Competition In Baseball
Aaron Miller
English Comp. II
Research Paper
Final Draft
October 29, 2007
Has Cheating Become the New Fair Play?
Competition has long been a part of our culture. From a simple game of checkers to the Super Bowl and everywhere in between, there is competition. A competition is when two teams or two people compete for a single goal or a prize. This goal or prize can be anything from just being called the winner, to money, to the title of world champion. It can be anything. Through time and the evolution of sports, this prize has become more and more desirable. To be the winner has become such a high priority that people will do anything to get it, whether that means playing by the rules or not. Throughout history, people have …show more content…
They work on the field before the games so they can have a little input on the outcome of the game. The Cleveland Indians grounds crew, back in the day when they had portable fences, would move the fences back for teams that were heavy hitters. Also they would soften the base paths. They would soak the base paths with water so it is softer and therefore, harder to steal. The grounds crew can help the home team another way. They are in charge of all the baseball’s, so about a week before the game they would freeze the balls and then thaw them out. When they would thaw them out the balls would be waterlogged a little bit and be heavier, thus not traveling as far. Some people argue that these things like stealing signs and doctoring the baseball and messing with the base paths are not cheating, but just part of the game. Randolph Feezell, author of “Sport, Play, and Ethical Reflection” says ‘All of these things are “part of the game,” a part of the historical existence of baseball.’(Feezell 101) Some people say that these are things that have evolved with the game. If players are being taught how to do them, then it is not cheating. I still see it as cheating, because it is trying to gain an unfair advantage by going outside of the rules. There are multiple ways that players and teams cheat in baseball. But baseball is not the only sport where players …show more content…
It has been going on since the beginning of competition and has just continued to get worse and worse. Players and teams are finding new ways to break the rules and to push the bar a little higher. So leagues have to step down a little harder on fines and punishments to get the point across that cheating will not be tolerated. Our society continues to hold sports on this high pedestal above everything else and because of that we have become numb to the cheating. Not only are we becoming numb to cheating, but so are the athletes. They seem to have this feeling of invisibility and that they are above the law. They are getting in trouble with the law more and more. The bar continues to be pushed higher and higher and it is about time it stops climbing. Cheating in sports is getting out of control and it needs to be
English Comp. II
Research Paper
Final Draft
October 29, 2007
Has Cheating Become the New Fair Play?
Competition has long been a part of our culture. From a simple game of checkers to the Super Bowl and everywhere in between, there is competition. A competition is when two teams or two people compete for a single goal or a prize. This goal or prize can be anything from just being called the winner, to money, to the title of world champion. It can be anything. Through time and the evolution of sports, this prize has become more and more desirable. To be the winner has become such a high priority that people will do anything to get it, whether that means playing by the rules or not. Throughout history, people have …show more content…
They work on the field before the games so they can have a little input on the outcome of the game. The Cleveland Indians grounds crew, back in the day when they had portable fences, would move the fences back for teams that were heavy hitters. Also they would soften the base paths. They would soak the base paths with water so it is softer and therefore, harder to steal. The grounds crew can help the home team another way. They are in charge of all the baseball’s, so about a week before the game they would freeze the balls and then thaw them out. When they would thaw them out the balls would be waterlogged a little bit and be heavier, thus not traveling as far. Some people argue that these things like stealing signs and doctoring the baseball and messing with the base paths are not cheating, but just part of the game. Randolph Feezell, author of “Sport, Play, and Ethical Reflection” says ‘All of these things are “part of the game,” a part of the historical existence of baseball.’(Feezell 101) Some people say that these are things that have evolved with the game. If players are being taught how to do them, then it is not cheating. I still see it as cheating, because it is trying to gain an unfair advantage by going outside of the rules. There are multiple ways that players and teams cheat in baseball. But baseball is not the only sport where players …show more content…
It has been going on since the beginning of competition and has just continued to get worse and worse. Players and teams are finding new ways to break the rules and to push the bar a little higher. So leagues have to step down a little harder on fines and punishments to get the point across that cheating will not be tolerated. Our society continues to hold sports on this high pedestal above everything else and because of that we have become numb to the cheating. Not only are we becoming numb to cheating, but so are the athletes. They seem to have this feeling of invisibility and that they are above the law. They are getting in trouble with the law more and more. The bar continues to be pushed higher and higher and it is about time it stops climbing. Cheating in sports is getting out of control and it needs to be