The MLB, like any other league, has a strict set of rules that must be followed. This is due to the fact that the league wants to promote sportsmanship and integrity in the sport. In the history of Major League Baseball, we’ve seen several players and personnel face punishments such as suspensions and fines. These mostly stem from unsportsmanlike behavior including engaging in brawls, making inappropriate comments, interference, obstruction, and many more.
Although suspensions and fines are quite common, it is unusual to see figures get banned from the league, but they do happen. To show that the league does not tolerate immoral acts such as gambling, stealing, doping, and hacking, the league has historically handed down lifetime bans to several players and personnel. For this piece, let’s take a look at the 24 people banned by the MLB.
Banned MLB people
24.-17. The Black Sox Scandal
Game fixing and gambling have no place in sports. As a result, eight players from the Chicago White Sox including Shoeless Joe Jackson, Claude Lefty Williams, Charles Risberg, Eddie Cicotte, Arnold Gandil, George Weaver, Oscar Felsch, and Fred McMullin. Based on reports, the players received at least $70,000 to lose the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. The newly installed baseball commissioner, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, wouldn’t have any of it and ultimately banned the players for life.
16. Joe Gideon
Although he wasn’t directly playing in the series, the St. Louis Browns second baseman was also linked to the 1919 World Series scandal. According to sources, he confessed to White Sox owner Charles Comiskey that the series would be fixed. He also mentioned the gamblers involved came from his local community in St. Louis.
As a player, Gedeon played seven years in the MLB. Before joining the Browns, he had stopovers with the Washington Senators and the New York Yankees. Gedeon’s last season with the Browns saw him lead the league in plate appearances with 713. Furthermore, he also tallied a batting average of .292 and 61 RBI.
15. Gene Paulette
Also involved in the Black Sox scandal, Paulette actually became the first player to be banned from baseball. Based on reports, Paulette was associated with the gamblers behind the game-fixing crime after allegedly receiving gifts from them.
The ban ended his six-year career which saw him have stops with New York Giants, St. Louis Browns, St. Louis Cardinals, and the Philadelphia Phillies. Paulette concluded his career with a batting average of .269, two home runs, and 165 RBI.
14.-13. Jack O’Connor and Harry Howell
While the Black Sox scandal was a huge black eye in baseball history, nine years earlier, there was already a game-fixing attempt. Behind the brains of Jack O’Conner and Harry Howell, who were serving as manager and coach of the St. Louis Browns respectively, tried to bribe the official scorer in order to give Nap Lajoie an advantage over Ty Cobb.
12.-11. Jimmy O’Connell and Cozy Dolan
Paying your opponent to go easy on you is under bribery. And in any respectable sport such as baseball, there’s no place for that. Jimmy O’Connell and Cozy Dolan attempted to pay $500 to their opponent, the Philadelphia Phillies’ Heinie Sand to give them an advantage. Under Judge Landis’ watch, both O’Connell and Dolan were banned from the league permanently.
10. William Cox
Even if you are betting on your team, that’s still gambling. And for Judge Landis, that’s unacceptable. William Cox, who owned the Philadelphia Phillies, was the first non-player to be banned by the said commissioner in 1943. To give him the benefit of the doubt, Cox had no knowledge that this was against the rules.
When he purchased the Phillies, Cox became the youngest baseball team owner of his time. He saved the organization from bankruptcy and bought the team for $850,000. Unfortunately for him, an investigation discovered that he had bet on his team for at least 15 games which did not sit well with the iron-fisted commissioner. After the ban, Cox sold the Philadelphia Phillies to Bob Carpenter.
9. Pete Rose
Similar to William Cox, Pete Rose was also found guilty of betting on his own team. In his case, Pete Rose managed the Cincinnati Reds. On August 24, 1989, Commissioner Bartlett Giamatti decided to punish Rose with a lifetime ban from the league.
Fortunately for him, Rose can still make an appeal to lift his ban. The former Cincinnati Reds owner has already written his letter of appeal to MLB Commissioner, Rob Manfred. This comes with Rose’s hope that he can someday enter the Baseball Hall of Fame.
