Baseball: Gambling Is Life

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Baseball is considered to be the great American past time, a part of US nation's culture and heritage. Baseball is life. Understanding why we are here on this place called earth is a mystery. Life has so many obstacles, so many hardships. It is the success that we accomplish that allows us to survive; everyone wants to be the best at what they do. Being a success shows others that we can do it. We are just as good as the next person. We are all equal. Life is like baseball. There are your chances to get a hit and field the ball with perfection. Make the best of every chance you get because those chances may not be there the next time. Unfortunately, gambling has been a permanent scar on baseball. No other issue has caused more controversy…show more content…
Gambling in baseball threatened the public’s confidence in sport and its very existence as a professional enterprise. Jerry Patterson states in the book Sports Betting that “More big scores have been made betting on baseball than any other proposition.” Gambling has been a part of baseball since owners began aspiring to turn a profit on their teams in the mid 19th century. Major League Baseball’s most infamous gambling experience was the Black Sox scandal in which eight members of the American League champion Chicago White Sox conspired with gamblers to throw the 1919 World Series. Joe Jackson and his seven teammates changed the face of baseball forever during the intimate scandal. Gambling by these men and others has caused a great problem which also has been destroyed baseball games. But baseball has always attracted gamblers who sought to determine the outcome of games. The 1919 Black Sox scandal was the most damaging, but definitely not the first and certainly not the last. Some of the best players and managers in baseball history have been involved in betting scandals and often wagered on their own teams. According to the ESPN Network, Rico Longoria has inventory five of the most well known instances of gambling infiltrating…show more content…
Strikes, wars and corruption have given the game a black eye but nothing has hurt the integrity of the game more than gambling. Baseball played have honesty is the most important part of baseball and doubting the integrity can cause serious harm to the game. However, those most affected by these actions are the fans. If the fans do not believe the game is real, then why they would come to the ball park. Fans provide money that pays for player’s salaries, finances wealthy owners and provide thousands of jobs at the ballparks. The honesty of the game is the life of the game, and if fans lose respect for the game, the baseball is finished as a

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