Pete Rose
It's welcome news that MLB has allowed the Reds to host a Pete exhibit at the team's Hall of Fame. Fans shouldnt be denied a chance to share in the Hit King's considerable legacy as a ballplayer. It also might signal a slight thaw in the Rose-MLB relationship. He belongs in the Hall.
Put a disclaimer on his plaque, if that's what it takes. As a Hall admission requirement, the facade of good citizenship wears thinner every day. The man is among the best players ever. He shouldnt be allowed back working in Baseball; he compounds his mistakes by repeating them. But I don't take my kids to Cooperstown to see saints and Boy Scouts. The rule that requires Hall members to be in the game's good graces needs to be junked, or at least tweaked.
Honor the player. Punish the gambler.
posted by Paul Daugherty at 9:25 AM
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Post a Comment*Pete was an amazingly talented player, who I greatly enjoyed watching as a kid. In fact, my dad and I were one night too early at Riverfront to witness 4,192.
Pete's "legend" still lives on, I think. My 7 year old spends a lot of time going through his baseball cards - comparing stats of current players with those of Rose. He and I look forward to going to see the Hall of Fame display in March.
That said, I find it very frustrating and sad to see Pete still cause a stir with every new "scheme" he cooks up. Pete gets SOOOOOO close to getting things back on the right track in the eyes of the fans and MLB, then finds ways to de-rail himself time and time again. A few months ago, it was the sale of "I bet on baseball" autographs that got lots of negative publicity. Several years ago, his book hit the shelves and wrecked the fragile bridge he spent years building to Bud's office.
Part of this problem, I put back on MLB. They slammed the door hard on him. MLB will give drug users and other major law-breakers five or six strikes (see Strawberry, Darryl Eugene), but tossed Pete out on his ear. Pete certainly didn't do much to help himself, that's for sure. But this should have been resolved years and years ago.
I hope this new display will help Pete's chances of getting back on the good side of MLB - and I hope he sits tight and doesn't screw it up...again!
Here Here!
I agree with all of this, and the sooner things are softened and he gets in, the sooner we can stop talking about it.
I used to be a lot more passionate abot the Rose thing than I am now. The most recent book thing, pretty much did it for me. Keeping him at of baseball as a coach or manager is OK with me.
But he absolutely should be in the Major League Hall of Fame.
The punishment is way out of
porportion to the crime.
Chris Henry has done much worse in just the past year and he is still playing. (And you know Peter would extend his arms to catch a ball in traffic!)
I give you guys enormous credit. I cant think of a single new thing to say about Pete. Is there anybody left in this entire world who still cares about Pete but Pete?
I just wish they would put him in the Hall so this all would just go away. I honestly don't care about it anymore.
Hey Paul,
While I tend to agree with your comments about Pete, they seem to contradict what you wrote about Mark McGwire recently. Big Mac didn't break any of baseball's rules, so the only justification for keeping him out is morals or character.
John Burroughs
Hyde Park
PD,
My thoughts, exactly. Forgive the sinner...not the sin.
14 in the Hall....let's give Wildman® an early Christmas!!
JM
He broke the most sacred rule in the game, the one that is posted in every clubhouse because of its seriousness. He knew what he was doing was wrong, lied about it for the better part of a decade, and then needs some cash so he came clean in a book. Comparing his case to that of a guy that gets in trouble with the law outside of the game is apples and oranges. He was still involved in the game, he bet on the game, he pays the price...period.
The guy completely understood the ramifications of his actions prior to doing it and went ahead and bet on the sport. How can anyone have an ounce of sympathy for him?
I believe he'll one day be in the Hall, posthumously, and he has only himself and his GIGANTIC ego to blame for it.
I actually do not like Pete Rose. I met him when I was young. He was an arrogant, gruff, selfish, self-absorbed person then, and not much has changed. I do not care if Pete Rose gets into the Hall of Fame, or sells stuff on eBay, or gives a thousand more interviews about something that happened 20 years ago.
But for some ungodly reason, I still care about baseball, and the Cincinnati Reds, and the History of Baseball as it is preserved in the MLB Hall of Fame. In light of the morality and self-righteous noise being made coast-to-coast, with their moral standars and indignation about Mark McGuire, it led me right back to Pete Rose and a very long-held opinion ...
The Hall of Fame is a museum for the fans of the game, and it honors the individuals who played the game better than anyone else (at least relative to their peers). Syop moralizing baseball. Stop manufacturing extraneous, subjective standards. Stop pretending that the past, current, and future inductees passed some type of Character and Moral Fitness Exam prior to their admission. They didn't. No one knows who used what or did what in 1950.
By any objective standard, Pete Rose was one of the greatest players to play the game of baseball. By any rational standard, he must be included in the club of people who are the greatest players to play the game of baseball.
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