Gambling_in_Sports._Legal_or_Illegal_

Gambling in Sports. Legal or Illegal' Gambling in sports is a very common thing in today’s generation. Although gambling is legal in casinos, gambling boats, and horse tracks should it be legal for players in Major League Baseball' There have been a few scandals in the sport of baseball where players have thrown games and gave up extra runs just to win a bet. That is why gambling by players is currently banned in MLB. However the commissioner and general managers of all teams are trying to get the ban lifted with exceptions. One of the exceptions, and possibly the biggest one is the betting players must have no ties to the game he or her bet on. You may be thinking every American has the right to gamble if they are of age. My opinion is that is true but let me tell you about a few of the reasons Major League Baseball put a ban on gambling by players. Although gambling scandals have been a part of professional baseball since the sport's beginning, no scandal threatened the game's stature as "the national pastime" more than the revelations that eight members of the Chicago White Sox had conspired to throw the 1919 World Series. Termed the "Black Sox Scandal," the event will go down in history as one of the twentieth century's most notorious sports debacles. It started when 8 players of the Chicago White Sox were only making six thousand dollars a year which was extremely underpaid. They asked for raises and the team owner refused. In a act to get him back and to make money they took a bet from a well known Boston sports gambler named "Sport" Sullivan. In order for these eight players to received there money he Williford 2 was goin to bet against the White Sox to lose the World Series and the team would throw the series. Players made errors, swung at bad pitches in order to strike out, and pitchers were tippin there pitches, all to let the Reds win the series. The World Series is the most prestigous prize for players and teams to win and to throw a world series is when baseball decided no players where aloud to gamble on baseball. Another instance of gambling in sports is the case on one of the best hitters’ in history Pete Rose. He was a long time player with the Cincinnati Reds and accumulated over 4,000 hits in his career and 500 stolen bases in his career. It was discovered by investigation that he also gambled on baseball during his playing days and during his tenur as general manager of the Reds. He bet against his team numerous times and would do things to try and cause his team to intentually lose. Once this was discovered, he, like the eight players of the "Black Sox" received a lifetime ban from baseball. All of these circumstances prove in favor of Major League Baseball's reason to ban players gambling in baseball. You may ask what if it is just a friendly bet between two players on a team the don’t play for. That would be ok for players to do as long as it is not in the sport they play in. Gambling is a greedy sport. They are some good if its friendly bets but the negative outweigh the positive for the folks the run professional sports. The risk for players throwing games is too high and the fights when the friendly bets go bad gives professional sports a black cloud over them. That is why i agree with MLB's decision to keep gambling banned.