Hypocrisy in Baseball

The number one rule in baseball is NO GAMBLING ON BASEBALL. It is taboo for baseball players to place a bet on baseball and Pete Rose is living in a van down by the river for violating this order.

Appearently it is OK for baseball owners to make money off gambling though. The Boston Red Sox just signed a deal that will have Boston Red Sox scratch tickets via the Massachusetts State Lottery.

I know that lottery tickets are a far cry from players or managers placing bets on games through bookies but it does seem hypocritical to me. Just Sunday there was an ESPN show about gambling and athletes on ESPN's Outside the Lines but this deal or the idea of people like George Steinbrenner owning race horses was never mentioned. Do as I say not as I do attitudes have always been a pet peeve of mine.

Anyone who has ever spent what seems like an eternity behind a guy (or woman) at a Cumberland Farms, Honey Farms or 7-11 who was spending every cent they had on scratch tickets when what they really needed to spend their money on was clothes or deodorant knows that scratch tickets are just as addictive a form of gambling as anything else. Now the Red Sox are profiting from it.

I don't object to the deal per se but I do object to the hypocrisy. What is the real moral difference Rick Toccet fronting the money for a bookie operation and the Red Sox fronting their name to entice gambing on scratch tickets? It reminds me of the old line about getting robbed with a gun vs getting robbed with a pen.