So now there’s a gambling scandal in the NHL. Not as bad as the Pete Rose thing, but still bad. This time, we have a former player involved in betting and possible money laundering and other stuff. The NHL has already stated that there is no evidence indicating that anyone involved was betting on hockey, which is the big difference between this and the Pete Rose case. Ever since Rose was banned from baseball (and therefore the Hall of Fame), I’ve been of the opinion that he should be reinstated, since there is no evidence that he threw games or ever bet against the team he was managing.

If you want to simply follow the letter of the law, then the case is closed. Baseball players, coaches, managers, etc. are prohibited by Major League Baseball from betting on baseball games. Rose has admitted that he did bet on baseball while manager of the Cincinatti Reds, so he’s done. But perhaps we shouldn’t look at the letter of the law – perhaps the question should be: is this a just rule? I’ve always thought that unless you are betting against your own team and/or throwing games, then betting on baseball should not be prohibited. However, after listening to some comments on the radio today, I think I’ve changed my mind. The rule is just, and Pete Rose should be banned from baseball. Here’s why.

In 2004, Rose admitted (after 15 years of denial) that he did indeed bet on baseball games involving the Reds, which he was managing at the time. Perhaps he never bet against the Reds, but he also did not bet for the Reds in each and every game. It’s possible that in the late stages of a season, when the playoff hopes were gone, he’d bet on the Reds to win a game, and not bet on them to win the next game. This could make him do whatever he could to win the first game, possibly at the expense of the second. Maybe he rearranges when pitchers are starting, or brings in more relief pitchers or pinch hitters than he normally would, to ensure that game 1 is a win. If there were no bets, he might do things differently to save players for the next game, but if he didn’t bet on the next game, his judgement, and therefore his decisions, will not be the same. This is not exactly throwing game 2, but it’s close, and damn near impossible to prove. This is what Rose critics mean when they say he compromised the integrity of the game.

Another thing I’d never considered is that when a rich person gets involved in gambling, it’s not unlikely that he may meet some “connected” people, i.e. the mob. If he needs a loan, or is otherwise indebted to the mob for whatever reason, they may force him to throw games as part of repaying said debts. This could happen even if you’re not betting on your own sport – if a baseball player (who’s not allowed to bet on baseball) gets involved with the mob while betting on football, the same thing could happen.

MLB commissioner Bud Selig has stated on numerous occasions that Rose will not be reinstated as long as he’s commissioner, so Pete may have to wait until a new commissioner is elected to try for reinstatement again. Good luck Pete, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

The NHL has apparently decided to add 4 more teams into the playoffs each year, for a total of 20 teams, and now 5 rounds. This is insane. Not only do we now have 2/3 of the league making the playoffs, but the regular season is 84 games, and now a team could have to play 31 games in the playoffs as well? The playoffs already end in mid-freakin’-June, why extend them? I could see it if the first round was best-of-3 (as it now is), then the second (and maybe even third) rounds were best-of-5, and the last two best-of-7, but FOUR best-of-7 rounds is just too much. All it means is that four extra teams will make big playoff dollars each year.

Roger Clemens has stated that he does not want to pitch in the All-Star game if Mike Piazza is catching, so he’ll only pitch later in the game, once Piazza has been taken out. Pardon my French, but how fucking stupid is that? Should we have to tell a 41-year-old man to grow the fuck up? Apparently so.

I don’t know what to think about Clemens. He’s easily the best pitcher of the last 20 years (only Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux are even close), and is still a force to be reckoned with at 41. I respected him as a member of the Red Sox, and grew to like him even more when he played for the Jays (probably because he was just so damn dominant, and won 2 Cy Young awards in the 2 years he was here). Then he basically said “This team sucks, so I demand to be traded to a contender”, which the Jays promptly did. I lost a lot of respect for him then, as did a lot of other Toronto fans. For whatever reason, I gained back some respect over the next few years, then lost some after the Piazza incident. In the last year or two, since he came out of “retirement”, I’ve started to like him again, and now this. I think I’ve now decided that he’s simply one of those people who is an outstanding athlete, but a total prick off the field.

I played in my first softball game of the season last night. I’ve been playing in a Stelco league for about 10 years now – Gail used to play too, but hasn’t since she was pregnant with Ryan. I threw the first pitch of the season! I went 3-4 at the plate with one cheap little foul out to third base, and three hits to exactly the same place – right between 1st and 2nd. Two went for doubles, and the other was a triple because the fielder bobbled the ball. I played OK in the field – one inning in centre field, two at shortstop (only booted the ball once!), and I sat for one. We only played 5 innings because the teams are going to be shuffled around, so this was just an exhibition game. In fact, we only played 4 1/2, since we were the away team and we lost.

I’m not having as much fun in this league as I used to. Because it’s a Stelco league, and Stelco hasn’t hired all that many people in a number of years, there haven’t been many new players, other than friends and relatives of existing players. As a result, I, at 35, am one of the youngest people in the league. There are probably more retired people than people under 40.

Another issue is that many of the players in the league use the league as an excuse to just go drinking. I enjoy a beer after the game as much as anyone, but half the league just wants to sit in the parking lot after the game and drink beer, and then drive home. Since I always drive to the game, I limit myself to one beer at the bar afterwards. Craig (the convener) is cracking down on drinking in the parking lot though, since he’s been warned that if the police catch anyone in the league drinking there, the league will be shut down permanently. Why we don’t all just go to the bar right after the game is beyond me – my team does, but the rest of the league doesn’t show up for at least an hour, if they show up at all. If you want to drink after the game, fine, but I thought that the idea of picking a bar that we all go to was for socialization after the game. I end up socializing with my own team – which is fine, my team is full of cool people – but we never see half the league there.

I did look into a men’s league in Waterdown a few years ago, but you had to be 35 to join, and I was only 31 or 32 at the time. Maybe next year I’ll look into that again.

I’ve been looking forward to this baseball season more than any other in recent memory. Not sure why – possibly because I’ve been listening to the FAN 590 (Toronto all-sports radio station) a lot lately, so I’ve been hearing more talk about the team, interviews, and stuff like that. It’ll be tough without Carlos Delgado, but the additions of Corey Koskie and Shea Hillenbrand should help, and with people like Wells, Rios, Hudson, and Zaun (and Eric Hinske, if he gets back to his rookie-of-the-year form of a couple of years ago), the Jays should be fine offensively. Pitching is always a question mark, but Roy Halladay has looked sharp so far, and Ted Lilly should be back off the DL tomorrow. Most of the rest of the pitching staff is rather young, though, so who knows. It’s not all that likely that they’ll catch the Yanks or BoSox unless they have an awesome season, so we’re playing for third anyway. Being in the AL East kind of sucks that way.

Maybe another reason why I’m excited about baseball this year is because of the lack of hockey. I still have lacrosse, but that’s only once a week, and only for 4 1/2 months. I pay some attention to the Raptors (again, mainly through the FAN), but their season is pretty much over. Since I don’t care much for football, baseball’s it for me until the fall when hockey (hopefully!) starts again. I’ll post my thoughts on the whole lockout thing and replacement players and stuff like that another time.