Lifetime Bans Not New To Baseball
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – If New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is awaiting his suspension and could be banned for life. But lifetime bans are nothing new for Major League Baseball which has a lengthy history of throwing people out of the game.
One of the most infamous lifetime bans surrounds the 1919 Chicago White Sox team that played in the World Series. The team was accused of throwing the series and the team was banned for life, including "Shoeless" Joe Jackson. The Black Sox, as they are known, have not been reinstated.
Jackson's involvement in the actual conspiracy to throw the series has been the subject of decades of debate and the other players involved would eventually say he didn't take part, but his lifetime ban has remained.
Another famous lifetime bans involves Major League Baseball's all-time hits leader, former Cincinnati Red Pete Rose. He was banned for life by MLB Commissioner Bart Giamatti, but has been allowed to apply for reinstatement once a year for the rest of his life.
So far, Rose has not been reinstated despite finally admitting that he did bet on games, including games he was managing for the Reds.
The Reds also saw a lifetime ban handed down to former owner Marge Schott in 1996. The controversial owner made racial slurs and expressed sympathy for the Nazi's. Schott was reinstated in 1998 and stepped down as the team's owner in 1999.
Commissioner Fay Vincent banned New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner in 1990 for allegedly paying a private investigator to find compromising information about player Dave Winfield.
Steinbrenner was later reinstated by Commissioner Bud Selig in 1993 and didn't retire as Yankees owner until 2006.
Even legendary Hall of Fames Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays faced a ban at one point. Both were banned in 1983 by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn after they took jobs at a casino in Atlantic City. Mays and Mantle were reinstated by Commissioner Peter Uberroth in 1985.
Still, a lifetime ban for A-Rod would keep him from playing, managing, owning a team, or even being an agent. It would also cost him more than $90 million.
But don't worry about A-Rod going broke. According to a report from ProSportsDaily.com, the Texas Rangers still owe A-Rod $40 million, which will be closer to $50 million by the time it's paid, in deferred money from his then-record setting contract.
The remaining money is to be paid from 2016-2025.
