Famous Examples of Cheating in Baseball
In this article
Baseball has a long history of players and teams bending, and breaking, the rules. Here are the most famous examples of cheating in baseball, grouped by type, and how the game responded.
Fixing games and gambling
- 1919 Black Sox scandal: eight Chicago White Sox players were accused of taking money from gamblers to lose the World Series. All eight, including "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, were banned for life in 1921.
- Pete Rose, 1989: baseball's all-time hits leader was banned for betting on games, including his own team's, while managing the Reds. In 2025, MLB ruled that lifetime bans end at death, removing Rose, Jackson and others from the permanently ineligible list.
- Modern betting cases: MLB still bans players who bet on baseball; in 2024 a player was banned for life for betting on games, the first such ban in decades.
Doctoring the ball
- Spitballs: banned in 1920 (a few existing spitballers were allowed to keep throwing it). Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry admitted in his 1974 autobiography that he threw them, and was finally ejected for doctoring the ball in 1982.
- Sticky stuff: in 2021 MLB cracked down on pitchers using sticky substances to add spin. Umpires now check pitchers' hands, gloves and caps during games, and violations bring a 10-game suspension.
- Scuffing: cutting or scuffing the ball with a hidden nail file or sandpaper to make it move.
Altering the bat
- Corked bats: hollowing out the barrel to make a lighter bat. Sammy Sosa's bat shattered in 2003 and revealed cork; he was ejected and suspended. See what makes a bat illegal.
- Pine tar: hitters can use it on the bottom 18 inches of the bat. George Brett's 1983 "Pine Tar Game" home run was briefly taken away for too much pine tar before the league reinstated it. See our guide to pine tar sticks.
Performance-enhancing drugs
The steroid era of the late 1990s and 2000s led to the 2007 Mitchell Report and stricter testing. Alex Rodriguez was suspended for the entire 2014 season in the Biogenesis case. Players who test positive today face suspensions, and many stars from that era were kept out of the Hall of Fame by voters.
Sign stealing
Reading the other team's signs from second base is part of the game. Using technology to steal them is not:
- 2017 Houston Astros: used a center-field camera and banged on a trash can to tell hitters what pitch was coming. MLB fined the team $5 million, took its first- and second-round draft picks for two years and suspended the general manager and manager for a year; the club fired both.
- 2017 Boston Red Sox: were fined for relaying signs using a smartwatch.
Today pitchers and catchers use PitchCom, an electronic device, to call pitches, which makes sign stealing much harder.
Related reading
More rules and terms: baseball terms explained.
Frequently asked questions
What is the biggest cheating scandal in baseball history?
The 1919 Black Sox scandal, in which eight Chicago White Sox players were banned for life for conspiring to lose the World Series, is usually considered the biggest.
What did the Houston Astros do?
In 2017 the Astros used a camera feed and banged on a trash can to signal coming pitches to their hitters. MLB fined the team $5 million, took draft picks and suspended the general manager and manager for a year.
Is using pine tar cheating?
Hitters may use pine tar on the bottom 18 inches of the bat. Pitchers may not use pine tar or any foreign substance on the ball, and since 2021 umpires check pitchers regularly.
What is a corked bat?
A bat with the barrel hollowed out and filled with cork or another light material to make it lighter. It is illegal, and batters caught using one are ejected and suspended.
