List Of People Banned From Major League Baseball

A ban from Major League Baseball is a form of punishment levied by the Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball (MLB) against a player, manager, executive, or other person connected with the league as a denunciation of some action that person committed that violated or tarnished the integrity of the game. A banned person is forbidden from employment with MLB or its affiliated minor leagues, and is forbidden from other professional involvement with MLB such as acting as a sports agent for an MLB player. Since 1991, all banned people – whether living or deceased – have been barred from induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Major League Baseball has maintained an official list of "permanently ineligible" people since Kenesaw Mountain Landis was installed as the first Commissioner of Baseball in 1920. Although the majority of banned persons were banned after the establishment of the Commissioner's office, some were formally banned prior to that time while a few others were informally " blacklisted" by the Major League clubs. Most persons who have been banned (including many who have been reinstated) were banned due to association with gambling or otherwise conspiring to fix the outcomes of games; others have been banned for a multitude of reasons including illegal activities off the field, violating some term of their playing contract, or making disparaging remarks that brought the game into disrepute.

History

Prior to 1920, players were banned by the decision of a committee. There were 14 players banned from 1865 to 1920; of those, 12 were banned for association with gambling or attempting to fix games, one was banned for violating the reserve clause, and one was banned for making disparaging remarks.

In 1920, team owners established the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball, ostensibly to keep the players in line and out of corruption's way. Kenesaw Mountain Landis, a federal judge, was the owners' ideal candidate for the job and was given unlimited power over the game, including the authority to ban people from the game.

He banned many players and various others, often for seemingly small offenses, and at times almost indiscriminately. In his 24 years as commissioner, Landis banned more people than all of his successors combined. The last person banned by Landis to remain alive was William D. Cox, who died in 1989.

As of 2021, no one has died while still ineligible after being banned by one of Landis' successors. In 1991, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum voted to bar banned players from induction. The oldest living person on the ineligible list is Pete Rose, who is years old as of . Rose's banishment remains among the most bitterly debated of any imposed after Landis' tenure. While Rose eventually admitted to betting on his team (which under the rules then and now in force are grounds for permanent ineligibility), his supporters argue that a lifetime ban is unjust due to a lack of conclusive evidence that his gambling directly affected the outcome of any games, and also due to modern society's more relaxed attitude towards gambling.

By the 21st century, the use of performance enhancing drugs had replaced the possible influence of gambling as the greatest perceived threat to the integrity of the game.

Subsequently, both the Commissioner of Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association came under intense pressure from fans, owners, current and former players, team officials, and the United States Congress to take decisive action against PED use in baseball. In 2005, as a result of the findings of the Mitchell Report, the owners and the MLBPA reached a new Basic Agreement which stipulated that multiple violations of the overhauled Major League Baseball drug policy would result in a lifetime ban.

Punishment

Prohibited

A person who has been banned from Major League Baseball is barred from:

