Major League Rule 21
Like any great institution, such as a university or a bank, Major League Baseball has a set of rules that dictate all professional play. The rules range from equipment to uniforms to pregame to gameplay to umpire duties to etcetera. After 150 years, give or take a few, the powers that be in MLB have thought of pretty much everything. And, like any rule enforcing organization, MLB has assigned punishments for misconduct.
Major League Rule 21 (d)
What Is Misconduct
Misconduct is defined as intentional wrong doing or improper behavior; Billy the Kid comes to mind or Sid Vicious. In the world of baseball there are a few names evoked by the word misconduct and recently the name that most are prone to think of is Pete Rose. That’s right, old Charlie Hustle himself.
Rule 21(d)
Major League Rule 21 deals with many instances of misconduct. For example, it discusses the punishment for giving an umpire a gift or receiving a gift for winning a game. It also hashes out what happens to a player when they can’t control themselves with another player or umpire. It also gives us the skinny on gambling misconduct. Enter the (d) in Rule 21.
(d)
(d) has three parts:
- If the bettor is a player, umpire, Club or League official or employee, and they have NO affect on the outcome of the game they bet on, they will be suspended for a year.
- Same as (1.) but take out the NO and replace it with “an”. Then subtract “year” from “suspended for a” and add “lifetime” to “suspended for a”.
- Also don’t place bets will illegal bookies.
Seems pretty simple and easy to follow.
Enter Pete
Mr. Rose, for those who don’t closely follow the record books, is the all-time hits leader (4,256) in MLB history. He was also an MVP (and a World Series MVP), a seventeen-time All-Star, a three-time batting champ, a two-time Gold Glove recipient, and a three-time World Series winner. Also, he is NOT a part of the Hall of Fame.
Wait a second! How could he not be a part of the Hall of Fame? Didn’t you say he was the all-time hits leader? Surely that would be enough to get him in the Hall.
Calm down, calm down, in most cases this would be true, but not for Pete. You see, Pete had (or maybe has, not too sure if he’s been cured of his vice) a gambling problem, some might say he was addicted to it. Initially, Rose liked to gamble on horses and football, but after a time the betting started to bleed into baseball. Now this wouldn’t have been such a big deal if Rose had hung up his spikes and was sitting at home watching baseball on the old boob tube. The problem lies in Rose having been manager of the Cincinnati Reds at the time that accusations started to bubble up.
Pete became the player/manager of the Reds in 1984 and through the 1986 season he remained both playing and managing. He retired from playing after the ’86 season and stayed on as the manager until August 24, 1989. Early in ’89 was when the rumors that he was betting on baseball start to come out. And, he was not just betting on other teams, he was also betting on the Reds. These rumors were enough to grab the ear of MLB Commissioner, A. Bartlett Giamatti.
Giamatti ordered an inquiry into Rose’s supposed misconduct. He hired lawyer, John Dowd to start sniffing around. Dowd found much to sniff. He reported back to Giamatti that Rose had a history of gambling on baseball while he was the manager of the Reds. Strike one. He also reported back that Rose was betting on the Reds at the time. Strike two and three. Not good news for Mr. Rose.
Pete, at that point, could feel the heat. He decided to accept a settlement from Giamatti, which included a lifetime ban from baseball. Rose still claimed innocence, but the water had begun to boil and the settlement was his only life vest. Giamatti dismissed Rose’s declarations and took Pete’s acquiescence as a confession of guilt. Eight days later, Giamatti died suddenly from a heart attack, leaving his banishment of Rose as his last act as Commissioner.
Two years after Giamatti passed, the Hall of Fame’s Board of Directors voted unanimously to ban Pete from the ballot. No more professional baseball and no more Hall, double ouch.
A Book Is Born
Fifteen years after Rose was banished from baseball, the baseball world was shaking with anticipation. Pete had finally written a tell-all autobiography. The name of the book was “My Prison Without Bars”. In the book, Rose admitted to gambling on baseball and on the Reds while he was managing and playing. But, no need to worry, he claimed that he never bet against the Reds. So, we can all breathe a sigh of relief that Charlie Hustle didn’t intentionally not hustle. Regardless, Rule 21 section (d) is not something to mess with, a sad truth that the likes of Pete Rose can attest to.
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