[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Next thing, you'll tell me President Clinton have sexual relations with that woman, Monica Lewinsky.

[the invisib1e hand]

I did get the impression (second-hand) that Mr. Rose was something less than 'repentent...'

[don'tbedenied]

I don't like Pete Rose (at all), but the ability of Rose haters like Fay Vincent to carry out their own personal vendetta via the national media is sickening. Of course it's the NYSlimes.

[ClearCase_guy]

I would like to see Shoeless Joe Jackson in the HOF. I say we re-visit the Pete Rose thing in about 80 years.

[Search4Truth]

What has hit more balls than Pete Rose's bat?

[presidio9]

[BlackElk]

Fay Vincent and Bowie Kuhn are very fine men. They are exemplary Catholics. They were just not very good at the task of baseball commissioner. Bart Giamattei was good only as an enemy of Western Civilization while at Yale and he was also a known Red Sox fan. Pete Rose is not a very fine man. He is not likely to be Catholic much less an exemplary one or an exemplary anything religiously if the anything is a positive.

Pete Rose is however, the man who holds the record, recognized or not, for the most base hits of any man who ever played the game in the major leagues. He was a nasty and furious and devastating opponent as any other Yankee fan can tell you who closely watched him lead the nuking of the sainted Billy Martin's Yankees in the 1976 World Series. No lawyer/commissioner, no secular humanist/commissioner, no pathetic used car salesman/ commissioner can take away from Pete Rose his accomplishments on the field.

Assuming that Pete Rose, retired as a player, acting as a manager, bet on games or worst of all bet against his team when he managed that team. Make his ban permanent. That need not require living the lie of making believe that he did not establish records on the field. Nor did Shoeless Joe Jackson deserve to have his records erased because he knew of the Black Sox fix. Banned? Perhaps. Erased? No. History is history and no commissioner has any business rewriting history.

[GreenHornet]

If only he had done drugs instead - the commissioner would have reinstated him long ago.

[Khurkris]

Jeez Loweez...everytime somebody mentions Pete Rose all the weirdness comes out.

The BaseBall Commizaars of the last 15-20 years have all been political wackos of one sort or another. They all have hated Rose for his 'stain' on the fine sport of BaseBall.' BS!

And now I see religion being brought into this. What insanity!

What damn business of anyone is it if Rose, Kuhn, Vincent, Giametti or Bart Damn Simpson is a member of the Roman Catholic Church? We're talking BASEBALL!

I have been a Pete Rose fan since he came to the team (Reds). He was and did exlemplfy EVERYTHING a good BaseBall Player should be.

He would be the first to say that he was not a 'natural' athelete. He just WORKED harder. And his record still stands!

Did he bet? Yes..he probably did. Should he be punished? Yes...And he WAS. He did his time. He didn't bitch. He did the jail time.

Who the hell is hurt if Pete gets into the Hall of Fame? The delicate sensitivities of some people who are 'offended' by anything they can't control...Thats Who!

To those who would eternally condemn Pete for his actions...GROW UP!

Its BaseBall damnit...it ain't no big moral drama.

Thank you for your time. We now return to our regularly scheduled program.

[Taliesan]

The question is often confused. Most people think it is: should off-field behavior be considered when evaluating a player for the HOF?

If that were the question the discussion would be complicated...should O.J. Simpson, for example, be in the football HOF?

But that is not the correct question -- the Rose situation is clearer than that. Betting on the sport you are a part of is NOT off-field behavior. It implicates your on-field play. It creates a presumption that your competitive effort is for sale. There is no need to have actual proof of throwing a game. The HOF honor is not just for guys who put up great numbers; it also indicates that you honored the game by your presence in it.

Rose, unarguably one of the best hitters in history, has not honored the game. Rose deserves the ban.

[FoxInSocks]

I remember listening to the 1983 World Series on the radio. Baltimore beat the Phillies in five games.

[Bonaparte]

I have no objection at all to having Rose in the HOF but on one condition: He must be clearly identified for what he is, namely, a degenerate gambler and a liar who disgraced the game. That's right. I want it right there on his plaque.

He was one of the greatest players who ever lived but to this very day, he has no idea was baseball is really all about.

[Bonaparte]

was = what

[Ann Archy]

I knew Pete Rose....he was certainly NO saint, but I cannot IMAGINE him betting AGAINST himself (Reds)....not for all the money in the world. He might have bet on baseball but he most assuredly did NOT bet against himself, thus throwing a game......NEVER!

[Chu Gary]

I have held two theories about A. Bart Giamatti for a long time.

1. He knew his health was poor and his life expectancy was the pits and he wanted to do something in baseball that would result in him being remembered for generations. He accomplished that with the banning of Pete Rose.

2. God is a Pete Rose fan and demonstrated such.