[ConservativeStatement]

Willie Mays Aikens went to fed prison and returned to baseball.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Aikens

[Michael.SF.]

I read the request as Rose asking to be reinstated for the purpose of being inducted into the Hall of Fame, I see now that may have been more than he intended.

I would be OK if he was permitted back in to baseball, if the ban on HOF membership was still in place. That ban could be lifted posthumously, along with Joe Jackson's ban.

[Ditto]

Willie Mays Aikens went to fed prison and returned to baseball.

As a minor league coach, not as a member of the HoF. Aikens broke the law of the United States and paid a price.

He did not, as Pete Rose did, break the most important rule of baseball.

Don't get me wrong. I remember Pete's rookie season when he was called 'Charlie Hustle.' I know the guy put every effort on every play. But Pete was always an arrogant jerk, and a big part of his problems now are that none of the guys who played with him ever particularly liked the guy. He was always a jerk.

But he played for years and then gets the Manager job, and stays being the jerk and cares more about his bookies than the team or his players.

Screw him. The Hall of Fame is about more than just stats!