. Mantle and Mays thought they could make some money after baseball by becoming good will ambassadors for Atlantic City casinos. They would greet people and sign autographs, play in golf tournaments, and do other little appearances to raise their casinos’ profiles. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn didn't care for this and banned them from baseball. Luckily for them, his successor, Peter Uberroth, didn't agree.

TY COBB

Considered to be one of the most prolific players to ever to be in the game. He was also mean as hell. No one liked him, including his own teammates. Cobb would sharpen his spikes in front of other players and then stick them with them as he stole bases. His real trouble began when he was playing in New York. A heckler, by the name of Claude Leuker, called Cobb some rather derogatory names from the stands. After six innings, Cobb jumped into the stands and started beating and kicking the man with his spikes. It took security and the fans to stop Cobb from killing him. To make matters worse, the fan was handicapped, missing his hands from an industrial accident! When fans told him Leuker didn't have any hands, he stated "I don't care if he doesn't have any feet!". Cobb was kicked out of baseball for his actions, but was later reinstated. The incident caused the formation of the Baseball Player's union to protect players from the fans.