A.J. PIERZYNSKI SLAMS MLB OVER PETE ROSE HALL OF FAME ELIGIBILITY & IT'S HILARIOUS!

It's funny, because I never really imagined a moment that I would agree with A.J. Pierzynski on anything baseball related. I also thought of him as polarizing. He's been very vocal about a lot of issues in baseball and that is especially true about another polarizing name in the sport....Pete Rose.

There's been a lot of chatter about Rose recently. Now that he is reinstated for Hall of Fame consideration it's been a major topic at my dinner table and here at BYB, read PETE ROSE IS ELIGIBLE, BUT WILL THE WRITERS DO THE RIGHT THING? It's a polarizing topic. There are very strong opinions on both sides.

So, what's A.J's beef now? Well, he went on Foul Territory this week and didn't hold back at all. He believes Rose should NOT be reinstated. I know many people who are on both sides of the argument. His argument is that article 21 of MLB's Rule Book prohibits players and coaches from betting on baseball. If that was the argument he wanted to stick with I wouldn't be laughing as I am now. Check out the video clip below.

There's a real hole in this argument for me. As soon as he ran with the "You can't have the integrity of the game questioned at all" is where it went sideways for me. Has he been living under a rock? Serious question because this sport has lost all of its innocence. The integrity went out the window a long time ago. Let's just go back to the steroid era, shall we? Is Barry Bonds so long ago that baseball got a "get out of jail free" pass and I missed the memo? I mean, he and Bonds were playing at the same time from 1998-2007 so it's not like it's ancient history. It happened, while AJ was getting his feet wet on the big league stage and it's a huge part of history. 

Let's fast forward to 2017. It's a topic I will NEVER let go of but the Houston Astros literally cheated their way to a World Series Championship. Trash can signals and buzzers are NOT part of the game, AJ. Integrity went out the window there. To make it worse, after Carlos Beltran is named one of the leaders of this cheating scandal the same time he is in consideration for a Manager role with the Mets? So you cheat, you work your way up to a manager gig. That's the message sent here. If you ain't cheatin, you ain't tryin? The Mets only "mutually agreed" to part ways with him after details came out which was a horrible message to send. They changed their mind to save their hide. I have despised the Mets more just for that alone. It was completely tone deaf.

And what about Alex Cora? The equally tone deaf Red Sox hired him for 2018 & 2019 knowing he was implicated in the cheating scandal, then took a brief step back to let the dust settle and let Ron Roenicke manage in 2020 and then reunite with Cora again in 2021 and ever since. What a minor slap on the wrist for a guy that was involved in the biggest cheating scandal in decades and then put him in charge of a different team. Integrity gone....

Oh and to make it more disturbing the General Manager of the Astros at that time Jeff Luhnow lost his job after the scandal. He's not back in the baseball world. In fact he is the CEO of Blue Crow Sports Group, which owns several soccer clubs, including Leganés in Spain and Cancún FC in Mexico. The guy with the least amount of involvement with the scandal not even around the team every day like Cora was and he pays the ultimate price. Integrity gone....

And last but certainly not least....you can't talk about gambling without talking about the Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal that rocked baseball last year. It was alleged that his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, stole millions of dollars from the star to pay off massive gambling debts. Shohei denies placing any bets or paying off any bookies and it's funny how the money just disappeared without being detected, huh? Because are we supposed to be that nieve to believe the person who is in charge of Shohei's personal finances just didn't notice that massive amount of money just magically vanished into thin air? Apparently, because AJ himself came out in defense of Shohei saying there was no evidence to prove he was in fact gambling. So, it's okay for his money to be used on betting even if he didn't bet himself? Come on....if "you can't have the integrity of the game questioned at all" why is this any different?

If Pete Rose can't be reinstated for betting on games when he was a manager, why is it okay for Ohtani to be accused of it as a player and have no consequences even though his money was used? If the integrity of the game can't be questioned at all then this is no exception and it's hypocritical. By the way, Ippei took the fall for this and in February was sentenced to 5 years in prison over it....but he's not actually sitting in prison yet. His sentence has been pushed back, read more HERE. 

