Tip of Baseball Gambling Scandal Revealed Naming Orioles Scout

mplications from anonymous sources familiar with the investigators' findings are that other scouts may soon also be named as having gambled on baseball.

A new sports gambling scandal is breaking, and this time it's baseball bearing the brunt. After months of reports of illegal and unethical behavior among persons associated with tennis, soccer, and baseball, Baltimore Oriole scout Alan Marr has been named by Major League Baseball's investigative committee as suspected to have participated in gambling.

Implications from anonymous sources familiar with the investigators' findings are that other scouts may soon also be named as having gambled on baseball. So far, no accusations of fixed games has surfaced.

Baseball officials have been cooperating with FBI inquiries into possible gambling by scouts, as well as scouts' skimming money from signing bonuses intended for Dominican and other Latin American players.

Marr had been fired a few weeks ago by the Orioles, with no stated reason for the dismissal.

Baseball rules are that those "with a duty to perform', i.e. players and managers. can be subject to lifetime bans for gambling, as Shoeless Joe Jackson and Pete Rose have been. Secondary personnel, such as scouts, may be barred for up to a year, although employment after that may be problematic.

As with NBA officials, it is clear that gambling and other problems and scams occur within the weak link of the underpaid support systems for professional leagues. It is far harder to convince a player making tens of millions to risk his livelihood by participating in shady schemes than employees earning mid-five figures, unless the athlete is a dunce (sorry, Mike Vick),

Likewise, refs and scouts who watch others near them build fortunes while they struggle week to week are hard put not to concoct ill-advised ideas, such as selling airline tickets (NBA refs), selling gratuitous game tickets (football assistant coaches), skimming signing bonuses (MLB scouts), and gambling with at least some insider information.

The stick method to preventing these violations is becoming clearly defined, with law enforcement and private investigators eager to push charges against suspect individuals. The carrot part might be to let a few pennies of the enormous wealth of these industries trickle down to underpaid (by comparison) but essential personnel.