Monday, July 27, 2009

Rose

Pete Rose that is. You know, the guy who is seemingly ALWAYS at that card shop in Caesars? Largely because he owns it if I recall.

Word is Bud Selig is considering ending the guy's lifetime ban from baseball so he can get into the hall of fame.

Good on him if he does.

Rose made one mistake - he got caught.

The Hall is full of degenerates of the worst sort. There are the drunks of course, but so what? Then there are the drug addicts. The ones who slid into second head-first so they wouldn't break the vials in their back pocket. The cheaters of course, who did roids before people knew what they were. The guys who injected monkey testosterone in the 20's. Then there's the abusers who beat their wives and girlfriends and kids. If there aren't at least a dozen rapists in the hall, I'd be shocked.

Gambling? Ha. Small-time stuff. Take the peccadillos of the poker world and add millions of dollars more, bigger egos, better lawyers and PR, and more fans.

Charlie Hustle is still the all-time leader in hits, games played and at bats. He has 3 World Series rings, 3 batting titles, two gold gloves, was rookie of the year, and was in 17 all-star games in FIVE different positions.

Dude deserves to be in the Hall more than most of the guys that are in there. Being kept out for gambling? I think Bonds, McGwire, Clemens, and Canseco have managed to outshine him in the disgrace department these days... let them be the scapegoats for a while.

7 comments:

Hammer Player a.k.a Hoyazo said...

I agree with keeping him out of the Hall. And I was a massive fan of Rose's as a kid in Philadelphia, don't get me wrong. But he gambled on the game, breaking one of its cardinal rules, and don't even try to tell me that it didn't impact the way he played or managed the games which he was betting on.

Pete Rose defiled the game and, although you are clearly correct 1000 times over that his accomplishments alone are obviously worthy of HOF membership, I just can't see it. I'm glad in fact that kids won't go there and get to see all about what an honorable guy Rose is when he cheapened the game in such a sick way.

Btw common misconception, Pete Rose's name is in fact in the museum at the Hall of Fame atop the career hits list on a plaque in one of the exhibits. He just doesn't have his own plaque in the actual Hall itself. For me, I am fine with that for now.

1Queens Up1 said...

Not only that been when given the chance to come clean in a '97 interview with Jim Gray (i think that was the year?) he LIED again!

Only when he had a book coming out did he even partially admit to it. (Only ON the reds never against!) Bullhonky.

Maybe post-humously induct him as a honoraree thing, but never while hes alive, don't give him the satisfaction of it...

Shrike said...

Should never be put in the Hall in his lifetime.

He can be featured in a Hall of Fame exhibit or whatever, but he should never be inducted as a player.

-PL

Riggstad said...

Agree.. Agree.. Agree.. Of course I believe he will be instated posthumously, and Jim Grey is ghey.

That interview on the field was atrocious and should have ended his career as a journalist.

BamBam said...

In a very bizarre, "I don't think I'm supposed to give a crap, but I sure as hell do" kind of way, I hope he never makes it.

There's so little being done to send the right message to our youth, in anything these days.

No matter how or what he did 'in' the game, I feel it needs to be remembered what he did 'to' the game.

But that's just me.

Dawn Summers said...

"Getting caught" is a huge mistake. It should be punished. Sends a message to the kids, you know.

Memphis MOJO said...

"Rose made one mistake - he got caught."

He made another mistake. He insulted everyone's intelligence when he kept denying it. On second thought, maybe that's not a mistake. Maybe it's not a mistake to be stupid.