Brisbee: Why gambling used to scare baseball and why it doesn’t anymore
From SABR member Grant Brisbee at SB Nation on December 13, 2018:
After a century of making the sign of the cross and launching an investigation whenever a baseball player knew a guy who knew a guy with a gambling problem, baseball is suddenly very, very into the whole gambling thing. Manfred even did that thing where he said the quiet part out loud, suggesting that baseball’s stop-and-start pace of play could be perfect for in-game wagers. This is baseball steering into the skid.
In 2013, Selig gave sworn testimony about the Lovecraftian horrors that would emerge from gambling’s depths to consume baseball.
In 2018, his replacement waxed poetic about just how snugly the sport and gambling fit together.
This is how baseball stopped worrying and learned to love the casino.
Read the full article here: https://www.sbnation.com/2018/12/13/18116936/mlb-gambling-legal-las-vegas-winter-meetings
Originally published: December 13, 2018. Last Updated: December 13, 2018.