A Look at Two Baseball Scandals and Their Media Coverage

“A Look At Two Baseball Scandals and Their Media Coverage:

The Tales of Pete Rose and Barry Bonds”

By Jeff Ohlson

Quinnipiac University

“A Look At Two Baseball Scandals:

The Tales of Pete Rose and Barry Bonds”

To stand in history taller than the green monster, or more famous than Yankee Stadium. To be louder than the shot heard around the world, or as legendary as Wrigley Field. Few figures in Major League Baseball ever become bigger than the game itself. A game which America had adopted as its “national pastime”. A game growing in popularity in countries around the world. A game sacred to its loyal fans. Two players that may have thought they were bigger than the game were Pete Rose and Barry Bonds. Two of baseball’s prime talents. Rose owning the single season hits record, and Bonds owning the all time and single season record for home runs and yet both players Hall of Fame eligibility is question for breaking baseballs sacred rules. In the heat of their scandals both men were maliciously attacked by the media as neither Bonds, nor Rose would admit to their wrong doing. Even in the face of mountains of evidence. That however, is where the similarities of these men end as they both have two completely different stories to be told, although they might both end up in lifetime baseball purgatory.

In January of the offseason of 1989, reports came into Major League Baseball that manager and former Cincinnati player Pete Rose had allegedly bet on baseball. Gambling by those participating had been deemed illegal in baseball and punishment for the offense was in the hands of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball. Rose continually treated the situation with very little seriousness throughout the summer of 89’ and seemingly assumed that any punishment that came from Major League Baseball wouldn’t be serious. Pete Rose’s punishment was that he was eventually banned from baseball by Commissioner Bart Giamatti, who had become increasingly agitated by...