 Baseball has had its share of scandals since it became a professional sport. Pre-1900, there were many accusations of professional gamblers giving payoffs to players. The first one recognized came in 1877. The Louisville Grays had a losing streak at the end of the year which cost them the pennant. After the season the suspicion of games being thrown was raised when the players performed well in exhibition games. The story finally broke, and the president of the National League, William Hulbert, decided to take a stand against gambling and banned four players for life, Jim Devlin a first baseman-pitcher, George Hall, an outfielder who once played for the Brooklyn Atlantics, Al Nichols, a utility player and Bill Craver, the teams SS were all banned for life. 
Of course, the most famous was the 1919 White Sox throwing the World Series. This incident forever stained the reputation of one of the best players to ever put on a pair of spikes, Shoeless Joe Jackson. He was the star of that team. Unfortunately for people of color, it also allowed the owners to hire their first commissioner and give him unrestricted power. He used that power to keep people of color out of the game for his entire tenure as the commissioner. Kenesaw Mountain Landis, a former federal judge was credited with giving confidence back to the public that the game was on the up and up. It did not hurt that Babe Ruth came on the scene and gave the fans a bigger than life hero, albeit with some warts. The two will forever be linked in baseball history.
The Dodgers themselves were not really a powerhouse back in the early days of the game. Their first real scandal did not happen until 1947. It involved manager, Leo “The Lip” Durocher. Durocher was known to gamble and associate with gamblers. It was even said he would allow gamblers into the Dodgers clubhouse. That, and his affair with Lorraine Day, who was getting a divorce from her first husband. The husband said that Durocher had stolen his wife. Branch Rickey, the Dodgers GM was not exactly happy with his manager over the affair. When the commissioner, Happy Chandler, informed Rickey he was going to suspend Durocher for the 1947 season, he was stunned. 
He had to scramble to find a replacement. This was critical since it would be the first season that a black player would be playing in the major leagues. Durocher had been vital to the emergence of Jackie Robinson, moving him to a position of need, 1st base, and quelling a revolt by some of the players who said they would not play on the same team with a black man. Durocher was indeed suspended, and Burt Shotton, who came out of retirement as a favor to Rickey took over the team in their third game of the year. The rest is history. Brooklyn won the pennant, Robinson became the first winner of the rookie of the year award, which now bears his name. Durocher would return for the 1948 season, but after the team got off to a slow start, an agreement was reached to allow him to resign and take over the crosstown rival Giants. Day and Leo would eventually marry and stay married for 14 years. Leo would return to the Dodgers as a coach in Los Angeles under Walter Alston. 
LA pretty much stayed out of the scandal spotlight during Alston’s tenure. About the worst thing that happened was the clubhouse fight between Garvey and Sutton in 1978 at Shea Stadium. It all started when Sutton was talking to a reporter and said something to the effect of, ” all you hear about is Steve Garvey when everyone knows that Reggie Smith is the MVP of this team.” Garvey head about it and confronted Sutton. The two had a heated exchange and then Sutton said something about Garvey’s family, and it was on. Teammates broke it up. Garvey was sporting plenty of bruises after the fight and bloodshot eyes. Sutton had a bruise on his cheek. LA won the game, 5-4. 
When the news of Steroid use broke, there were a few Dodgers who got caught up in investigations. Paul LoDuca, Mike Piazza, Eric Gagne just to name a couple. In the 2000’s when the Mitchell report came out, Gary Sheffield, Kevin Brown, Jeremy Giambi, Chris Donnel’s, Jerry Hairston Jr., Matt Herges, Todd Hundley, Adam Riggs, F.P. Santangelo, and Todd Williams, all who spent time in the Dodgers system were named. A few of the players admitted use, LoDuca, Tim Laker, who had a brief stay in LA. The fallout from that is still going on. Rafael Palmiero, Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds have not been elected to the Hall of Fame, but that may happen soon.
After he had such a great 53 game run with the Dodgers in 2008, Manny Ramirez resigned with the team in 09. Ramirez started off really hot, but on May 7th, he was suspended 50-games for violating the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Manny later said his doctor has inadvertently given him a banned substance. During his suspension, it was reported that Manny was one of 104 players who tested positive in 2003 while with the Red Sox. For what it is worth, after that suspension, he was never the same player. LA put him on waivers, and he was picked up by the White Sox. 
