Sports Then and Now

America holds the tag of being famous for two of the things, its open hearts for all those who wish to study abroad– particularly in the States and even more for its ever increasing craziness for baseball. However, this sport, like every other sport, has its own sets of controversies, from run-ins with the law to strange behaviors both inside and outside the field. Here’s a list of 5 such controversies that touched the icebergs.

1. BALCO-BONDS Controversy: Barry Bonds is very allegedly known as a companion of controversies. One of the most prominent and famous of the lot being the BALCO controversy in 2003. BALCO aka Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative was being investigated by the government in 2003 and in the course, Bonds’ name pounced up. One of the finest power-hitting outfielder, Bonds was asked to testify before the grand jury where he declined the usage of any sort of steroids let alone any association with the company. Bonds was however, found to be lying and was later charged with both perjury and obstruction of justice in 2007. Sentencing has yet to happen on the latter charge.

• ALCS- Game 6 Controversy: An eye flipping game between Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays called for massive craziness among the audience. It all started with Mike Moustakas of Kansas City Royals. Mike being in the ace of his game, hit off of a magnificent delivery from David Price. The ball hyped straight into the right field and was about to concluded a score when a fan reached over the railing and caught the ball. The over enthusiasm of the fan resulted in lack of clarity on whether the ball would have actually cleared the wall or made a hit on the top- resulting in a whopping ground-rule double. The man on right field, Bautista, signaled for interference, almost instantly. The decision ruled out for a home run and was also confirmed upon review.

• NLDS- Game 2 Controversy: An avalanche of debate popped up by the second game of NLDS which was played between Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets. With an attempt to smash the chance of a double play, Chase Utley hammered into Ruben Tejada, one of the star players of New York Mets. This happened when Utley was aiming to score by sliding towards second base but as the events turned out tragically, ended up in breaking up the shortstop’s leg. Utley, however, soon trotted off the field, having called out by the umpire, never having touched the second base. The scene turned out dirtier for the Mets after the Dodgers questioned the call by quoting that Tejada never tagged Utley to begin with. The call was nullified leaving the Dodgers with the opportunity to score three more runs that particular inning; a game changing inning which led to the win of Dodgers by 5-2. Now, “why wasn’t the neighborhood rule called into effect?” “What about the fact that Utley never touched the bag?” are few of the questions that made this controversy into one of the biggest hits.

• Divorce of Frank Mccourt and the Dodgers Controversy: Frank McCourt was the delightful owner of the Dodgers since 2004 up until his divorce with his wife in 2009. One of the most crucial pieces of argument in the fight was about the ownership of the team. A settlement idea was launched which got struck only upon a TV deal which was to be approved by MLB. Unluckily for the team and Frank, the deal could not be concluded which eventually led the team into filing for bankruptcy. Even after struggling with months of legal battles on the front, McCourt was forced to sell the team to an ownership group headed by former Los Angeles Lakers’ star Magic Johnson for whopping amount of $2 billion. The divorce that ended up as biggest headlines of the time and its repercussions on the tenure of McCourt, listed this controversy amongst the greatest.

• ALDS- Game 5 Controversy: the two heroes of this huge controversy were Shin-Soo Choo of Texas Rangers and Russell Martin of Toronto Blue Jays. It so happened that pitcher Aaron Sanchez was successful to stand the score at 2-2 with his second ball and catcher Russell threw the ball in an attempt to send it back to the mound. But, the throw was not cleverly thought about, and it instead of making it back to Sanchez, the ball rebounded to Choo’s bat and plopped down into no-man’s land between the third base and the pitcher. Our man on third, Rougned Odor, dashed for home and crossed the plate regardless of the home plate umpire’s decision of the dead ball. The Rangers challenged the call only to face negation. The Toronto fans were heartbroken over the decision and as such began throwing their beer cans onto the field. Their overwhelming outrage was enough to jar the Rangers’ defense. Well, with game went on and was keep at rest at last, by Jose Bautista taking full advantage of the moment by hitting a go-ahead homer.