I am not a huge Pete Rose fan, but I am a fan of baseball.
Pete Rose, one of the greats of the game, is banned from the Hall of Fame for gambling.
Darryl Strawberry gets arrested for soliciting a prostitute and being in possesion of cocaine immediately after he picked up an award for being a Christian role model, and he gets a suspension, hangs out at Yankee’s camp in Florida, and gets to be in the MLB playoffs in the same year.
I know the MLB rules state that gambling hurts the integrity of the game, but doesn’t being a coke-head and a philanderer hurt the games integrity too?
Gambling is legal all over the place now while cocaine and prostitution (except Neveda) isn’t.
Let’s wake up here people and take a look at fair treatment for moral infractions.
As long as my bottle opener is Y2K compliant, I’ll be okay.
In our era where forgiving public figures (as long as their name ain’t Clinton) or past sins is vogue, Peter Edward Rose still has yet to be vindicated.
Baseball DID go as far as to say that Pete could participate in the festivities if he was named on the “All-Time Team” some credit card company was sponsoring, so it’s a step in the right direction.
My opinion, shared by many sports writers, is that Pete is not helping his own cause. Bu constantly berating baseball officials, making smart-ass remarks and mouthing off to the media (and not in a good way) all the time, it makes him look bad, and makes it hard to elicit the kind of mass sympathy needed to overcome his ban.
My personal opinion is that it has yet to be proven that Pete gambled on baseball, and just as Michael Jordan losing some money golfing and on the ponies didn’t disrupt the fiber of his sport, I don’t think Pete did. If proof did come up that he DID gamble on baseball, I would say the analogy to drug addicts is not quite valid, since that effects a lot more than the perception of one players pratfall, but a black cloud over the game itself.
But since I don’t see any proof that Pete gambled on baseball, I say he belongs in the Hall.
Babe Ruth was an alcoholic womanizer. Ty Cobb a racist and an asshole. Judge players by off-field behavior and the Hall becomes quite a small place.
And what about good old Steve Howe? Wasn’t he banned or suspended from baseball about 7 times for cocaine use? I think he was even “banned for life” more than once.
“The problem with the world is that everyone is a few drinks behind.” - Humphrey Bogart
That’s just it, guys. The idea is that gambling on your own sport harms the integrity of the game. If a guy shoots crack and has sex with 12 year old heroin addicts, he’s certainly hurting himself and his teammates, and is undoubtedly dimming the image of the sport.
But he has nothing to gain or lose if his team wins or loses, so there’s no chance of games being fixed.
If Pete were betting on baseball, he might have had some influence in the outcome (he knew an awful lot of people). And if he would bet on other teams, he might bet on his own–or against it. “Say it ain’t so!”
So, no betting on baseball. No one in the baseball world can afford people getting pissed off and taking their money elsewhere.
Ditto (though not always as vehement) for other sports. MJ didn’t bet on basketball, but it still made people worried. And college b-ball teams (usually) know better than to risk point-shaving.
There is no proof the Pete bet on baseball, same as there is no proof that Jordon didn’t bet on basketball. Jordon is a role model and his blemishes needed to be covered immediately, while Pete is crude and “just another ballplayer.”
It is once again precetion that people look at. I admire Jordan as a basketball player, but it also bothers me hopw much influence he has. I remember the death of his father being the top of the news pre-empting the Pope’s vist to Salt Lake City. Where are our priorities? What is historically significant and just? Marion Barry was re-elected mayor of Washington, D.C. after being convicted of crack cocaine use and the nation saw a video tape of him doing it.
Does morality set the rules, do the rules indicate moral behavior, or are the two seperate? Is it up to the corporation that is Major League Baseball to decide what philandering drug users get into the Hall of Fame, or should it be the fans?
As long as my bottle opener is Y2K compliant, I’ll be okay.
According to my understanding of the situation, Giamatti would have been more lenient had Rose admitted that he had bet on games. Not only did baseball have quite a few witnesses (as shady as they were) state that they helped Rose place bets, but my understanding is that they even have betting slips with his fingerprints on them.
There is no doubt in my mind that Rose bet on games; something he refuses to admit, and (as Satan said) has a arrogant attitude about.
The question on whether Rose bet on the Reds is a little less clear. I do not think the evidence is as conclusive as betting on teams in general, but given the nature of a compulsive gambler in denial, it would not surprise me one bit.
Rose could have helped himself by giving a mea culpa and seeking help for his problem. One thing about the USA, we sure love to give pity, support, and forgiveness to people with problems, as long as they come clean.
Please continue your discussion in Great Debates, under the thoughful tutelage of my much-beloved compatriot, David B.
(He’s paying me for good press these days).
Just to add a point here, Major League Baseball and the Baseball Hall of Fame are not the same thing. The Hall of Fame is owned and run by the Clark Foundation headed up by Jane Forbes Clark. Many of the baseball owners and administrators sit on the board but they are for all intents and purposes seperate entities.