*employment with MLB, one of its affiliated minor leagues, or any Major League or Minor League Club, whether as a player, coach, or manager, or in the front office;
*acting as a sports agent for any Major League or Minor League player, coach, or manager;
*maintaining business ties with MLB or with any Major League or Minor League Club;
**The exception to this is that MLB or any Major League or Minor League Club may invite banned persons to participate in events where said participation will not put the banned person(s) in a position where they could influence play (for example, an appearance at a public recognition ceremony). All such participation is subject to the approval of the Commissioner, who has the authority to deal with such requests on a case-by-case basis. The exact privileges that will be afforded for each special event is determined by the Commissioner – invariably, access to the clubhouse and related facilities by banned people will not be permitted. (This exception has evolved over the decades following the banishment of MLB's all-time hit leader Pete Rose in 1989. In the early years of Rose's ban, dispensations for special events were rarely granted. In recent years, especially since incumbent Rob Manfred's assumption of the office, special event dispensations for Rose have become considerably more frequent.)
*induction to the Hall of Fame, whether the person is living or deceased.
**This prohibition is not the result of any MLB rule or policy (since the Hall of Fame falls outside the jurisdiction of the Commissioner's Office), but is a policy enforced by the Hall itself. Prior to the late 1980s, the Baseball Writers' Association of America and Veterans Committee each had an unwritten rule excluding banned people from consideration for election to the Hall. (The banishment of Rose necessitated a formalization of this policy prior to 1991 when Rose would otherwise have become eligible for election to the Hall.) Although Commissioner Bart Giamatti had stated at the time of Rose's ban that their agreement did not directly affect his Hall eligibility, he died before he could elaborate on the issue. Nevertheless, the Hall soon voted to formally exclude banned people from induction, a position that was endorsed by Giamatti's successor Fay Vincent. On the other hand, in his most recent statement affirming Rose's ban, Commissioner Manfred stated "It is not a part of my authority... to make any determination concerning Mr. Rose's eligibility as a candidate for election to the (Hall of Fame)... in my view, the considerations that should drive a decision on whether an individual should be allowed to work in Baseball are not the same as those that should drive a decision on Hall of Fame eligibility... any debate over Mr. Rose's eligibility for the Hall of Fame is one that must take place in a different forum." Notwithstanding Manfred's statements, the Hall of Fame's policies remain unchanged.) and signed to a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox.
*''Chris Correa'', former St. Louis Cardinals scouting director, was permanently banned on January 30, 2017 for his role in hacking the Houston Astros' scouting database to provide the Cardinals with a competitive edge in scouting. The Cardinals were also ordered to pay the Astros $2 million in restitution, and forfeited their top two picks in the 2017 draft to the Astros. Correa was later sentenced to 46 months in prison for unauthorized access of a protected computer, thus becoming the first person to be incarcerated for activities that resulted in a ban from the game.
*''John Coppolella'', former Atlanta Braves general manager, was permanently banned on November 21, 2017 for his role in the Braves' circumvention of MLB rules regarding the signing of international free agents. The Braves were also required to release 12 prospects signed as international free agents, most notably Kevin Maitán, and MLB voided the contract of Ji-hwan Bae.
*'' Brandon Taubman'', former Houston Astros assistant general manager, was added to the list on November 15, 2019 for his inappropriate comments toward female reporters in the Astros clubhouse in October 2019, pending further investigation into sign stealing by the Astros during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. On January 13, 2020, following an investigation into sign stealing by the Astros, Manfred announced that Taubman would remain on the ineligible list through at least the end of the 2020 season. Although Taubman was interviewed for the sign stealing investigation, Manfred said that his clubhouse comments were egregious enough to merit significant discipline. Taubman was eligible to apply for reinstatement after the 2020 World Series, though there is no record of him doing so as of the start of the 2021 season. If he is reinstated, he will be permanently banned if he commits another "material violation" of baseball rules.
*''Roberto Alomar'', who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011 as a player, was banned on April 30, 2021 following an independent investigation into claims he had harassed a female Toronto Blue Jays staffer in 2014. The Blue Jays subsequently announced they would remove a banner honoring Alomar from the Rogers Centre and sever all ties with him. However, he will remain enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
*''Mickey Callaway'', former pitching coach of the Los Angeles Angels, was banned on May 26, 2021 following an investigation of allegations of sexual harassment spanning much of his career as manager of the New York Mets, pitching coach of the Cleveland Indians, and Angels pitching coach. The investigation started when The Athletic released an article that detailed the allegations. Callaway will not be eligible to apply for reinstatement until the end of the 2022 season.

See also

* List of Major League Baseball players suspended for performance-enhancing drugs
* List of people banned or suspended by the NBA

References

External links

Baseball Rules Menu on Baseball Almanac

Baseball Steroid Suspensions

Major League Baseball's "permanently ineligible" list

{{DEFAULTSORT:People Banned From Major League Baseball
Banned for life
Figures that have been banned for life
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