Pete Rose Takes Same Old Words To New Ears
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Roger Grossman, Lake City Radio-
You either really love him or you really don’t.
Count me with the DO NOTs.
But like him or not, you have to give old #14 this – he is relentless isn’t he?
Last week, baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed that Rose had sent a formal request to have his lifetime ban from the game lifted. Doing so would pave the way for Rose to be included on the ballot for voters to consider when electing former players into the Hall of Fame.
Being in the Hall is the one thing Rose has not accomplished.
No one has more hits (4,256), played in more games (3,562), stepped to the plate more times (14,053), lined more singles (3,215), and made more outs (10,328) that Peter Edward Rose, and those stats alone are more than enough to put him on the short list of the best baseball players to ever wear spikes.
But Rose can’t be in the Hall. He can’t be on any baseball coaching staff. He’s on the outside looking in.
You’ll remember that Rose was banned from baseball for life in 1989 for betting on major league games while he was managing the Cincinnati Reds. His lifetime banishment was a punishment he agreed to. He essentially pleaded guilty, which in a court of law is the same thing as being found guilty by a jury.
And the sentence for Rose was “life” without baseball.
From 1989 to 2004, though, Rose spent every waking minute of every day telling anyone who would listen and forcing himself on those who wouldn’t listen, denying that he bet on baseball at all. Denying all of the charges that kept him on the banned list.
He used the unfailing love of Cincinnati Reds fans to fan the flame.
He sat outside Cooperstown on induction weekend every summer signing autographs for fans who were willing to stand in line and fork over their hard-earned cash.
Frankly, it got pretty old.
And then 2004 happened.
Breaking news! Pete Rose had something to say! He was going to admit to betting on baseball! He was giving up the charade he’d been carrying on for the last 15 years. Finally!
Oh, but there was a catch.
Pete would admit to everything alright … in his brand new book!
Of course he would.
So Rose confessed, but only when it profited him. For me, that was the last straw.
He still says he never bet against the Reds, but if you think about it he didn’t have to bet against them to affect the outcome of games. What does it say about the manager betting on his team Monday and Tuesday but then not betting on them Wednesday? What would that make you, or anyone inside organized gambling, think about the Reds’ chances that day?
I don’t believe him and never will.
Rule 21d in the MLB rule book says “Any player, umpire, or club official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has no duty to perform shall be declared ineligible for one year. Any player, umpire, or club or league official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform shall be declared permanently ineligible.”
Read that last line again ... “permanently ineligible.”
I have been in major league locker rooms, and those very words are painted on a big sign right at the entrance. You can’t miss it, and you can’t misunderstand its meaning.
So now Rose wants baseball again to ignore the truth and let him back into baseball so he can … what? Simple: be the center of attention.
Rose has spent the last 25 years making sure everyone remembered him. Reminding us that he still wasn’t eligible for the Hall. Stirring the pot of Big Red Nation.
Truth is, it’s all for nothing.
Rose has no business being in baseball. He spent his whole career putting himself ahead of everything and everyone else. He ended a guy’s career by plowing him over in the all-star game for crying out loud.
And while Rose will tell you that baseball needs him to be in baseball, the fact is all Pete Rose needs is Pete Rose.
I hope at some point Reds fans realize that they have been used for all these years. Rose doesn’t love you – he just needs you to help him get what he wants.
So Commissioner Manfred says he will likely have a meeting with Rose sometime soon to allow Rose to have his say. And Manfred has already said he will allow Rose to appear in All-Star Game festivities in Cincinnati in July.
But there is no way Rose should be allowed back in baseball in any way, shape or form.
He violated the one rule that you cannot break … if you are a Major League Baseball player you cannot bet on baseball. If you do, you will be banned for life.
That sentence has yet to be fulfilled.[[In-content Ad]]
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You either really love him or you really don’t.
Count me with the DO NOTs.
But like him or not, you have to give old #14 this – he is relentless isn’t he?
Last week, baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed that Rose had sent a formal request to have his lifetime ban from the game lifted. Doing so would pave the way for Rose to be included on the ballot for voters to consider when electing former players into the Hall of Fame.
Being in the Hall is the one thing Rose has not accomplished.
No one has more hits (4,256), played in more games (3,562), stepped to the plate more times (14,053), lined more singles (3,215), and made more outs (10,328) that Peter Edward Rose, and those stats alone are more than enough to put him on the short list of the best baseball players to ever wear spikes.
But Rose can’t be in the Hall. He can’t be on any baseball coaching staff. He’s on the outside looking in.
You’ll remember that Rose was banned from baseball for life in 1989 for betting on major league games while he was managing the Cincinnati Reds. His lifetime banishment was a punishment he agreed to. He essentially pleaded guilty, which in a court of law is the same thing as being found guilty by a jury.
And the sentence for Rose was “life” without baseball.
From 1989 to 2004, though, Rose spent every waking minute of every day telling anyone who would listen and forcing himself on those who wouldn’t listen, denying that he bet on baseball at all. Denying all of the charges that kept him on the banned list.
He used the unfailing love of Cincinnati Reds fans to fan the flame.
He sat outside Cooperstown on induction weekend every summer signing autographs for fans who were willing to stand in line and fork over their hard-earned cash.
Frankly, it got pretty old.
And then 2004 happened.
Breaking news! Pete Rose had something to say! He was going to admit to betting on baseball! He was giving up the charade he’d been carrying on for the last 15 years. Finally!
Oh, but there was a catch.
Pete would admit to everything alright … in his brand new book!
Of course he would.
So Rose confessed, but only when it profited him. For me, that was the last straw.
He still says he never bet against the Reds, but if you think about it he didn’t have to bet against them to affect the outcome of games. What does it say about the manager betting on his team Monday and Tuesday but then not betting on them Wednesday? What would that make you, or anyone inside organized gambling, think about the Reds’ chances that day?
I don’t believe him and never will.
Rule 21d in the MLB rule book says “Any player, umpire, or club official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has no duty to perform shall be declared ineligible for one year. Any player, umpire, or club or league official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform shall be declared permanently ineligible.”
Read that last line again ... “permanently ineligible.”
I have been in major league locker rooms, and those very words are painted on a big sign right at the entrance. You can’t miss it, and you can’t misunderstand its meaning.
So now Rose wants baseball again to ignore the truth and let him back into baseball so he can … what? Simple: be the center of attention.
Rose has spent the last 25 years making sure everyone remembered him. Reminding us that he still wasn’t eligible for the Hall. Stirring the pot of Big Red Nation.
Truth is, it’s all for nothing.
Rose has no business being in baseball. He spent his whole career putting himself ahead of everything and everyone else. He ended a guy’s career by plowing him over in the all-star game for crying out loud.
And while Rose will tell you that baseball needs him to be in baseball, the fact is all Pete Rose needs is Pete Rose.
I hope at some point Reds fans realize that they have been used for all these years. Rose doesn’t love you – he just needs you to help him get what he wants.
So Commissioner Manfred says he will likely have a meeting with Rose sometime soon to allow Rose to have his say. And Manfred has already said he will allow Rose to appear in All-Star Game festivities in Cincinnati in July.
But there is no way Rose should be allowed back in baseball in any way, shape or form.
He violated the one rule that you cannot break … if you are a Major League Baseball player you cannot bet on baseball. If you do, you will be banned for life.
That sentence has yet to be fulfilled.[[In-content Ad]]
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