The absolute worst owner in Dodger history has to be Frank McCourt. Fox made some bad decisions while they owned the team, but one of their worst was selling the team to the Parking Lot King. First off, the 430-million-dollar purchase price was paid mostly by debt. His first GM, Paul De Podesta, was a total flop and lasted just 2 years. One of his better moves was bringing in Steve Finley who took over the CF job and hit a grand slam homer against the Giants that clinched the division in 04. His worst gaff, not resigning Adrian Beltre. Not having a lot of cash meant LA was dumpster diving in the free agent market. The new GM, Ned Colletti had to be very creative when he made trades. 
The team did make the playoffs 4 times during his tenure, but they lost all four years. After the 2009 season, it was announced that McCourt and his wife, Jamie, would be getting divorced after a 30-year marriage. Eight days later, she was fired from her position as CEO. Things would get ugly from there. In December of 2010, a judge declared the post-nuptial property agreement that McCourt said gave him sole ownership of the team was invalid.
In June 2011, they reached a settlement agreement on their divorce that was contingent on MLB approving a 17-year television contract between the Dodgers and Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket. Baseball rejected the deal and the settlement fell apart. In October, they finally settled, and she was awarded 130 million and relinquished her claim on the team. But meanwhile, during the 2011 season, McCourt was struggling to make payroll. MLB would step in and seized control of the team.
What we fans did not know until later was that the McCourt’s were under investigation by the state of California, and MLB. It had come to light that they were using the team to fund a lavish lifestyle and even had their children on the payroll. They were also accused of using the team’s charities to further line their pockets, which led to the state investigation. They filed for bankruptcy in 2011 which would eventually lead to McCourt being forced by MLB to sell the team to Guggenheim for 2.15 million. 
We all know what happened during the 2017 World Series with the Astros accused of stealing signs. It also came out that the Red Sox did the same thing in 2018. But the Dodgers themselves were accused of stealing signs using the base runner system. First of all, teams have been stealing signs for decades. One of the methods involved base runners relaying the sign to the batter. Doesn’t always work. MLB later cleared the Dodgers of any misdeeds. Just that they were accused is actually kind of weird. 
In 2019, former Dodger, Yasiel Puig, admitted he had lied to federal investigators about his involvement in illegal gambling. He began placing bets in 2019 through a third party eventually running up over 280 thousand in losses by June 2019. Despite warnings, Puig repeatedly lied to investigators. He finally admitted his falsehoods in a WhatsApp message. His associates, Wayne Nix and former MLB player, Eric Hiljus, also faced legal consequences related to the operation. 
In July of 2021, free agent signee, Trevor Bauer was placed on administrative leave by MLB for alleged assault on a woman twice in his home in Pasadena. She said the encounters started off as consensual sex and later escalated into assault. Effectively, Bauer, a former Cy Young winner, was lost to the Dodgers for the rest of the year. Despite not being charged with the crime, MLB suspended Bauer for two-full seasons without pay. Eventually an arbitrator reduced the suspension to 194 games, and he was eligible to pitch for the Dodgers in 2023. He was owed 32 million for that season. The Dodgers chose to eat the money and released him. Despite the findings that the accusations were false, no MLB team has chosen to sign Bauer up until this time. He was last seen pitching in the Japanese professional league. He has said repeatedly that he would sign for the MLB minimum. His suspension was one of the reasons LA had to trade for Max Scherzer at the deadline. 
Julio Urias was first suspended for domestic abuse in 2019. His suspension was 20 games long. Four years later, in 2023 in September, he was arrested by Exposition Park police after an alleged altercation with his wife. Although the DA did not file charges, MLB suspended Urias for the remainder of his contract with the Dodgers, which expired after the 2023 season. 2023 may not have ended differently, but having Urias in the playoff rotation would have been a huge plus. Urias was just recently re-instated after finishing MLB mandated anger management and community service.
There have been plenty of scandals in the majors, in the 1951 playoff against Brooklyn, the Giants were accused of having a camera in center field stealing the Dodgers signs. For the most part, the Dodgers have not been involved in many.
MiLB GAME SUMMARY REPORTS
OKC Comets 11 – El Paso Chihuahuas (San Diego) 3
Esteury Ruiz led off the game with a double. Ryan Ward singled putting runners on the corners. Ruiz scored on a passed ball and gave OKC a 1-0 lead. CJ Alexander drew a BB and José Ramos singled to plate Ward. Austin Gauthier walked to load the bases. Noah Miller singled allowing Alexander to score with the other runners moving up station to station. Ramos scored on a Kody Hoese line out.
