Written by Joe Lucia at The Comeback
On Monday, MLB Commission Rob Manfred ruled on Pete Rose’s ban from baseball. Rose’s ban, initially imposed by Bart Giamatti in 1989, was upheld by Manfred for numerous reasons, including the fact that Rose “has not presented credible evidence of a reconfigured life either by an honest acceptance by him of his wrongdoing, so clearly established by the Dowd Report, or by a rigorous, self-aware and sustained program of avoidance by him of all the circumstances that led to his permanent ineligibility in 1989″.
In other words, Rose still gambles on baseball (legally, I might add) and saw nothing wrong with the fact that he gambled on baseball as a player.
The main argument for reinstating Rose usually comes down to one of three points: Rose has served his time and should be reinstated, MLB hasn’t banned PED users for life from baseball and that’s worse than gambling, or MLB is hypocritical because it has a sponsorship daily fantasy site DraftKings, which many consider gambling.
Let’s work backwards. At the beginning of the 2015 MLB season, MLB and the MLBPAreached an agreement barring players from playing daily fantasy games like DraftKings and FanDuel. While no punishments were announced, one would assume the consequences would be severe. Why does it matter that MLB has an agreement with DraftKings when MLB players are barred from playing? It’s not as if Kris Bryant is cashing in five figures a night creating lineups and getting off scot-free – he can’t do that without facing punishment from MLB, just like Rose was punished by MLB after years of betting on games.
PEDs have been a hot button issue in baseball for 15 years, and like gambling, there is a punishment structure for failed tests – 80 games for one, 162 games for two, and a lifetime ban for three. No MLB player has failed three tests and faced a lifetime ban, though a handful have been dealt multiple suspensions, including Neifi Perez, Manny Ramirez, and most recently, Jenrry Mejia. Comparing PED discipline to gambling discipline is essentially clamoring for the punishment for one positive PED test to be a ban for life, something MLB would need to collectively bargain with the MLBPA. Until that happens, the punishments for gambling and PED use will be different.
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