Say It Ain't So, Bud (Pete Rose Alert)

fanstop.com ^ | 08/20/2003 | Adam Graham

[Keyes2000mt]

Baseball apparently has a deal to let Pete Rose back into baseball. Worse yet, according to the unconfirmed report from Baseballprospectus.com, Rose could end up managing a baseball team again as early as 2005. No admission of guilt will even be required.

If the report is true, then Commissioner Selig has failed baseball fans in a colossal way. The integrity of the game will totally and completely undermined if Rose is allowed back in under these condition.

While one can view the Rose case as a continuation of a national trend: they let OJ off, they let Bill Clinton off, why not give a pass to Ol’ Charlie Hustle? I’d say in a serious way, the evidence against Pete Rose is greater than that against OJ Simpson. OJ did not look as guilty as Rose. In order to look as guilty as Pete Rose, OJ would have had to have taken a private plane to Mexico and fly to Rio to avoid prosecution as soon as he heard about the murders.

As for Bill Clinton, while as a lawyer he knew the legal definition of perjury, he never walked past a sign every day that said, “Don’t commit perjury or you’ll be impeached.” He also admitted he sorta did something wrong.

There are numerous problems with this reported deal. First of all, it cannot be emphasized too often that Rose knew what he was doing. It was posted in every clubhouse in the majors. Everyone knew the rule, the one rule you could not violate with impunity: Don’t bet on a game you’re involved in. Rose broke it.

Some Rose supporters allege there’s a question as to whether he bet on his own team. If all he’d done was bet on other teams, he could have admitted his guilt and been banned for 1 year. Why accept a lifetime ban? The only logical conclusion is that he’d bet on the Reds. There’s no other reason he would accept Baseball’s death sentence and the loss of revenue and standing that followed it.

[StatesEnemy]

Let him in the HoF.

Keep him out of any managerial/coach/front-office role.

[Petronski]

Put him in the HoF, right after he's dead.

[Leroy S. Mort]

If the report is true, then Commissioner Selig has failed baseball fans in a colossal way.

It didn't take this latest stupendously stupid move to prove that to baseball fans.

[pepsionice]

Bud has failed baseball...day after day after day. Bud failed baseball from his very first day of employment.

As for Pete...he alone does not drag down baseball...they are all helping to make baseball a 3rd rate sport. I cannot see how ESPN or any of the networks can justify the money they pay for getting games on tv. They simply aren't worth it.

[RJL]

Put him in the HoF, right after he's dead.

Exactly correct.

[CheezyD]

What StatesEnemy said.

[Petronski]

Bud Selig is a multi-tiered managerial disaster of the highest magnitude. He is neither an adequate authority figure nor an adminstrator nor a competent moneyman nor an ambassador for baseball. At the time when baseball needs a Pete Rozelle, it has instead a Michael Dukakis. The sport languishes under his rudderless command and teams like Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Tampa, et cetera (even his own Milwaukee) struggle to keep their heads above the surf.

What's going to happen when MLB tries to put the Expos in DC? Disastrous multi-party litigation, and all because everyone in baseball (Selig included) knows that dear Bud is an empty suit. Someone's got to start slamming fists on tables, but dear Bud's too busy licking boots.

And by the way, just who is supposed to believe his daughter is really running the Brewers?

[Redwood71]

Please read the Dowd report, and then it might be a little more understandable. Pete Rose dirtied the game, then lied about it, then continued the lie through now. He knew what he was doing, and thumbed his nose at the rules and the players that accomplished what was right with the game. He asked for no help concerning a possible gambling illness, nor made any attempt to get help.

Admittedly, there are too few of those that did what was right, but letting him back into the game is a thumb on the nose for the players, the fans, the young players of today, and the memory of those that are gone.

And, btw, unless something has changed that I didn't know about, the hall of fame is not owned, or under the control, of major league baseball. It is a private enterprize. They can do what they want no matter what Selig says.

[Remole]

If Rose is reinstated to Professional Baseball, I will never again attend a Major League Game. That would be the end for me.

[Tallguy]

IMHO, Rose will never bet on baseball if he is reinstated, because he will be under such scrutiny, that betting will be virtually impossible for him to get away with.

Ummm. You might have forgotten that Petey had some very unsavory friends, drug dealers among them, that were fronting for him. He was getting away with it for a time. A gambling addict -- and that's what Pete Rose was -- will continue as long as he thinks there is the slightest possibility that he can get away with it.

As a Phillies fan, I had always admired Rose for his skill and drive, but he was a complete failure off the field. While in Philly he divorced his wife and alienated his son & daughter by taking up with an Eagles Cheerleader. The guy is scum. Let him die first, then admit him.

[Az Joe]

Let Rose alone, in the Hall and back into baseball. He is no worse than Steinbrenner, a convicted felon, or the owners who colluded to hold down player's salaries a few years back. Jeeez, drug users and drunks get chance after chance, he's no worse than they are.

What ever Rose did there is NO evidence that he EVER did anything that affected the outcome of ANY game, except play his heart out and try to win ALL THE TIME.

[Petronski]

The ideal baseball commissioner is George W. Bush, but I think he'll be busy for another five years.

[Keyes2000mt]

How, by this move, is he failing fans? An overwhelming majority of baseball fans, in every poll I've seen, want Rose in the HOF.

Polls are not always accurate. There's a difference between what the fans want and what will actually allow the game to survive and thrive. That will allow fans to know that when they watch a game, they're watching an honest contest, with nothing going on under the table.

IMHO, Rose will never bet on baseball if he is reinstated, because he will be under such scrutiny, that betting will be virtually impossible for him to get away with.

The dog returns to his vomit. Rose isn't even admitting he has a problem. He will fall off the wagon, I'll guarantee it.

He has an unbeatable record, and played the game well for 20 years.

He played the game for 24 years and played good or okay in 17 of them. As for the unbeatable nature of Rose' record, I'm not sure about that. At the age of 28, A-Rod has 1503 hit. At age 28, Rose had 1327. Does that mean that A-Rod will break the record? Not necessarily, but it's a possibility as is his chance of catching up to Aaron. People thought 4191 was unbreakable.

[Godzilla]

Its interesting how on many aspects Rose is being dumped upon. However, when compared to the multiple drug convictions many players have acquired and the damage they have caused to baseball with the gross lack of any similar punishment make Rose's ban very unfair. I cannot condone his actions, but baseball has a higher volume of equally damaging players they need to deal seriously with.