ARGUMENT 6
Lifting Bans
This is a very simple concept. It seems quite simple to get a ban lifted. I’ll show three examples, then ask that we lift one more. In 1980, Ferguson Jenkins of the Texas Rangers was found by customs in Toronto, Canada to be in possession of 3 grams of cocaine, 2.2 grams of hashish, and 1.75 grams of marijuana. He missed the rest of the 1980 season, and was subsequently banned from baseball by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn. Jenkins, reinstated by an independent arbiter, retired following the 1983 season. He was then elected to the Hall of Fame in 1991. I know it seems like I’m singling out Mr. Jenkins, but just like our own American legal system, it’s all about precedents. Mr. Jenkins just happens to be quite helpful with some of my arguments. But remember, I’m using three examples for each argument. In 1983, baseball legends, Mickey Mantle and Willy Mays were banned from baseball, also by Commissioner Kuhn, after they were hired by Atlantic City casinos as greeters and autograph signers. How egregious an offense to damage the public perception of baseball in such a manner, as to associate directly with casinos! The commissioner must have felt very strongly about such an arrangement to actually ban players who were already inducted into the Hall of Fame! They were both reinstated by Commissioner Ueberroth in 1985. In 1990, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner was banned from baseball for paying a private investigator $40,000 to “dig up dirt” on Yankees player Dave Winfield in order to discredit him. Steinbrenner was reinstated by Commissioner Selig in 1993. And finally, Marge Schott, Cincinnati Reds owner, was banned in 1996 for bringing Major League Baseball into disrepute by repeatedly making slurs against Africa-Americans, Jews, Asians and homosexuals, and showing a sympathetic attitude to Adolph Hitler and the Nazi Party. Schott, even with such a horrific set of circumstances, was reinstated in 1998. So, we see a track record of the baseball community forgiving humans for being less than perfect. There is a track record of lifetime bans being lifted. If baseball can find it in its heart, or if political climates change enough to warrant closer looks, to reinstate humans for making mistakes, then there’s got to be room for Pete in baseball, and in the Hall.