Looking Back In Anger Trivia Quiz

Answer: "Prince" Hal Chase

By all accounts Chase was a terrible first baseman holding the career mark in the American League for errors by a first baseman with 285. On the plus side he did once lead the league in batting average and he was a charismatic person. Perhaps that is why he was not banned sooner.

He left the New York Highlanders after 1907 despite the team giving in to his salary demands, going to San Jose and playing in the California League under an assumed name. Back with the Highlanders he was accused of throwing games in 1910.

He jumped to the Federal League for one year in 1913. After the league folded he was signed by the Reds where he led the league in batting. He was suspended in 1918 for throwing games. The Giants then signed him but he proved to be no use to them offensively, defensively, or reputation-wise and was benched.

He appeared to be involved in setting up gamblers with the Chicago White Sox in their World Series appearance in 1919 and was thereafter banned. No doubt he looked back at his ban with anger.

Answer: Dickie Kerr

Kerr was banned by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis in 1921 but was reinstated in 1925. He pitched in 12 games for Chicago when he came back but was not very effective. It was his last year in the major leagues.
Cicotte and Williams were two of the banned players. Meyer was a pitcher on the Black Sox team but was never implicated in any wrong-doing.
As a minor league manager in 1939 Kerr converted a young Stan Musial from a pitcher to an outfielder. Musial went on to have a Hall of Fame career with the Cardinals as an outfielder. And the Musials and Kerrs remained close after Stan was called to the majors. Dickie drove Stan's wife to the hospital when she had her first child. Later on the Musials bought the Kerrs a house in Texas.
From 1921-1925 Kerr probably looked back at being banned irately.

Answer: For allegedly stealing cars

Kauff stole 130 bases and batted .357 his two years in the Federal League but was somewhat overmatched in the major leagues, batting only .287 in six seasons. Kauff was implicated in a stolen car ring with his brother. Even though he was acquitted of the charge in court, Commissioner Landis banned him as having "undesirable character and reputation". At this point he is the only major leaguer to be permanently banned for something other than consorting with known gamblers.
Maybe his biggest mistake was getting the steal sign from the third base coach--and stealing the bullpen car!

Answer: Umpire

The owner of the Detroit team discovered that Higham was in correspondence with a gambler. As the umpire Higham had a unique opportunity to influence the outcome of a game. He could make ball and strike, safe and out calls to help one team or the other.

He also would have inside information on the players and know who was not going to be able to play up to par due to illness, injury or fatigue. He would then send a coded telegram to his gambler friend to tell him how to bet. The Detroit owner hired a private investigator who discovered Higham's association with the gambler and means of communication.

As a player Higham was also suspected of throwing games. After his ban, Higham decided to reform his life and become a bookkeeper.

Answer: Chick Gandil

Gandil admitted in a 1956 "Sports Illustrated" article that he was the ringleader. Although there is no definite proof as to why the White Sox players decided to throw the 1919 World Series, many feel they did so as retaliation against the low pay they received from stingy owner Charles Comiskey. Gandil met with gambler "Sport" Sullivan and demanded money, to be split amongst all the players he could recruit to throw the series against the Cincinnati Reds. He wanted the money up front. Gandil later recruited "Swede" Risberg, Felsch, Eddie Cicotte, Lefty Williams, Weaver, Fred McMullin, and Jackson.
Sportswriter Hugh Fullerton wrote an article about gambling in baseball during the winter of 1919 that eventually led to the exposure of the White Sox players and their ties to gamblers. Baseball owners, the media and district attorneys began to look for signs of gambling involving major league teams. A grand jury in Chicago, looking into an accusation against the Chicago Cubs, subpoenaed many people involved with baseball. During this investigation a pitcher for the New York Giants revealed that the 1919 World Series was fixed and named the players involved.
The eight White Sox players were banned for life by Commissioner Landis in 1920. I'm sure they looked back enraged at their lifetime bans.

