Pete Rose: Gambling In Sports

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Ever since there were sports in America, there were people that were eager to bet on the results. Our country was founded by a group of risk takers, this lead to the attraction to all forms of gambling. In that time period people would bet on everything from horse races to bare knuckle boxing. Throughout our nations history sports became a large part of everyday life. As sports developed and became more popular overtime so did the world of sports gambling. In the early 19th horse racing was the most popular sport to bet on. Initially racing was a sport that was enjoyed and bet on by the upper class. After the Civil War more and more race tracks were being built. This would allow all of the social classes to attend races and bet on them. In…show more content…
The Pete Rose scandal was similar to the 1919 World Series scandal in that a member of the team was behind the gambling. In this case it wasn’t the players that were in on the gambling, it was the manager of the ball club. Pete Rose played professional baseball for 23 years. He is most famous for the 19 years that he spent with the Cincinnati Red’s. Over his career Rose piled up mind blowing stats. He is currently the major league leader in hits, at bats, games played, and outs. Rose also won 3 World Series titles, 3 batting titles, an MVP award, 2 gold gloves, rookie of the year award, and made 17 all-star game appearances. As his career was coming to an end Rose was traded back to the Red’s and was named player-manager for the team. He would manage the team from 1985-1989, this is when Pete Rose’s brilliant career would take horrible turn. During his four years as manager Rose developed a serious gambling addiction. Rose said that he bet on the Cincinnati Red’s every night that they played. He never bet against the Red’s though. During an interview Rose said “I bet on my team every night to win because I love my team, and I believe in my team, I did everything in my power every night to win.” “In 1989 Rose was questioned by MLB commissioner Pete Ueberroth if he had indeed bet on baseball, Rose denied the allegations and the investigation was dropped.” (Brioso 2004) However when Bart Giamatti stepped in as the new commissioner he re-opened the investigation. Giamatti hired a lawyer named John M. Dowd. “Dowd questioned several of Rose’s bookies and bet runners and found that in 1987 alone Pete Rose bet on 52 Red’s games, where Rose wagered a minimum of $10,000 a day.” (“Rose admits to” 2007) Even with the evidence piling up Rose stood his ground and continued to deny
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