Being part of an exhilarating and sometimes aggressive game, the players on the professional baseball circuit have become big stars in the USA, sliding to stardom with millions of fans.
The lighter side of baseball is part of what makes it so great and enjoyable for so many adoring viewers. Every sport has its share of entertaining moments, but the antics involved with baseball take on a different tone since they can surface in so many different ways.
Known for his counter-culture personality and unique throwing style, Bill “Spaceman” Lee was a pitcher who played for the Boston Red Sox and the Montreal Expos in the 1970s. Lee often sported a wild mountain-man beard, and was known for his off-field candidness in interviews, openly admitting that he smoked marijuana and offering his opinion on everything from race relations to health food. Lee’s wild personality and his tendency to speak out against club management endeared him to the fans, and musician Warren Zevon even wrote a song about him. After leaving professional baseball, Lee bizarrely ran for President in 1988, but he was unable to get on the ballot in any states.
Professional baseball players are often consumed by the sport, and who would argue otherwise? Living, breathing, eating and sleeping baseball as a job does not leave much room for anything else.
Other than the usual hobbies like music, there are more deadly past-times involved with America’s base-balling superstars. In January, Seattle infielder Adam Kennedy was arrested on a DUI charge in Newport Beach, Calif.
Alcohol-related problems have occurred quite regularly within a number of players on baseball rosters. Gambling problems have also been highlighted as possible downfalls for those involved.
Probably the most astonishing case is that of Pete Rose, baseball’s all-time hits leader and one of history’s greatest and celebrated players.
On August 24, 1989 the commissioner of baseball, Bart Giamatti, announced the legendary Rose had been banned from the sport for life for gambling on baseball.
The evidence against Rose was so staggering that it was difficult to fathom. Records of several phone calls made to bookies, sometimes just minutes before the national anthem and even records of bets, one after another, day after day, on virtually every team, including the team he managed. The baseball world was staggered by the amount of evidence, leaving little doubt that Rose, had gambled on baseball and bet on his own team.
Rose was already known as a huge gambler, often seen at race tracks, and these days it would have been a lot easier for him to stake bets with access to online casino sites such as www.jackpotcitycasino.com. Before his demise, Rose relied heavily on attending live events to place bets on, whereas in the current climate, online sites would share a lower chance of him being caught in public with his need to gamble. These online platforms make betting simple for sports stars of today, such as Rafa Nadal, a world champion tennis player who loves a game of poker.
Back in Cincinnati, Rose, holder of 19 major league records and now the 15th person banned for life in baseball history and the first since 1943, insisted he did not have a gambling problem, despite the evidence.