Answer: Steve Howe

Howe was suspended for the 1984 season after confessing that he pitched while on cocaine. During the next eight years Howe continued abusing drugs. He was suspended a total of seven times, leading the major leagues in that category. He kept getting reinstated. One time it was unbelievably ruled that the cocaine was necessary to help him deal with his Attention Deficit Disorder.

The last suspension occurred in 1992 when Commissioner Vincent banned him for life after Howe was caught attempting to buy cocaine.

He was reinstated by an arbitrator late that year but it was too late. His major league career was essentially over. It makes you wonder what kind of career he would have had without the substance abuse.

Answer: Pete Rose

Rose was player-manager for the Cincinnati Reds in 1988-9 when it was discovered that he was severely in debt to gamblers and that he had bet on baseball games--including his own team's games. Despite a mountain of evidence that these claims were true, Rose completely denied the accusations. He decided to fight the claims in court. Finally in late summer 1989 Rose agreed to drop his lawsuit against major league baseball and accept his suspension provided the findings of the Commissioner's office not be published. In that agreement he was permitted to apply for reinstatement annually. He did so four times but was turned down each time. Rose maintained his innocence until 2004 when he finally confessed it was all true in his book "My Prison Without Bars".
His suspension has kept him from being considered for baseball's Hall of Fame. Perhaps if he had been forthright from the beginning he would not have been suspended for life and he might be in the Hall of Fame.
And he would not have to look back with enmity.

Answer: Mickey Mantle

Both Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle had ended their careers as players when Commissioner Kuhn banned them from baseball. In fact, both were already in the Hall of Fame. Bally's Resort had offered Mays a job as a public relations executive. The job mainly entailed greeting guests. Mantle was hired by the Claridge Casino and Resort in Atlantic City as a community representative.

His primary job was to represent the casino at golf tournaments and other functions. Neither one had anything to do with the gambling part of the operations. Bowie Kuhn did not like that the two superstars would have any association with casinos and threatened to ban them both if they took the jobs.

They took the jobs. He banned them. Two years later Kuhn was out and Peter Ueberroth was in as Commissioner of Major League Baseball. Feeling the ban was a travesty he reinstated both men. They bothed stopped looking back with ire.

Answer: Marge Schott

Marge Schott inherited her husband's successful car dealership. Owning the dealership allowed her to buy the Reds, which she did in 1984 becoming only the second woman to own a major league team without inheriting it. Her troubles began in 1992 when she referred to two of her players, Eric Davis and Dave Parker, as "niggers". She reportedly had a Nazi armband on display in her home and was recorded as making comments about "sneaky Jews" and saying men who wore earrings, as some of her players did, were "fruits".
Typical of her attitude was an incident on opening day 1996. The game had barely begun when the home plate umpire, John McSherry, staggered out of his position. Walking toward the dugout he collapsed face first. He had had a heart attack and was pronounced dead an hour later. Understandably the other umpires decided the game would be postponed. Mrs. Schott was extremely upset and felt the game should continue because the Reds always have the first game of the season. She did send flowers to McSherry's funeral. However they were flowers she had received herself from someone else. She was later banned but reinstated in 1998.
In 1999, realizing that she was unwanted in Major League Baseball, Mrs. Schott sold controlling interest in the team. I imagine she still looks back with rancor.

Answer: 0

In 1991 Commissioner Fay Vincent added steroids to major league baseball's banned substance list. This was four years after the National Football League banned steroids. Since then there have been scores of players who have been accused of using performance enhancing drugs during their careers. There have been over a dozen who have actually admitted doing it including Jose Canseco, Ken Caminiti, Jason Giambi and his brother Jeremy, Gary Sheffield, Benito Santiago and John Rocker. But none of them has received a lifetime ban.
There are several reasons why no baseball player has been banned for life. Some players took drugs that were not strictly illegal during their careers. There is some debate whether steroids or other performance enhancing drugs actually give a player an edge. And there are some big names who have been accused of using steroids and other drugs--Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Alex Rodriguez to name a few. If you ban one of these then what do you do with their records? Do the home run records have to be thrown out? It is a weighty issue.
And I don't just mean steroid-produced weightiness.