In 24 years in the big leagues, Rose garnered several milestones including 17 All-Star appearances, three World Series titles, two Golden Glove Awards, one NL MVP trophy, and one World Series MVP. He was also a 3-time NL Batting Champion.
8. Horace Fogel
While this wasn’t a case of gambling, he publicly accused the National League officials of giving the New York Giants an advantage. With the accusation, umpire William Brennan retaliated by slapping Fogel with a libel charge.
Unfortunately, after several hearings, Fogel was banned from the league after he was found guilty of five charges. When Fogel’s ban was announced, Brennan also dropped his libel charge against him, announcing that he was already satisfied with the penalty given to his counterpart.
After his ouster from the league, Fogel stayed close to the sport as a baseball writer. In fact, he earned $10,000 for it. As a writer, Fogel continued to voice out his criticism against the game.
7. Lee Magee
After the Black Sox Scandal, about a year later, Lee Magee confessed to Team President William Veeck and National League President John Heydler for betting against his team. As a result, Magee was released by the Chicago Cubs. Instead of keeping his scandal under wraps, Magee sued the Cubs for immediate termination of the contract that prevented him from getting his salary. The trial revealed his cardinal sin and would go on to be banned for life by Judge Landis.
In nine seasons, Magee batted for .276, to go along with 467 runs, 12 home runs, and 277 RBI.
6. Ray Fisher
While he played in the controversial 1919 World Series, his ban did not stem from game fixing. Instead, Fisher was handed out a lifetime ban due to a contract dispute. Upset after inking a deal that forced him to take a pay cut, Fisher applied for a head coaching job at the University of Michigan for their baseball team after Del Pratt’s departure.
For that, Judge Landis handed him the most extreme punishment in baseball history. This came without any hearing or explanation. Fortunately for Fisher, he kept his coaching job at Michigan and stayed there for 38 years.
5. Phil Douglas
In 1922, the New York Giants pitcher was handed down a lifetime ban for the letter he wrote to his friend from the opposing team, Leslie Mann. The letter contained Douglas’ willingness to leave his club in exchange for something worthwhile.
Douglas ended his MLB career which lasted for nine years. He accumulated an earned run average of 2.80 and 683 strikeouts. Aside from playing for the Giants, he also had stopovers with the Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Robins, and the Chicago Cubs.
4. Jerry Mejia
Steroids are performance-enhancing drugs that are frowned upon by respected professional sporting organizations including the MLB. Given that it is a form of cheating, Jenrry Mejia found himself earning a lifetime ban after failing his doping test thrice in a single year.
In his five-year career, Mejia played in 14 games. Mejia accumulated an earned run average of 3.68, 162 strikeouts, and 28 saves.
3. John Coppolella
Breaking international signing rules is also a cardinal sin in the eyes of the MLB. Braves GM John Coppolella tried to cheat around the MLB rules regarding signing international prospects in the span of three years. League commissioner Rob Manfred punished him with a lifetime ban.
Furthermore, the Braves also faced punishments concerning signing international players. On top of that, the 13 players, including Venezuelan top prospect Kevin Maitan, signed by them during the period immediately became unrestricted free agents.
2. Bennie Kauff
Bennie Kauff got himself into a sticky situation when he was arrested for auto theft. Although the New York City court acquitted him, Judge Landis didn’t mind and handed him the ban anyway. An unfortunate turn of events for the New York Giants outfielder, who had the tools to be an All-Star.
This forced Kauff to wrap up his baseball career. In eight seasons, he appeared in 859 games. Kauff had a batting average of .311, 49 home runs, and 455 RBI.
1. Chris Correa
Working as a scouting director for the Cardinals since 2009, Chris Correa was discovered to be responsible for hacking into the Houston Astros’ database after an investigation by the FBI. Not only was Correa banned from the MLB, but he was also sentenced to 46 months in prison.
Based on reports, Correa pleaded guilty to five criminal charges in relation to his hacking activities against the Houston Astros. Aside from Correa’s punishment, the St. Louis Cardinals were not fired by the MLB as the team was fined $2 million and forced to surrender two draft picks.
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