Brushes with the Law! Player who landed in trouble due to breaking the law- MLB Feature
Major League Baseball has seen thousands upon thousands of talented players over the last 130 odd years. Some made it big, others were able to hold fort and continued to play with the opportunities they had in hand and yet there are some who could not make
their name and soon faded away. Success and failure are a part of life and baseball is no different.
However, there have been occasions when talented people throw away their careers due to negligence and reckless attitude. Recently Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher Matt Bush was sentenced to three years in prison after a plea deal. Bush had hit and run a biker
while diving with a suspended license and under the influence of alcohol. His Major League career seems to be all but over at this point in time.
Although Matt’s case is an extreme one, we shall have a brief look at some players who had their brushes with law of lesser intensity.
Pete Rose is as bright a star as they come in the Major League. With the most hit records of 4256 and another half dozen similar achievements including 17 All-Star appearances, it’s quite unexpected to see a man like Pete having trouble
with the law.
Pete became ineligible for a Hall of Fame induction due to betting on games that he played in or managed. He maintains that he only betted on his team winning and no evidence to the contrary had been found in the investigation that was held by the Major
League Baseball.
He was sentenced to jail for five months in 1990 when he pleaded guilty to two counts of filing false income tax. He was also fined $50,000 and was sent to the United State Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois.
Jose Offerman was a talented infielder who had temperament issues. Retiring from the Majors after 15 seasons, he continued to play in the Minors. During a game he was hit by a pitch. His reaction though was one that was hard to imagine.
Jose charged the mound with his bat and hit the pitcher, breaking his fingers. The catcher also received a bat at the back of his head, with concussion eventually bringing his career to an end.
His own professional career came to an end as well. He did continue some work in Dominican Republic and apparently did not learn much from the incident. After disputing a call as a manager in the Winter League, he punched one of the umpires and was detained
by the stadium security before being arrested. Although formal charges did not come against him, he was banned from participating in the league further.
Mel Hall is probably the most notorious on our list. He had a reasonably successful Major League career that spanned over 15 years. He had sexual assault and rape charges brought against him and was sentenced to 45 years in prison. He will
be eligible for parole after 22 years of his sentence.
More recently Lenny Dykstra was sentenced for six and half months in jail and a $200,000 dollars fine. He had concealed possessions and income from sale of memorabilia against the terms of his bankruptcy. He was in jail at the time of sentence
as he had earlier pleaded no contest providing false financial statements and grand theft auto.
These are a few of many such examples where players step across the line of decency and indulge in acts that are morally incorrect. The results quite obviously are not what they want and get the rough end of the deal eventually.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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