OKC put up 5 in the 4th. Kody Hoese, Chuckie Robinson, and Esteury Ruiz led off the inning with BB. Ryan Ward hit a bases clearing double (26). CJ Alexander singled Ward to 3rd. Ramos hit a sac fly. Ben Rortvedt hit a one out single moving Alexander to 2nd. Alexander scored on a 2-out Noah Miller single.
b̶a̶s̶e̶s̶ ̶l̶o̶a̶d̶e̶d̶
— Oklahoma City Comets (@OKC_comets) August 10, 2025
Thanks, Ryan Ward! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/QQQDxV8LwG
OKC put up 2 final runs in the 6th. Robinson singled and moved to 3rd on a Alexander double (15). Ramos hit a 2-out, 2-run single to plate the final 2.
Kyle Funkhouser started but only lasted 1.2 innings before leaving the game to an injury. Paul Gervase relieved Funkhouser and completed 2.0 scoreless IP. He allowed 3 singles, but no BB and registered 3 K.
José Rodríguez followed Gervase and allowed 2 runs on 1 hit and 3 BB and 2 WP in his 1.0 IP.
Ronan Kopp got the final out in the 5th and pitched a scoreless 6th.
Edgardo Henriquez pitched 2.0 innings allowing 3 hits, including a solo HR.
Bobby Miller retired the side in order in the 9th on 8 pitches including a K.
Bobby Miller…Bruh!
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) August 10, 2025
Dude just threw another scoreless inning in relief, and made it look easy again by missing barrels for his 1st 2 outs, then missing bats for the last K.
Miller has gone scoreless in 4 relief outings in a row, and has walked just 1 batter since being… pic.twitter.com/e9m7WUMjFP
- Noah Miller – 3-5, 3 RBI
- Esteury Ruiz – 1-3, 3 BB, 2 runs, double (17)
- Ryan Ward – 2-5, 1 BB, 2 runs, 3 RBI, double (26)
- CJ Alexander – 2-3, 3 BB, 3 runs, double (15)
- José Ramos – 2-5, 1 run, 4 RBI
- Chuckie Robinson – 2-4, 1 BB, 2 runs
Doesn’t get smoother than this 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/Ox0pZK7DhN
— Oklahoma City Comets (@OKC_comets) August 10, 2025
Tulsa Drillers 5 – Corpus Christi Hooks (Houston) 1
22 year old RHP Roque Gutierrez from Guasave, SI, Mexico pitched his 2nd consecutive excellent start. He completed 5.0 innings allowing just the one run on 5 hits and 3 BB. He did have 2 K.
Roque Gutierrez turned in his 2nd great start in a row!
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) August 10, 2025
5IP | 5H | 1R | 2Ks
Guttierrez picked up his 7th win of the season, 2nd since being promoted to AA, and has given up just 1 run in his last 2 starts, which spans 12 innings.
When he's on, he's very good at creating weak… pic.twitter.com/FHkNeFMQyV
Tulsa got the 1st run back in the 4th with a Kyle Nevin BB, SB, and a Chris Newell double (17).
The Drillers took a 2-1 lead in the 5th on a Taylor Young BB, SB, and a Sean McLain single.
Livan Reinoso relieved Gutierrez in the 6th and walked two hitters while getting two outs. Jerming Rosario relieved Reinoso and walked the first batter he faced to load the bases. Rosario then struck out the next batter to leave the bases loaded and no runs.
The Drillers pushed their lead to 4-1 in the 7th. John Rhodes singled and moved to 2nd on a fielder’s choice. Zach Ehrhard singled to plate Rhodes and James Tibbs III doubled (1) home Ehrhard.
Tulsa got an insurance run in the 9th. John Rhodes walked, moved to 2nd on a WP, and scored on Zach Ehrhard’s second RBI single.
Christian Suarez pitched 2.0 scoreless innings. He did not allow a hit, but did walk 2 and strike out 5. Brandon Neeck came in to get the final out.
Zach Ehrhard was the only Tulsa batter with a multi-hit game (2) and the only multi-RBI game (2).
Zach Ehrhard falls out of bed, hitting baseballs! He's also a tremendous athlete; he can hit anywhere in the order, and if you're in the way, you're gonna get run over because his competitive element is insane.
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) August 10, 2025
The best way to describe his personality is
"The Dude Don't Play!"… pic.twitter.com/sYuYHsHuBh
Great Lakes Loons 6 – Lansing Lugnuts (A’s) 1
After Maddux Bruns’ last disaster, he turned in an excellent 5.0 inning start. The strikeouts seem to have dissipated, but so have the walks. In those 5.0 IP, Bruns allowed 1 run on 2 hits, 2 BB, and 2 K. Bruns’ 2 hits against were in the 2nd inning. He allowed a double and single and his only run, giving Lansing a 1-0 lead.
