Or should I say Hall of Shame?

I’ve often thought that Cooperstown should have a separate wing for the Bad Boys. After all, there are some “Bad Boys” in the Basketball Hall of Fame, with the induction of those Detroit Pistons of the late 1980s who earned this gritty nickname like Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, and Bill Laimbeer. They were just tough guys on the court and because they were hated and supposedly “played dirty” they were also accused of cheating their way to the championship. Sometimes, rough play can be considered cheating, just as being stronger, bigger, or craftier. The Bad Boys section for baseball, however, would be reserved for the guys who the writers and Hall of Fame executives shunned as cheaters, unworthy of a place on the hallowed walls of this upstanding institution.

So far, the “bad” have been left out in favor of the good, even in these times when bad can mean good, so certainly those currently banned players have their role in the history of the game. There are those guilty by association, groups and pairs like the Chicago Black Sox eight, Jack O’Connor and Harry Howell of the St. Louis Browns, along with Jimmy O’Connell and Cozy Dolan of the New York Giants. Those accused alone were Gene Paulette, Pete Rose, Horace Fogel, Lee Magee, Ray Fisher, Phil Douglas, Jerry Mejia, John Coppolella, Bennie Kauff, and Chris Correa. 24 players in all have been banned by Major League Baseball. Most of these men would not be known except for their indiscretion. 

I can remember, as a child, encountering my first cheaters, those that bent the rules in their favor. They pushed and shoved, bullied their way to the front, even tried to trip you up. They peeked at your answers on exam day and stole the candy bar from your lunch sack, or worse yet your lunch money.  Some got caught but too many others didn’t. “Rules are made to be broken,” was their philosophy, and they took every opportunity to make themselves a winner, especially in the sand lots where there were no referees. If not, they blamed you for their loss. 

Sore losers and poor sports are part of every game, organized or not. Those looking for the easy way to victory are obviously under a lot of pressure to win at any cost. This was initially fueled by peers, parents, and even coaches. 

Gambling has gotten many in trouble, as has stealing signals, leaving early on a tag, doctoring the ball or bat, bullying, doping, avoiding the tag, altering the grounds, and age fabrication. It extends from players to top level management and ownership.  Those at any level who deliberately violate or circumvent the game’s rules to gain an unfair advantage against an opponent. However, there is also a fine line between cheating and gamesmanship that creates a gray area in reinforcement rulings. The million-dollar question becomes “What can I get away with?”

To be continued…..