What could have been: Scandalous 2018 whistleblower book quashed after aggressive Major League Baseball stance against ex-investigator


What could have been: Scandalous 2018 whistleblower book quashed after aggressive Major League Baseball stance against ex-investigator

Baseball Cop, Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball found itself in a spot of trouble back in 2018 after a publication threatened to ruin the brand as a whole. The book dished dirt on some of the most scandalous acts in the history of the sport, from human trafficking to doping.

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The League underwent a huge investigation, against which it took an aggressive stance. All ready to protect its reputation, Major League Baseball retained Clare Locke, an infamous law firm known for ‘killing stories’ in the past. It planned to do the same with ex-investigator Eddie Dominguez and his story, ‘The Baseball Cop’.

In a five page letter, the firm fired Dominguez saying the book was defamatory. “The appropriate course of action is for Hachette to immediately suspend distribution and publication of the book until such a time it has been fully fact-checked and vetted,” maintained the law firm strongly.

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“The Baseball Cop” fails to gain significant traction despite defiance of Major League Baseball’s threats

Baseball Cop, Major League Baseball
Baseball Cop, Major League Baseball

Dominguez and all his co-journalists were advised- rather passive aggressively- to keep track of all their past communication and “complete web browser histories and search history for all those involved in the book.”

The firm further said that any loss that was caused to MLB and its employees will be blamed on the Hachette family through “defamatory statements in the book, in promotional materials, in any media appearances by the authors, and in any social media statements.” 

The book however went ahead as planned, and was published and distributed all throughout the country. Dominguez pointed out that corruption had become rampant in Major League Baseball. “We call it our national pastime and if it is our national pastime, do you want it marred by corruption and scandal?” he said in the book.

Unfortunately- or fortunately- the book did not really manage to take off, and was only caught on by a few publications. “I’m dumbfounded by the lack of coverage,” Dominguez said in disappointment. Yet, the book has managed to uncover a great part of the side of MLB that remains in the shadows.

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