Maddux Bruns…Atta Baby!
— Dodgers Daily (@dodger_daily) August 10, 2025
Bruns put together a good start for Great Lakes today!
5IP | 2H | 1R | 2Ks | 2BB
Bruns got the W, which was the 2nd of the season for him, and has not given up a run in his last 11.2 innings. That covers his last 3 starts.
More Cowbell Please! #dodgers pic.twitter.com/SvL7AFSe6R
The Loons started their comeback in the 4th. Logan Wagner and Elijah Hainline each walked to start the inning. They moved up on a ground out. Wagner scored on a WP, while Hainline scored on a fielders choice throwing error, giving the Loons a 2-1 lead.
Carlos Rojas hit his 2nd HR of the season in the 5th and a 3-1 lead.
In the 6th, Hainline walked and moved to 3rd on a Cameron Decker double (6). Joe Vetrano drew a BB to load the bases. Jordan Thompson hit a sac fly for the Loons’ 4th run.
Nicolas Cruz and Evan Shaw each pitched a scoreless 2.0 innings to preserve the win.
The Loons picked up a pair of unearned runs in the 8th to finish the scoring.
- Joe Vetrano – 3-3, 1 BB, 1 run
- Kendall George – 2-5
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 4 – Inland Empire Storm (San Diego) 1
20 year old RHP Marlon Nieves from San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic started and completed 5.0 innings. He allowed a first inning run on single, BB, HBP, and single. Nieves retired 12 of the next 13 batters he faced, allowing only a BB.
Joendry Vargas slugged his 4th HR of the season in the 4th to tie the game.
In the 7th, RC put up 3. Victor Rodrigues singled, followed by a pair of BB to Jackson Nicklaus and Eduardo Guerrero. Emil Morales reached on a fielding error that scored both Rodrigues and Nicklaus. Guerrero scored when Ching-Hsien Ko hit into a DP, giving RC a 4-1 lead.
Three relievers completed the final 4.0 innings without allowing a run or hit. Jhonny Jimenez allowed a 2 out BB in the 9th, but struck out the final batter to get the save.
The Quakes only had 3 hits, including Vargas’ HR. No RC hitter had a multi-hit game.
Fun article Bear and an interesting topic you chose to write about. While reading your piece, I though of Steve Howe who was suspended 7 times by MLB for drug-policy violations, and in 1992 he received a lifetime ban from baseball that he was able to overturn with an appeal. I have a vague memory of him failing to post up in a critical time, leaving his teammates hanging out to dry. His ETOH and drug abuse haunted his career and he died at 48 in a truck accident. He predictably was not wearing a seat belt and was high on meth, when he died.
Nice solid win last night. Limiting the Jays to 1 run on 5 hits was nice to see. Good pitching until Diaz. I get so pissed when a guy comes in with an 8 run lead and walks a hitter. His 28 pitch, mop up inning, irritated me, no end.
Snell looked awesome early but he’s a different cat. His career has been mark by those fugues when he temporally loses it. I saw him do it in high school in 2011. He pitched for Shorewood High, outside of Seattle. In his senior season, Snell recorded a 9–0 win-loss record, a 1.00 ERA, with 128 K’s in over 63 innings. In the state tournament, he face Richland High coached by my best friend. In the 7th inning game, Snell was sailing along, giving up squat. To start the 6th inning, he came out in a scoreless game and went ball 4, ball 8 and ball 12, loading the bases. He got pulled and the relief pitcher hit the next batter, making it 1 to 0. That proved to be the only run scored and Richland beat Shorewood, one – zip. We occasionally see a temporary loss of commend even now.
I really want Alex Freeland be successful. I like how he plays defensively. But even with only 27 AB’s, I’d like to see more bat and some versatility. And his bunt attempt in the 6th with 2 runners on and no outs, was lame. Orel said he had been working on his bunting but he showed really poor mechanics on his failed bunt attempt. Those are the little things that become big things in the playoffs, and the things that Freeland needs to bring to the table.
I always find it funny that in a critical situation where a guy like Freeland needs to execute a sac bunt, the play-by-play guys informs us that “Joe Blow” hasn’t had a successful sacrifice bunt since King Kong was a chimp. And why is that? More quality practice and more attempts during the season might be nice? If not, just scrape the idea and let him swing it.
The inability to execute a needed sacrifice and walking a guy with an 8 run lead just doesn’t cut it, for me.
