MLB lifetime bans: Tucupita Marcano joins Pete Rose, Shoeless Joe Jackson among those on infamous list

Suspensions in baseball are a common part of the game.

Players can be taken away from MLB for dirty plays, using sticky stuff or performance-enhancing drugs, and having off-field issues, among many others. 

It takes much more severe violations of league rules to be banned for life. Being banned for life means someone can no longer be employed by anyone affiliated with Major League Baseball in any capacity. They cannot be agents for teams. They are barred from induction into the Hall of Fame.

Over the history of professional baseball, nearly all lifetime bans stem from gambling of some sort. Whether it is actively throwing a game, betting on games or even associating with known gamblers, that has often been the area in which players have found themselves facing baseball’s most severe punishment.

MORE: Why Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano was banned from MLB for life

There have been others that are not related to gambling, of course. Several players were banned after holding out for higher pay. Another was banned for selling stolen cars. Others faced penalties for using drugs — not the performance-enhancing variety. Legends of the sport Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays were banned for being greeters at a casino as private citizens after their playing days were over — both have since been reinstated.

Which individuals in Major League Baseball have received lifetime bans? Here’s what you need to know.

MLB lifetime bans

Baseball has a long history, and there have been lifetime bans that date as far back as the mid-1800s when the sport was founded. Because of that, there is uncertainty over the full list of individuals that might have been banned throughout the history of baseball.

The most notable lifetime bans have been handed to eight members of the Black Sox, who conspired with New York gamblers to throw the 1919 World Series against the Reds, and Pete Rose, who was found to have placed bets on baseball while a player and manager.

Here’s a look at players, executives, owners and an umpire banned for life.

* — Umpire
** — Owner
*** — Executive

Longest MLB suspensions

The longest anyone has been suspended by baseball would technically fall under the category of a lifetime ban.

However, there have been others who have faced just long suspensions that are known from the start that there will be an end date.

Here’s a look at the longest suspensions doled out to those involved in baseball: