Posted on 07/07/2014 5:14:19 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Pete Rose has a vision. Someday his career hits record will be tied, and he will respond with one final turn at bat. He will roll a single up the middle and crawl to first base for No. 4,257, reclaiming his title as Hit King.
Rose related this fanciful dream on the phone the other day, at the end of a lively conversation. The problem with the story, obviously, is that he is 73 years old and has been barred from baseball since 1989. But there has to be a better ending out there, somehow.
Life is good for Rose. He has been in the news lately, managing the independent Bridgeport Bluefish, in Connecticut, for a game last month — “They took some extra bases, made some headfirst slides, and we won, 2-0,” he said — and announcing his role as a spokesman for SportsBeep, a fantasy sports app. It is legal, he pointed out.
“Which is important to me — I will no longer do anything illegal in my life,” Rose said. “It’s a great way for fans to be attracted. If they’re attracted to sports through this app, they’re going to watch more sports and maybe go to more games. It creates fun for sports fans.”
If this new association bothers anybody or hinders his chances of being reinstated, Rose said, he cannot worry about it.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Degenerate scumbag gambler. Hope he never gets in.
Interesting....
Isn’t OJ in the NFL HoF?
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Simpson’s crimes were off the field and did not shamefully harm the integrity of the game, unlike Charley Hustle.
Although I wouldn’t complain if every award ever given to Simpson was rescinded.
O.J. Simpson was elected into the NFL Hall of Fame before he killed anybody. And Gambling has been considered one offense that will get you barred from the baseball hall of fame, and Rose knew it.
The article says that he bet on his team to win, as if that is a mitigating factor. However, even betting to win the threatens the integrity of the game. Managers make decisions on what pitchers to use on a given day, knowing that they have to rest those pitchers other days. Managers are in a unique position to decide which days they will maximize their team’s chances for success. Fans and players trust that they will use that decision-making authority to maximize the number of games won over the course of a 162 game season. However, if Rose was betting on his team to win certain games, he had strong incentive to use his best players in those games, even if it would be better to save them for other games.
His stats and the legendary way he played the game deserves to be a part of the Hall of Fame. The fact that he cheated, lied, and acted the scoundrel deserves to have his punishment stand. Bart Giamatti banned Pete Rose from baseball for life, including the Hall of Fame. Once Pete Rose’s life is over, the ban is over. Put him into the Hall, but he never gets to see it happen.
Recently, I read one of the reports claimed he didn’t bet on games that were started by two specific pitchers.
They banned Willie Mays from baseball for going to work in a casino after he was inducted.
Good point.
Baseball was almost completed ruined by the Black Sox scandal. If there was any hint the integrity of the game were in question, it would kill the game.
That’s why Baseball has to be as harsh as it is towards gambling.
Keep waiting, Pete.
Rose was a manager when he bet on the Reds - he never was charged with betting as a player when he established the hit record.
As a player, he was FAR cleaner than a lot of current and future HoFers.
He and his CLEAN hit record should be in the HoF.
We were fortunate to meet and talk to Bob Feller numerous time as his museum outside of Des Moines. He said, baseball has many rules, but only a handful are posted in every clubhouse. Gambling was one of them. ‘Nuff said.
If they let any of the juicers into the HOF- with or without an asterisk- then Rose should be inducted too. What he did was wrong, but it did not ruin baseball for an entire generation.
Isn’t OJ in the NFL HoF?
How many of the owners of baseball teams own race horses?
A sport of hypocrites, that is why it was once the national pastime until Football got more popular, and without heroes like Charlie Hustle it will soon be in 3rd place behind Soccer.
He served more time than murderers, makes me sick to my stomach this vendetta that they won’t let go of.
I nominate Tom Koehler.
Seems a little sadistical?
As if MLB has clean hands.
Totally agree. The evidence against Jackson was pretty sketchy. There is no question that Rose bet on baseball. Pete, you do the crime, you pay the time - a lifetime ban is just that - you don't see the end of it.
It’s called “punishment” for a reason. He was punished for his gambling. He knew that gambling was the death penalty, as you put it, for baseball.
He knew it and he gambled anyway. Then he lied about it. Then he denied it over and over. Finally, he admitted it.
The punishment is just.
There is only one Judge who has clean hands and we will all stand before him one day. In the mean time, Pete Rose had his punishment handed down. He now has to deal with it.
Damn right.
Two quick anecdotes:
In 1979 or so, I can remember being a kid of about 14 or 15 years old down in Pompano Beach, Florida, back when the Texas Rangers had their Spring Training right down the street from my home.
One day, the Rangers played the Yankees, and Reggie Jackson was there. Of course there was a mob of kids who wanted autographs. Reggie pushed them all behind a fence, closed the gate, and made every kid hand his item through the fence so it could be autographed. To this young man, Jackson came across as aloof, arrogant, and downright rude.
Now when Pete Rose and the Phillies came to play the Rangers, Rose was mobbed just outside the clubhouse by a similar group of (mostly) kids. Pete stood there, closely pressed by the crowd, and patiently signed every single autograph until nobody was left. He mingled with the crowd, smiled, was friendly and approachable, and acted like a consummate gentleman.
I'll always remember the contrast between those two players and their attitude towards fame and fans. Reggie Jackson treated us like a nuisance, and Pete Rose treated us like a friend.
At least Rose didn't do steroids. I refuse to even consider visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame until Pete Rose is in it. For them to keep him out of it this long, for merely gambling on baseball, is petty, and beyond a travesty...
Yep, but will be inducted posthumously.
As I understand it, no. He gave him an indefinite ban.
He said he would reconsider the decision in one year (which Rose assumed would be favorable). It opened the door for the owners to change the rules which they did not do.
Faye Vincent reconsidered the decision and did not alter it.
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