The Dark Side of Pete Rose Haunts Hall of Fame Hopes

Ray Birmingham, now retired as one of the winningest coaches in college baseball, remembers the day 20 years ago when Pete Rose spoke to a group of minor league prospects about the evils of gambling. Mr. Rose, considered one the best players of any era, served as a real-life casualty after being banned from baseball in 1989 for betting on the sport.“He came to my dugout in 2000 and sat down and talked to the minor league teams,” Mr. Birmingham told the Sun this week. “But the story is the Cincinnati Reds scout who picked him up at the airport had to take him to the dog track to get some gambling in before he spoke with the players.”That was Pete Rose, who died on Monday in Las Vegas at age 83. What hasn’t died is the controversy over whether baseball’s all-time hit king should become eligible for baseball’s Hall of Fame.With Mr. Rose’s death from natural causes, major league baseball seemed free of its hypocrisy. Having embraced sports gambling years ago and erected billboards promoting online sportsbooks throughout their stadiums, baseball looks foolish making millions off promoting sports gambling while continuing its banishment of one of its greatest players for betting on baseball.The ban announced by then Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti in 1989 has been upheld by subsequent commissioners Fay Vincent, Bud Selig, and current commissioner Rob Manfred, handing one of baseball’s most beloved figures what turned out to be a life sentence in exile.Since his death, calls for Mr. Rose to be in the Hall of Fame have only increased.“Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? I think he does,” Mr. Birmingham said. “We’ve become more forgiving and understanding. We’ve seen other people do things that were detrimental and didn’t give them a death penalty. We gave them a penalty, and I think Pete had his penalty.”If Mr. Rose were eligible he would be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. A 17-time All-Star, he won two World Series with the Cincinnati Reds (1975, 1976) and one with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1980. He was the National League MVP in 1973 and World Series MVP in 1975. His chase to break Ty Cobb’s all-time hits record captivated the nation, culminating on Sept. 11, 1985, when batting left-handed, the switch-hitter, lined a single to left field to break Mr. Cobb’s record of 4,191. Mr. Rose finished with 4,256 career hits with a .303 batting average.Known as “Charlie Hustle” for his head-first slides and ability to play just about every position, Mr. Rose was the engine of Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine in the 1970s. “When I was growing up, nobody slid head-first until they saw Pete Rose play. Nobody,” said Mr. Collins, who guided the Mets to the 2015 World Series. “His style of play changed the game for a lot of people. I just hope he’s remembered more for the Charlie Hustle side of Pete Rose than the gambling side of Pete Rose.”Mr. Giamatti announced the ban in 1989 after an investigation revealed Mr. Rose had violated Baseball’s Rule 21 posted in every clubhouse which states: “Any player, umpire or club or league official or employee who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform shall be declared permanently ineligible.”Mr. Rose, the Reds manager at the time, agreed to the ban but didn’t come clean about betting on baseball until 2004 when he made the admission in a book he wrote.Gambling wasn’t his only flaw. In 1990 pleaded guilty to two charges of filing false tax returns and served five months in prison. Mr. Rose also filed a defamation lawsuit against John Dowd for asserting on a radio show in 2015 that Mr. Rose committed statutory rape by meeting with girls aged 12 to 14 during spring training. A federal court judge dismissed the case after the two sides reached an agreement.Tim Sullivan, a long-time sports columnist in Cincinnati, said covering Mr. Rose was always a compelling assignment. “The tragedy about him is that the people who really cared about him and wanted a happy ending, he didn’t listen to,” Mr. Sullivan told the Sun. “He didn’t change his ways.”Tom Harding, who has covered baseball for 25 years in Colorado, is among those who say Mr. Rose should never be eligible for the Hall of Fame. “Pete Rose is a Hall of Fame-type baseball player, but does he belong in the Hall of Fame? Absolutely not,” Mr. Harding said. “I can admire what he did on the field, but what he did to Rule 21, I don’t think he belongs in the Hall of Fame. There’s got to be a deterrent.”Baseball has monitored players’ association with gambling since the Black Sox Scandal where eight members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of intentionally losing the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. All eight players were permanently banned including “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, a star outfielder.Mr. Manfred doesn’t appear inclined to change the ban. He denied a petition of reinstatement for Mr. Rose in 2015. Mr. Rose directly appealed to the Hall of Fame without success in 2016 saying the ban he agreed to was never supposed to keep him out of the Hall of Fame.With the proliferation of sports gambling today Rule 21 will not be softened. The major leagues can benefit from an association with sports gambling, but not the players.Mr. Collins, who hosts “The Terry Collins Show” podcast, said: “I think they need to get him in. He certainly was a tremendous player. They’re not all choir boys in the Hall of Fame.”

The Dark Side of Pete Rose Haunts Hall of Fame Hopes

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