Could you elaborate, especially on billiards?
I had heard a 99PI episode about baseball cheating, but thought it was more isolated incidents and not general disrepute.
I enjoy playing pool but know nothing about the professional scene or cheating.
With baseball, a lot of high level players have gotten caught or admitted it, and have said that it's widespread. Jose Canseco admitted to cheating and claimed as much as 80% of players use steroids. He specifically accused Alex Rodriquez, which was later proven true. Allegations like these from admitted/caught cheats might be attempts to justify themselves, but personally I think cheating is and has been rampant in baseball for a very long time. It's still fun to watch though.
Note, however, that steroid use was made effectively illegal on a federal level in the United States in 1990. The 1991 date above references a memo from the commissioner that states that illegal drugs are "strictly prohibited". Steroids are mentioned explicitly, though they do not have to be, seeing as how they were in fact illegal.
You can read the memo here: https://www.espn.com/espn/eticket/format/memos20051109
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doping_in_baseball#Congression...
And the umpires are the dirtiest cheaters of all and always win.
Most recently, superstar San Diego Padres player Fernando Tatis Jr. was suspended for 80 games after testing positive for steroid use. [1]
[1] https://www.baseball-almanac.com/legendary/steroids_baseball...