Bench should have kept his mouth shut.Great catcher but NOBODY put as much effort as Pete.
Pete Rose WAS Cincinnati baseball.
And the various HOFs all play politics be it music or sports.
What I heard was Pete always bet on the Reds to win.
Saw him in person once at the store where I worked in the 70s.Acted like an ordinary customer.
The Dowd report is very damning. Gambling on one’s own team is a conflict of interest. I am not sure without reading the full report as to whether Rose bet against his team, but I do recall an article or book written years ago that outlined how Rose betting on wins for his team hurt his team. Rose would sacrifice his pitching staff in losses so that he had well-rested good relievers for the games he felt confident about. In other words, he was willing to lose some games to fix others.
Regardless, he signed the dotted line.