MLB should focus on discipline for more serious transgressions, not poker games
If the powers that be of Major League Baseball think they can get away with punishing Alex Rodriguez, they’re out of their minds. MLB wants to send a message: Gambling is not tolerated. Pete Rose, judging by his lifetime ban, learned that the hard way, as did Joe Jackson decades earlier. But a poker game is not the same thing as gambling on baseball. There are no rules against playing poker in Major League Baseball.
The concern is the potential of Rodriguez being exposed to the wrong kinds of people — people involved with gambling on baseball. Rodriguez is a 36-year-old adult who has earned hundreds of millions of dollars during his career; surely he could avoid the temptation of bad influences. It’s legal for a player to gamble in a casino, and they somehow manage to avoid the temptations in Las Vegas of gambling at sports books.
Major League Baseball has a priority and its public relations. Though Rodriguez’s play has started to decline, he is still one of the biggest names in baseball. The manager of American League champions the Texas Rangers, Ron Washington, tested positive for cocaine but he suffered no suspension. Former home run champ Miguel Cabrera has been involved with three alcohol-related charges, including suspicion of drunk driving — yet no suspension. Roger Goodell would have a field day with each of these guys. If Rex Ryan tested positive for cocaine, he would have an immediate four-game suspension. That’s a quarter of a season, a quarter of a salary. It’s a big deal, but Major League Baseball hands nothing down; however, this is Alex Rodriguez.
MLB is a little upset with Rodriguez. He had his steroids admission, received treatment from a doctor with ties to HGH and continues to hang out with his former drug mule cousin Yuri Sucart. Rodriguez also had some involvement with underground poker games in New York in 2005. An unnamed official has said, “This is classic Alex Rodriguez. In a lot of ways he is no different than Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears. He’s a thrill seeker, and he does everything he can to be overt.” Major League Baseball is jealous of Rodriguez.
If it’s time to start disciplining players for off-the-field transgressions, then MLB should start with a DUI, violence or drug use — not a poker game.
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