For Pete's Sake

                       By Florida Bill

                  

                          The verdict is in, and Pete Rose stays out. That was the decision of Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, who has determined that the 74-year-old Rose has not yet learned his lesson. He lacks a "mature understanding of his wrongful conduct.... and has not yet accepted full responsibility for it," Manfred said in a statement.
                          Did Commissioner Manfred make the right decision? Was Rose's behavior so bad that it overrides the possibility of removing the iron wall which restricts Rose's association with a baseball team and shuts down his entry into the Hall of Fame? Manfred's further observations about Rose having caused "damage" to the game and the need to preserve the integrity of baseball--America's "Grand 'ol Game"-- is just too wide of the mark, and it suggests a one-on-one dislike of the cocky, aggressive Rose.

                          I have a friend, Charlie Morris of the Chicago area, an excellent college ballplayer and retired naval commander, who believes that the commissioner did the right thing in keeping Rose away from the game he betrayed and out of the prestigious Hall of Fame. It's a question of preserving the integrity of the game, said Morris. Who is next, Shoeless Joe Jackson of the Black Sox era; or Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds who loaded themselves with steroids to produce performances which they may not have achieved absent the muscle-making drugs? No, Rose wrote his ticket and must live with it, said Morris.
                         What exactly did Rose do to merit a life-time punishment with no chance of redemption? He never robbed or stole, and he never assaulted or injured anyone. He is the all-time major league hit leader with 4,256, more than even Ty Cobb, who is real proof that the Hall of Fame of which he is a member, is not only for the very pure. Rose also holds the records for his 14,053 at bats, was MVP of both the National League and a World Series, and he appeared in 17 all-star games. He remains to this day a hero in Cincinnati, and the Legislature in the state of Ohio has passed resolutions endorsing Rose for entry into the Hall of Fame. Energetic and brash, Rose was a major league player and manager during 26 years in baseball, most of those years with the Cincinnati Reds.
                        In 1989, it was determined that Rose had been betting on baseball games, including Cincinnati Reds games, as a player and later as a player-manager. The betting was in violation of MLB rule 21 and proof of his gambling was irrefutable, but Rose chose to lie about his gambling, claiming it just wasn't true. In 1991, he was barred from baseball and designated as permanently ineligible for entry into the Hall of Fame.
                        In 2004, he finally acknowledged his gambling in an autobiography and since then he has continued to ask baseball commissioners to forgive his indiscretions. At one point, in a public discussion of his activities, and of his closeness with his teammates, he said "I am a competitive guy and I like these guys. They're like my sons, and I bet on them. I shouldn't have done it. But I did it and it's history and there is nothing I can do to change it."
                        Commissioner Manfred replaced Bud Selig in January, 2015, and he promised he would take a fresh look at the Rose petition asking for a pardon and for permission to return to the game and for renewal of eligibility for his entrance into the Hall of Fame. But Manfred reported after his scrutiny of his petition that it was clear to him that Rose did not have a "grasp of the scope of the violation of rule 21." Rose had advised Manfred that he continues to gamble because of his competitive nature and that he enjoys it, but the Commissioner was bothered by the continued out-of-control gambling addiction of the aging celebrity. His continued betting on horse racing and sports events brings into question whether he has adopted a "reconfigured life," said Manfred, adding that while such behavior is not illegal, such betting would not be permissible if made "by a player subject to rule 21." Of course, Rose is no longer subject to rule 21, so what's the point here?    

                                Somehow, to me, Rose's present enjoyment of gambling is irrelevant to the issue, but Manfred views it differently.
It appears pretty clear that based on a one-on-one meeting between Rose and Manfred that the commissioner did not see the groveling and repentance he deemed necessary for Rose's reinstatement. In fact, the loud, blustering Rose told the commissioner that he continues to bet on baseball games and on other sporting events because of the huge enjoyment which he derives from gambling.
                        Manfred speaks about "damage to the game," perpetrated by Rose, but that seems a bit of a stretch now, some 25 years after revelation of Rose's betting that his Cincinnati team would win a game, and at a time when many consider Major League Baseball and other major sports to be too closely tied to the billion dollar sports fantasy industry. Suggesting that Rose's behavior of a quarter of a century ago impacts the integrity of baseball, a sport deeply tarnished by steroid use, is just plain not accurate. 
                        The fact is that Pete Rose was an extraordinary talent and his profile should be in the Hall of Fame, alongside greats such as Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth whose very presence underscores the fact that the Cooperstown Hall of Fame will never make it as a Hall of Saints.
                        To a great many observers and sports writers and sundry interested fans, it is the final chapter for Rose, consigning him for all times to the history book of statistics, but without the recognition which he has surely earned. He violated a baseball rule, yes. But that was yesterday and he has admitted his misdeeds and apologized, and regrets his poor judgment. If he could change history, he says he would gladly do so; but since he can't, he simply asks that the slate be erased.
                        But for sure, Pete Rose isn't going away. Predictably, his lawyers are examining case law, statutes and anything else they can find to support another petition for reinstatement. As one fan put it, Charlie Hustle will be back, and will be restored as a part of baseball. "You can make book on it," he smiled.

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