The 2015 All-Star game will be played in the Queen City, Cincinnati, Ohio and former Reds great Pete Rose will be part of the on-field activities prior to the game starting Tuesday evening.
Rose was banned from baseball for life in 1989 after it was found out that he bet on baseball while managing the Reds in the late 1980’s.
Former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda told Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times, “If you are stupid enough to go out and bet on your own team and bet on baseball, there has got to be something wrong. If my brother did it, I’d say the same thing.”
However, Baltimore Orioles infielder and 2007 Hall of Fame Inductee Cal Ripken Jr. has a different take.
Its important to realize that Rose agreed to the ban back in the late 1980’s and it wasn’t handed down by Major League Baseball. He accepted the punishment and in exchange, MLB did not make any formal finding of the gambling allegations. “There is absolutely no deal for reinstatement. That is exactly what we did not agree to in terms of a fixed number of years,” said then-commissioner Bart Giamatti following the ban.
Rose, 74 accumulated 4,256 hits in his 23 year career and is the all-time hits leader in MLB history.
Some will point out that Rose has been barred from the game longer than he played and the time has come that he becomes eligible for the hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York. Furthermore, his actions are not by law a felony or violent crime, and some believe that he would do much more good than harm.
In his playing career, he made it to 17 all-star games, won 3 world series rings, won the MVP award in 1973 and finished with a batting average north of .300.
From the point he was banned from the game, that didn’t stop him from signing autographs on baseballs, which irked MLB. However, in 2004 in an autobiography, he came out clean and admitted to gambling on games.
I did not get a chance to see Rose play but the numbers he put up were phenomenal all the way around, there are stats I haven’t mentioned that I could, but you get the picture.
However, rule 21 is and will always be Pete Rose’s enemy, those rules are clear and should be posted in every clubhouse.
New commissioner Rob Manfred acknowledged that the rules could be changed, which would allow Rose to be eligible for the Hall of fame.
Rose has been a polarizing figure ever since he was banned from baseball in 1989 and that will remain the case for sometime even after Rose is no longer living.
Even if he were to be eligible to be on the ballot, there would be tons of resistance from the Baseball writers of America, who make the ultimate decision whether one is in or not. In order to make it, one has to receive at 75% of the vote and can be on the ballot for a maximum for 15 years or receive less than 5% before being removed from the ballot.
If Rose is allowed to get on the ballot for consideration, MLB’s image would be tarnished for years to come and that factor is the reason why Rose will never make the hall despite 4,000+hits.
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