It’s Time To Let Pete Rose Into The Hall Of Fame

Townhall.com ^ | February 27, 2020 | Derek Hunter

[Ratman0823]

I have a family member who played for the Reds in 1978 through 1980.

Unless it was the 1978 team, Pete Rose wouldn't be on it. He signed as a free agent with the Phillies in 1979.

[discostu]

You assume they got the logs from all his bookies, and said logs are accurate beyond reproach? Meanwhile, Pete is a serial liar who broke the one big rule, the only 1 infraction life time ban rule in ALL of American sport. Screw im.

[Ransomed]

I just can’t picture a degenerate gambler betting everyday invariably on the same team for the exact same $$$. That stretches the bounds of credulity for me. But say it’s the way he did it. How does he manage the games he plays against teams he is going to bet after they play his team? Say you know a team is lousy but has a great pen. Do you try to wear their pen out with a better line up/pinch hitters or go easy on them so they have a fresh pen for the next series they play?

Freegards

[real saxophonist]

Must have been it, then. Vic Correll is this guy’s name.

[discostu]

PED guys have an interesting situation though. For most of MLB’s “steroid era” they weren’t actually against the rule, the PA blocked it. The first time they made PEDs against the rules there was no testing and no punishment schedule, so not REALLY against the rules. I think McGuire and Sosa were out of the league by the time roids really and truly became against MLB rules with testing and punishment. Can you really ban guys from the Hall for doing something that wasn’t even against the rules? Not to mention that there is the “steroid era”, it is a part of baseball history, you can’t really tell the story of the game without it.

And no I don’t think A-Rod will get voted in. Too many people thought he was going to “rescue” the home run records from steroid cheat Bonds, only for A-Rod to get busted. There was a lot of sadness around the game that day.

[Kharis13]

Every Major League clubhouse has a sign that says there is no gambling on the game. Pete Rose broke the cardinal rule. He was a great player, one of the best, but he should not be in the Hall of Fame.

[real saxophonist]

Point was, Pete Rose has been an asshole for a long time.

Actually, Vic's an asshole, too. He got too big for his britches, became a free agent, and nobody wanted him, because he had a well-deserved reputation for being very difficult to deal with.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

Let him in the HOF, but put his plaque in the basement, by the boiler, and you need to get special permission to go down and see it.

[MPJackal]

We all have our opinions. Pete is arrogant. The Reds were pretty good at the time. I think he expected them to win more often than not. JMHO

[xp38]

Ah a simulation of Hades!

[colorado tanker]

I've come around to letting him in, especially after the pass given to all the Astros players who cheated.

It might have happened a long time ago, but Pete has a way of defeating himself. For some insane reason he was made a commentator on one of the networks covering the playoffs a few years ago and he was an egomaniacal blowhard who I never want to hear from again. Very irritating. He's probably his own worst enemy.

[Hebrews 11:6]

I got your point: Cobb played against a diluted talent pool due to the absence of blacks. But here is the question: once MLB was fully integrated, was its overall competitiveness measurably higher as a direct result, as you imply?

[Dan in Wichita]

Cobb played against a diluted talent pool due to the absence of blacks. But here is the question: once MLB was fully integrated, was its overall competitiveness measurably higher as a direct result, as you imply?

Was its overall competitiveness measurably higher? Yes, it was. As you said, it was a diluted talent pool before integration, implying that after integration, the talent pool was no longer diluted. At that point, the game was played at a higher level, although the level of competitiveness/improvement would be difficult to actually quantify/measure.

[Ransomed]

I think Rose is actually more well known and his accomplishments more famous because he’s not in the hall. It created a lot of discussions about Rose over the years.

Betting the same bet the same way for the same amount is not how most gambler’s get their enjoyment from sports betting, at least in my observation. My point is that a manager betting on baseball has an opportunity to affect teams after his team plays them, at least for the next series or so.

Freegards

[CommerceComet]

Shoeless Joe Jackson never lived to see himself voted into the HOF. Neither should Pete Rose. If either get in (and both should if only on-the-field activities are considered), it should be posthumously. Consider it part of the penalty for violating baseball's most sacred rule. I have no problem with the ban being eternal.

IMO putting Jackson in the HOF is an easier call than Pete Rose. Shoeless Joe was acquitted in a court of law for conspiring to fix the 1919 World Series. Pete Rose agreed to the ban as part of his settlement to keep from really getting nailed. His petitions to get the ban that he agreed to lifted seem incredibly unrepentant and should rightfully be ignored. Very similar to Charles Manson's parole hearings - the board should ask "why are you wasting our time?"

[newnhdad]

No. He gambled, he gambled on his own team.

No means no.

[Alberta's Child]

I’m wondering if some of those PED guys will eventually get in — especially Bonds, Clemens and A-Rod. Those three would have been Hall of Famers even if PEDs didn’t exist. That’s probably not the case with any of the others.

[discostu]

I think so. MLB has the weird eligibility ceiling though, so it could get strange. IMHO the right answer is for the Hall to commit to a “steroid era” section, and have a vote that’s just players where voters are specifically instructed to ignore the steroid issue. If you take the position that the Hall is about telling the story of the sport you can’t tell the story of baseball without talking about that era. Especially because they weren’t against the rules for so long. You have to include that issue and the players in it.

[Oystir]

I was in a small conference(for lack of a better word) with Manfred two years ago. He said many interesting things, mostly about mathematics, algorithms and the time clock. He also said that one of the very first things considered was to let Rose back in so he would not have to hear about all his term. Then he looked at the file - nope, not going to happen.

[Hebrews 11:6]

So, we can safely speculate and make all kinds of inferences, but lacking those “difficult” measurements they remain utterly without factual foundation. Yet a study quantifying the differences, if any, would be both possible and valuable. A doctoral thesis or a sabermetric book awaits the Voros McCracken willing to look past conventional wisdom, what “everyone knows,” to reality.