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No, Todd, what he deserves is to be punished or not on the basis of the evidence, not speculation about what he might or might not have done
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I submit that one of the reasons baseball has such a hard and fast rule--strict liability if you will-- is because it is difficult to prove with exactness a man's motives when participating in a game. Did the guy really go 0-5 and strand 7 baserunners against that tomato can he normally owns because of an off day or because he bet on the game? Did the manager go against all baseball sense to win this one game (e.g. closer goes 3 innings for first time) at the possible expense of the next because this game means more in the overall picture or because he has $ riding on it? The public's perception that the game might be crooked cannot be allowed, so the rule is harsh, but it is clear, and virtually never violated.
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If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other. - Ulysses S. Grant, military commander, 18th US President.
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