Albert Belle's Corked bat
It is July 15, 1994 at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois. The Cleveland Indians' Albert Belle is accused by the Chicago White Sox's General Manager of having a corked bat. Umpire Dave Phillips confiscated Belle's bat and has it securely placed in the umpire locker rooms. However, the bat would not stay there long. Following the game, the Indians are accused of somehow switching the suspected bad bat with a bat that was uncorked, and stupidly enough, signed by Paul Sorrento. The Major League Baseball's head offices demanded that the suspected bat be turned over for proper inspection. On July 18, 1994, the bat was sawed open in the presence of Belle and the Cleveland Indians' General Manager. To the surprise of no one, cork was discovered. The league offices suspended Albert Belle for ten games; however, the suspension was later reduced to seven games. This by far was not Belle's first unethical dilemma. Before starting his career for the Indians, he was known as "Joey", and played for Louisiana's LSU. Having set several school records, he was expected to do well for the play-offs. However, because of bad behavior, he ended up with a post-season suspension and missed the College World Series
As you can see, there are several issues that make Belle one un-ethical baseball player. His career as a MLB player is over now due to degenerative arthritis of the right hip. In class we talked about various theories of ethics. One of these was the golden rule. It states that you must treat others as you would want to be treated. This pertains to the Albert Belle's corked bat case in that he did not necessarily treat others badly, but he cheated them. By using a bat with cork, he put himself at and unfair advantage. What if everyone else used a corked bat? Then they essentially would be cheating him. No one wants to be cheated, especially when your career depends on it. Not only was he cheating players on the opposing teams, but he was also cheating his own teammates by having a drinking problem. So, in this case, Albert Belle broke the golden rule. A further question of ethics surrounds the fact that a team member tried to cover up the incident. Why did the player confiscate the bat from the possession of the umpire? By doing this, it escalated the situation. Before, Belle, and Belle alone, was at fault. This, instead, made it look twice as bad. It essentially brought the entire team in on the issue. Belle also violated the utilitarian principle. This states that one must act in a way that results in the greatest goods for the greatest amount of people. Putting cork in his bat certainly helped himself out. It made Belle able to hit the ball further and harder than without the cork. Unfortunately, while this was good for Belle, it did not help other people. Most people suffered as a result of his corked bat.
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Approximate Word count = 1281
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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