Steroids, gambling and sign-stealing: Looking back at MLB's biggest scandals of all time

Professional baseball is not short on controversy in its 148-year history.

From drugs to gambling, Major League Baseball has dealt with notable scandals. Now, it is looking into another surrounding the top player in the sport. 

On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Dodgers fired Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, following accusations of illegal gambling and theft from Ohtani. ESPN said it spoke to Mizuhara on Tuesday, at which point he said Ohtani had paid his gambling debts at Mizuhara’s request. After a statement from Ohtani’s attorneys saying the player was a victim of theft, ESPN says Mizuhara changed his story Wednesday and claimed Ohtani had no knowledge of the gambling debts.

With this latest situation coming to light, let’s look back at some of MLB’s biggest scandals.

1919 Black Sox

“Shoeless” Joe Jackson was the face of the 1919 Chicago “Black” Sox and was one of eight White Sox players accused of conspiring with gamblers to throw that year’s World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. 

The scandal came out in September 1920. Pitcher Eddie Cicotte admitted to accepting a $10,000 bribe before Game 1, which the White Sox lost 9-1 en route to losing the series in eight games.

The players were acquitted of criminal charges, but Kenesaw Mountain Landis, MLB’s first commissioner, banished them from organized baseball. Jackson, Cicotte, Lefty Williams, Buck Weaver, Chick Gandil, Fred McMullin, Swede Risberg and Happy Felsch became the “eight men out.”

Pittsburgh drug trials

The Pittsburgh drug trials of 1985 sparked an MLB cocaine scandal.

A group of Pirates players and other notable major leaguers were called before a grand jury ahead of September 1985 trials in Pittsburgh over drug trafficking. 

Eleven players, including All-Stars Dave Parker and Keith Hernandez, received a conditional one-year suspension. All players wound up playing in the 1986 season after meeting the conditions set by commissioner Peter Ueberroth.

Pete Rose banned from baseball

Pete Rose agreed to a lifetime ban from baseball in 1989 after an MLB investigation found he placed numerous bets on the Reds from 1985 to 1987 as a player and manager.

MLB’s all-time hits leader applied for reinstatement in 1997, but commissioner Bud Selig never ruled on Rose’s application. Rob Manfred, Selig’s successor, denied Rose’s application in 2015.

Rose has been welcomed back by the Reds and Philadelphia Phillies since receiving his lifetime ban and MLB has gone on to partner with sportsbooks. Still, in July 2023, Manfred insisted that he would uphold Rose’s ban.

Steroid Era

MLB is still feeling the effects of the Steroid Era.

The controversy began after Jose Canseco named several star players as steroid users in a 2005 book and escalated when former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell released a 2007 report connecting players to performance-enhancing drugs. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro were among the stars engulfed in the steroids controversy. 

In 2013, PEDs were back in the spotlight as several MLB players were accused of obtaining human growth hormone from Biogenesis of America. Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun and 12 other players received suspensions as a result.

The Steroid Era continues to have an impact in Cooperstown. All-time sluggers in Bonds, McGwire, Sosa and Rodriguez are not in the Baseball Hall of Fame, and steroid users’ Hall of Fame candidacy remains one of the sport’s biggest debates.

Astros’ sign-stealing scandal

The Houston Astros became major league villains after their sign-stealing operation came to light.

In 2017, using the video replay room, players would relay signs to the dugout when the team was up to bat, according to an MLB investigation. The players would then bang on a trash can to indicate if an off-speed pitch was coming. If the opposing pitcher was about to throw a fastball, no one would bang on the trash can.

Houston wound up beating the Dodgers in the 2017 World Series. In November 2019, former Astros pitcher Mike Fiers told The Athletic about the Astros’ operation.

The Astros were fined $5 million and had several top draft picks taken from them in January 2020. Manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow received one-year suspensions and were subsequently fired. 

The Boston Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora, who had been the Astros’ bench coach in 2017, in January 2020 and hired him back the following season. Carlos Beltran, an Astros outfielder in 2017, resigned as New York Mets manager before he even managed a game.

There were no player punishments for the scandal.