I don’t think I have seen Muncy swing the bat better. And Ohtani looks much better with his cut-down contact approach and swinging at strikes. It’s not like he lacks bat speed with a more controlled, less violent swing.
Looking forward to Glasnow today, continuing our hot streak.
Snell could go 7 if he threw more strikes. 90-53.
This is what the Dodgers look like when firing on all cylinders. Can they do it 60% of the time going forward? Remains to be seen.
I still see no reasonable explanation on why Call can’t play center field. Good for Dean getting a promotion but I don’t think it was necessary.
Scandals? MLB has had its share of bad behavior over the years. Baseball is a business, run by humans, subject to human nature. We see it everywhere these days. Not that these days are that much different than past days, it just seems more visible now.
Thanks Phil. Bluto suggested the topic. I left a few out, Howe was one of them. Another was the alcohol addiction that Bob Welch had. He managed to beat it and ended up winning a Cy Young with the A’s. But there were times during games where he was drunk while in the bullpen. One story I remember was about Oil Can Boyd who said he pitched a game once while high on LSD. The Julio Urias episode was just ugly, but he wasn’t the first ballplayer accused of that. I remember when I was living in Phoenix, one of their pitchers, Bobby Chounard was released by the team over an incident. He never pitched in the majors again. Max looks like he did in 2021 which was his best full season in the majors. His OPS+ right now is 145, and he is hitting .260, unchartered territory for Max who has never hit more than .251 in any season.
Great and entertaining read Bear. I believe it was Doc Ellis that pitched while on acid. My neighbor played rookie ball with him before he signed with the Pirates so I kind of followed his career..
You are right, whoops, blew that one. But Boyd had an abuse problem and often smoked crack before games.
Hey, you got your monthly error out of the way early. Lol.
A waste of talent by both of these pitchers. There’s more to success as a professional athlete than talent. It’s the mental strength that separates those that do and those that don’t. And, those that are great or legendary are those who had the strongest mental makeup.
Agree about Freeland’s bunt attempt. A blind cow couldn’t have looked worse attempting a bunt.
Regardless, this kid is a player. I don’t see a .330 avg from him, but stay at .260 with a nice OPS and good D everywhere, and he’ll continue to play.
Now, let’s go sweep today!
That’s one to get them to take off the bunt sign: look like shit!
Freeland looks pretty good at second but if he is a true shortstop and the Dodgers need a true shortstop why doesn’t he move over to short. Then have Betts play second base the position he played coming up to the majors. I think it’s because Betts sees him self as the main guy on the team so the position to ne the center of attention would be shortstop rather than just play rightfield. Something tells me by world series time Freeland will be a short and Edman at second base with his bad ankle to improve the defense for playoffs and Mookie will be back in right fielder with Pages and Teoscar in the outfield. All to improve this team defense in the playoffs. In the infield and the outfield.
Quit assuming stuff Bradley. You have no clue as to how Mookie sees himself. That main guy stuff is pure bullshit. The man is a team player. He moved back to right field in 24 after he returned to the team from the IL BECAUSE it made sense and made the team better. They had Rojas and Edman, and sometimes Kike or Taylor to cover it then. For your information, Betts is the second rated SS in the National League. He has +8 defensive runs saved. Mookie has played just 118 games at second in his career. He has played 186 as the SS. They might end up moving Betts to second next year and hand Freeland the job. They are not going to move Betts from SS when he is playing at this level and doing that good defensively. His bat is starting to wake up. They are NOT going to use a rookie SS in the playoffs. Maybe next year if he wins the job. Edman might well take over at second when he returns, and Freeland will most likely be sent down to OKC at some point because you also have Kim returning soon. There are only 26 spots on the roster. Experience in playoff baseball is important.
Hey Bear. Stop with the common sense and logic. Thank you.
Durocher hanging out with Joe Adonis and Bugsy Siegel is such a lovely detail.
Yep, Leo was if nothing else, colorful.
Great to read about Bobby Miller’s success in the bullpen. Will he get called up as a reliever?
But I still would have put him in a package for Mason Miller….
Maybe Bobby’s bullpen success can revive his SP mojo, sort of like Bob Welch and Dave Stewart.
I don’t think he gets a starters job back. He looks more like a back end of the pen pitcher now. Doesn’t have to game plan, can just come in and throw smoke. Think Eric Gagne.
Add the circle change up
I love it. I’m sure any starter would get upset about being moved to a setup role, but maybe Miller is making the most of it and becoming good at it
With his stuff, if he can master 1 inning of domination, he’ll be a force for us 2026 onwards. I cannot see him coming up and making the Oct roster.