So yeah, A.J and I agree that the integrity of the game can't be questioned at all. If the ban is good for Rose, it should've been good for Ohtani, too but you can't really ban the new face of baseball can you?He brings international draw. Unfortunately, the integrity of the game has been questioned many times, and will continue to be (especially under Rob Manfred's command). 

We agree on the sentiment, but AJ is oblivious to how un-innocent baseball really is. His argument is a swing and a miss. It did give me a good laugh though.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj

#OHTANIGATE IS ANOTHER ROB MANFRED FAILURE!

This is HUGE, folks. This is bad for baseball and just shows how Rob Manfred is bad for the sport and needs to be fired. This is a BIG deal. The more information that comes to light, the worse it looks. 

Shohei Ohtani is the face of baseball, but now he's in some hot water. The story now is that Ippei Mizuhara who is Ohtani's best friend and was his English Japanese translator allegedly stole $4.5 million to cover his own gambling debts. There are so many questions that need to be answered. A lot of details that just don't make sense, but no matter what the facts may be this is terrible for baseball.

Major League Baseball is officially investigating, and while we can sit here and hypothesize just how involved Ohtani was with this, there really is no good scenario with this. If he knowingly gambled on the sport that's a huge no-no that could end his career. Betting on baseball is not permitted and sports betting in California is illegal, period. Even if Ohtani wasn't directly involved, the company he keeps makes me a little skeptical of him.

More details are coming out about Ippei Mizuhara, and the latest one is a tie back to the Yankees, check it out HERE. The Los Angeles Angels media guide outlines Mizuhara's MLB resume, which says he worked for the Yankees in Sprint Training 2012 as an interpreter for Hideki Okajima. Interesting tidbit here is Okajima failed a physical before Sprint Training started and was released. So, the connection to the Yankees doesn't add up. Could he have worked as Okajima's interpreter before Spring Training started? Sure, it's not uncommon for players to show up for Spring ball early, but that doesn't mean he worked for the Yankees. Also interesting to note, when Okajima was with the Red Sox, multiple reports show Mizuhara was his interpreter. The Red Sox have now come out and said this is not true and two other interpreters were used. Boston is flat out denying this....what else is this guy hiding?

And what about his education? The Angels media guide also said Mizuhara graduated from the University of California, Riverside in 2007 but a school spokesperson was quoted as saying "Our university records do not show a student by the name of Ippei Mizuhara having attended UC Riverside." That's pretty interesting. Is it possible he attends UC Riverdale under a different name? Maybe....but the spokesperson did not clarify if another name was used. That's fishy.

So honestly, Mizuhara is a questionable character in my opinion. Something just doesn't sit right with me. I am not a gambler. I just don't do it because I am cheap. I googled "how much money did Ohtani's translator make?" and ESPN source came up that said Mizuhara made between $300,000 and $500,000 annually. That's a lot of money, and I don't know much about gambling, but I can't imagine any bookie would give a $4.5 million credit on this kind of salary without a guarantee from a bigger wage earner like Ohtani for example. I also have a hard time believing that Ohtani wouldn't know about transfers of this amount coming out of his account to cover the debts. Hence the theft story....it just doesn't add up to me, I'm having a hard time believing it.

Baseball is in shambles under this idiotic commissioner named Rob Manfred. He's made ridiculous changes to the game, and now has two scandals under his belt. The ASSTROS cheating scandal was bad enough because there was literally no punishment for this. Now, another gambling scandal with connections to the $700 million man who is the face of baseball. This man is a LIABILITY to the game and needs to be fired, period.

Manfred AND MLB better understand the game is bigger than the dollar signs Ohtani brings. There needs to be accountability here. Pete Rose was banned from baseball and is not in the hall of fame, so all eyes are on Manfred and how he handles this. IF Ohtani is directly involved in this, he must suffer the same fate otherwise the hypocrisy will kill this sport.

The game is tainted again due to #OHTANIGATE and a moronic, weak commissioner that needs to pay the ultimate price. He needs to be fired. If Ohtani is guilty, he needs to pay the ultimate price.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj