After 14 years of denying allegations that he bet on baseball, Pete Rose finally admitted that he bet on baseball in his new book Pete Rose, My Prison Without Bars.In his book, Rose openly admits to betting on baseball, more notably the team he managed, the Cincinnati Reds. After an investigation, then MLB commissioner Bart Giamatti placed a lifetime ban from baseball on Rose. The year was 1989. Not even a year after being banned for life from baseball, Rose pled guilty to two felony counts of filing false income tax returns and spent five months in a federal prison in Marion, IL.
Since his release from a federal prison, Rose has been on a crusade to be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Going by his career stats, Rose unarguably belongs in the Hall. Rose had an MLB record 4256 hits, 1314 runs batted in, 24 consecutive seasons, played over 500 games at five different positions, and he had a 44 game hitting streak.
Rose was also known as ìCharlie Hustleî for his attitude toward the game in that he never gave up. This was evident when he slid into American League catcher Bill Freehan to win the 1970 All-Star game. Rose was called safe at home plate and the National League had won the game 5-4. Many people thought the slide was mean spirited, but Rose said he was simply trying to win the game.
Since his lifetime ban was enacted Rose has only been officially allowed onto a Major League Baseball field once, and that was during the announcement of the All-Century team during the 1999 World Series. While fans stood and cheered for Rose, almost an act of forgiveness, NBC reporter Jim Gray asked Rose why he hadnít yet apologized for betting on baseball. Rose declined to answer and the next day Gray was criticized for asking such a question at that time.
Why not ask Rose why he hadnít apologized? Up until recently it was well documented that he had bet on baseball, but the only remaining piece of evidence that was missing was Roseís actual admission of guilt. Gray was simply trying to get that last piece of the puzzle.
Should Rose be in the Hall of Fame? I think so. The Hall of Fame is for the best players of the game of baseball. The key word there is players, not people. But at the same time I feel that if Rose were to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, there should be something on his plaque stating that he admitted to betting on the game of baseball and has been banned for life from the game.
If it werenít for MLB Rule 21 that clearly states that anyone who is involved in gambling on the game of baseball shall be banned from the game for life, I wouldnít care that Rose bet on the game. The problem though is that the players know the rule too because it is posted in every MLB locker room.
So here we are now, Pete Rose has admitted to betting on baseball after denying such allegations since his lifetime ban from the game began 14 years ago. Many are asking why it took so long, but it isnít that hard to figure out. Next year will be the last year Rose could be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame off the sports writers ballot. Any chance he would have to get into the hall after that would be if he were voted in by the veterans committee. The veterans committee though has made it clear that there is no possible way that they would vote Rose in because of his actions.
Some people wonder why there has been talk of whether Rose should be in the Hall of Fame or not despite his lifetime ban. The explanation is easy. Contrary to popular belief, the Baseball Hall of Fame is not part of the MLB, it is a separate entity in itself. In Feb. 1991, the board members at the Baseball Hall of Fame unanimously voted to ban Rose from the voting ballots and honor the lifetime ban the MLB had enacted.
In the first year Rose would have been eligible for Hall of Fame induction, 1992, he had 41 write in votes despite the omission from the ballot.
On a completely different level, I visited Pete Roseís official website, www.peterose.com and I was somewhat taken back by the design of the website. The website had the same fonts and design as the controversial video game Grand Theft Auto. Now I thought this an odd coincidence. Roseís website, a site for an admitted gambler, and Grand Theft Auto, a game where the point is to steal, cheat, and raise havoc, both had the same design. I found it peculiar that two completely separate subjects had same kind of design to them.
I canít tell you what to think of Rose. Some people think his gambling problem isnít as bad as the drug problems some of todayís players have. They think baseball is worrying about the wrong issues. Iím not here to make decisions on either. If it were up to me both offenses would require lifetime bans. Baseball players are role models for the worlds youth and they need to start acting like role models.
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