[wideawake]

Correct.

If he had come clean, taken responsibility, and then done something proactive - like use his name and celebrity to oppose gambling addiction - he probably would be in a different position.

But he lied, came somewhat clean, then lied again, over and over, signed autographs at casino sport books, did commercials on TV where he mocked the HOF, etc.

Gambling almost brought the sport down in 1919. Juiced players are a different level of magnitude from canned outcomes.

He refuses to acknowledge the seriousness of what he did.

[BluesDuke]

1919-20 was merely the culmination of a plague which infested baseball since the founding of the original major leagues. In 1977-78 the Louisville Grays, an early National League team, were destroyed by a gambling scandal that forced the team to fold. Prior to Pete Rose in the modern baseball era, only William Cox---then the owner of the Philadelphia Phillies---was banned for life when it was discovered he'd been betting on his own team.

And to those who'd like to keep thinking Rose has been singled out for whatever nebulous reasons, there is but one question: Which portion of Rule 21(d) do they not comprehend?