I enjoy baseball and the statistical aspects of the game. In the past I played fantasy baseball, football, and basketball with friends and family. We played for bragging rights mostly. I never played one of these daily fantasy leagues or the money games currently out there. It seems like gambling to me, and I am not a big gambler. So I am watching with a bit of interest how the investigations proceed against these companies. At the very least I think they will be in for some regulation or scrutiny of some kind in the future.

What I find most interesting is that Major League Baseball is an investor in these sights that are essentially encouraging gambling on their games, when they ban Pete Rose. Listen, I hate Pete Rose. I do not remember him in his glory days and he always played on rival teams (I am a Cubs fan). I am going to suggest it is more than a little inconsistent to ban him for life for gambling on the games when the league is encouraging more gambling. If Rose did not bet against his team then there is no incentive incompatibility as I suggested in a post earlier this year.

I know, I know, we are talking fans versus player/managers. I get that is an important distinction, but so is the nature of Rose’s gambling if we are going to ban him for life.

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