How To Get Banned From Baseball In 3 Easy Steps

In less than one year’s time (now former) Mets pitcher Jenrry Mejia went from being the team’s opening day closer to permanent ban under the MLB’s drug testing policy.

Beginning with his first suspension on April 11, 2015, which was 80 games, for testing positive for Stanozolol. He returned on July 12, 2015 and appeared in 7 games for the Mets before failing another test, this time Boldenone, on July 28, 2015, which led to a 162 game suspension. Today it has been announced that the 26-year old Mejia failed his third test within 10 months and since this is his third positive test, again Boldenone, he has been banned from baseball.

He is able to apply for reinstatement after a year but what are the chances that happening when he has showed that he obviously doesn’t work within the rules. Mejia is now the first player to permanently be banned under the leagues anti-doping policy.

I would normally say it is time to dump Jenrry Mejia cards but he really has not made too many appearances on cardboard since he was drafted nearly a decade ago. Out of the roughly 425 listing, most of which are BIN, there is only one lonely bid. I think the Mets will miss him but collectors probably not as much.

Another Commisioner, Another Chance

Pete Rose has once again petitioned to be re-instated in to MLB. Since his initial ban by then Commissioner Bart Giamatti in 1989 he has made an appeal with each new MLB Commissioner, being denied by both Fay Vincent and Bud Selig.

Pete Rose, had he not been banned, would have been a first ballot selection following a career that included 17 All-Star appearances, three World Series titles, the 1973 MVP Award plus records for most hits (4,256) and games played (3,562). After being pegged for gambling on the game while manager of the Reds he agreed to a lifetime ban in 1989 but after 25 years some people have begun to sway their belief to maybe he has served his time.

In 1989 I was a firm believer that when banned he should remain banned for life and his 2004 book “My Prison Without Walls” only strengthened my feelings towards his ban when he finally admitted to gambling, 15 years after being banned. I felt that maybe if he had admitted his gambling in the beginning a suspension would have been fair but with the lying and finally telling the truth in a book to make money the ban should remain in effect.

Manfred has agreed to remain unbiased and will consider the appeal as well as review the Dowd Report and read through Giamatti’s decision to make sure that everything is known as agreed upon by both Giamatti and Rose before making a decision, which I feel is very fair.

 

If Rose is reinstated, which would mean he would almost certainly appear on the next HOF ballot, does his value increase?

What is your take on the Rose situation?

 

 

Personally I would rather see Joe Jackson and Buck Weaver reinstated first. While Jackson initially admitting to taking money it was later shown that he had not taken any money, he did not attend any of the meetings and he never spoke with any of the gambler. In 1999 the U.S. government did an investigation and found he was innocent and urged the MLB to reinstate him. Weaver isn’t a potential Hall of Famer but was banned for simply knowing of the other players involved in throwing the games, a rule that wouldn’t go in to effect for 2 years after he was banned.

 Also to support removing Jackson & Weaver’s bans was a situation in 1926 when MLB players Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker and former-MLB players Dutch Leonard and Smoky Joe Wood were cleared by Landis after admitting to betting on the 1919 World Series after they found out about the games being fixed. Cobb and Speaker were forced to “retire” following the 1926 season but none were banned. How can Cobb and Speaker both be Hall of Famers when they both knew about the fix of the 1919 World Series and even bet on the games while Weaver and Jackson, who didn’t take money or bet and played well during the Series, are banned?

 

The Legend of Hal Chase

Hal Chase is probably one of the best defensive First Baseman ever to play professional baseball but yet he is not in the Hall of Fame. He played from 1905-1919 and spent most of that time with the NY Highlanders/Yankees (1905-13).

Chase played 15 seasons in the AL, NL and FL (Federal League) and put up some decent numbers for the Dead Ball Era. His career numbers include; .291 BA, 2158 Hits, 57 Homeruns and 941 RBIs, which compare with HOFers Lou Boudreau (.295 BA, 1779 Hits, 68 HR & 789 RBI) and Ozzie Smith (.262 BA, 2460 Hits, 28 HR & 793 RBI) who were both voted in mainly on their defensive skills.

When compared with the Top 5 First Baseman (all in the HOF) you will see my point. All the numbers I use are based on when they played at First Base only:

Hal Chase 1,815 Games 18,185 PO 1,049 Assists .980 Fielding %

#1 Lou Gehrig- 2,137 Games 19,510 PO 1,087 Assists .991 Fielding %
#2 Jimmie Foxx- 1,919 Games 18,584 PO 1,222 Assists .992 Fielding %
#3 Hank Greenberg- 1,138 Games 10,564 PO 724 Assists .991 Fielding %
#4 Eddie Murray- 2,413 Games 21,225 PO 1,865 Assists .993 Fielding %
#5 Dan Brouthers- 1,633 Games 16,365 PO 654 Assists .971 Fielding %

His largest fault on the field was his ability to control the ball; he made a horrifying 402 Errors at First Base.

Now that his playing ability has been dissected you can see that based on those numbers, both offensively and defensively, he has a good argument for being in the Hall of Fame. What is the hold up you ask? He was banned from baseball for life in 1920 for allegedly bribing players and officials to blow games. He was a well-known gambler and it is believed that he may have been a go-between during the Black Sox Scandal.

After a solid career though with HOF numbers the collectors should appreciate him, maybe not for his off-field exploitations but for his playing career. His cards are unfortunately sitting on the bottom of the heap waiting their turn to be used as kindling. You can find a number of Hal Chase cards from 1908 through 1915, but his most common card(s) is the T206 cards, which there are 4 versions.

Sadly you can find graded versions selling well below $150 and raw copies below $10. I was actually surprised to find a PSA 1 selling at $3.25 and a PSA 5 at $35.99