Jack Eaton
July 6, 2015
Peter Edward Rose
or “Pete” Rose is an admitted gambler who bet on baseball while playing and
managing for the Cincinnati Reds. He has received a lifetime ban from the Major
League Baseball Hall of Fame. Aside from that, he has plead guilty to two
counts of filing false income tax returns, served a six month sentence in a
medium security prison, payed nearly $400,000 in fines, been divorced once,
remarried and separated, fathered one illegitimate child, and been sued more
than once. Pete Rose, by all accounts, is a bad guy.
On
the other hand, Rose has earned more base hits than anyone in the history of
Major League Baseball with 4,256. He played in the most games with 3,562, had
the most at bats with 14,053, and hit the most singles with 3,215. He won three
World Series rings, three batting titles, one Most Valuable Player Award, two
Gold Gloves, the Rookie of the Year Award, and also made 17 All-Star
appearances at an unprecedented five different positions. His name is all over
the record books.
In
1989, it was learned that Rose was a gambler, and he bet on baseball. He denied
all of the accusations, but he was banned from baseball anyway. Due to that, he
is now banned from ever being voted in to the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 2004,
he finally admitted to betting on baseball but remained adamant that he never once
bet on games as a player or ever bet against his own team. Despite the
controversy, Pete Rose remains a beloved figure to baseball fans everywhere. There
are a lot of people that feel his lifetime ban from baseball should be
nullified, and he should be allowed in Hall of Fame.
Recently,
information has come to light that may indicate that Rose was lying about never
betting on his own team while he was a player. The documents are copies of
pages from a notebook seized from the home of former Rose associate Michael
Bertolini during a raid by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in October 1989,
nearly two months after Rose was declared permanently ineligible by Major
League Baseball. Their authenticity has been verified by two people who took
part in the raid, which was part of a mail fraud investigation and unrelated to
gambling. For 26 years, the notebook has remained under court-ordered seal and
is currently stored in the National Archives' New York office, where officials
have declined requests to release it publicly. Due to this new information, it
may be possible that sympathy Pete Rose gained from the public over the years
might be dwindling.
The
question we need to ask ourselves, as baseball fans, is whether or not Pete
Rose deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Is what he did all that bad? After
all, he never cheated. He never bet against his own team. Gambler or not, he
competed to win every single game he ever played or managed, and that is why
fans love him. That is how he came away from baseball with the nickname
“Charlie Hustle.” Yes, he broke the rules, but that did not affect the way he
played or managed.
Another
question exists that we need to ask ourselves. Is what Pete Rose did worse than
what the suspected steroid and PED users did in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s? There
is evidence against some and others had obvious physical enhancements during
their playing careers. Do Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa belong in
Cooperstown despite drug allegations that tainted their huge numbers? Hall of
Fame voters are undecided. Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star has his opinion.
"I plan to vote for all three. I understand the steroid/PED questions
surrounding each one, and I've wrestled with the implications," he wrote
in an email. "My view is these guys played and posted Hall of Fame-type
numbers against the competition of their time. That will be my sole yardstick.
If Major League Baseball took no action against a player during his career for
alleged or suspected steroid/PED use, I'm not going to do so in assessing their
career for the Hall of Fame," he said.
It can
be argued that Pete Rose is the most decorated baseball player to ever
live. He holds the records, has the
championships, and has the favor of the fans.
On the other hand, he is a degenerate gambler and a compulsive
liar. Does he belong in the Hall of
Fame? If users of performance enhancing
drugs, proven cheaters, are receiving Hall of Fame votes, why shouldn’t Pete
Rose have the same opportunity? This
journalist doesn’t have the all the answers, but one thing is for sure. Pete Rose’s main problem is all about
perception. If he never fully admits to
all of his wrongdoings, how can he ever be forgiven? If he ever does come completely clean, it
will take years for baseball to forgive and forget. But only then will his Hall of Fame status be
reconsidered by the powers that be in baseball.
There has been no evidence that this saga will end any time soon. It’s in your hands, Pete.
####
References
Kennedy, K. (2014) The Pete Problem. Sports Illustrated. 3/10/2014, Vol. 120 Issue 10, p46. 8p.
Walker, B. (2012) Big Numbers, Bigger
Debate. Winnipeg Free Press. 11/29/2012,
pD4. Retrieved from
Ashford Online Library
Weinbaum, W. & Quinn, T. (2015)
Entries in Long-hidden Notebook Show Pete Rose Bet on Baseball as
Player. Retrieved at http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/13114874/notebook-obtained-lines-shows-pete-rose-bet-baseball-player-1986.
www.foxsports.com (photo)
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