He is baseballs All Time hits leader. He is 1 of only 2 players ever with 4000 career hits. He is Charlie freaking Hustle for crying out loud. He has also been blacklisted. Blacklisted from baseball. Blacklisted from being immortalized in his rightful place, The Baseball Hall Of Fame. His only crime? Betting on baseball games while both a player and manager. Well, now more than ever, Pete Rose has his best case for reinstatement and I will present nothing but facts to prove that Pete Rose needs to be back in baseball among the rest of the greats.
Pete Rose did something that was against the rules. He bet on baseball. That we can all agree on. As a player and manager it was proven, and ultimately admitted by Rose himself, that he did in fact bet on baseball games, including games played by the team he played for and then managed, The Cincinnati Reds. In 2002, lead investigator on the case, John Dowd said in an interview that he “thought” it was likely Rose bet against his own team. There has never been any evidence of this, including when they released the pages of Pete’s betting history to the public. A lot of people have the opinion that he did in fact bet on his own team. However, that is not proven to be fact and I am only making my points here using proven facts.
At the time of the investigation and still to this day, many people want to argue that if Rose were to be reinstated, then the members of the 1918 “Black Sox” team and scandal would have to be reinstated as well. Well, that idea is completely asinine. Joe Jackson and his teammates were proven to bet on their own games, for and against, and play according to the bets they made. This completely compromises the integrity of the game. Almost an entire team conspired to change the outcome of games. Hmm, sounds pretty familiar if you ask me.
The 2017 Astros, the 2018 Red Sox and 2019 Astros all were proven to have devised an electronic sign stealing scheme to gain a significant advantage over the competition. They had a camera directly pointed at the catchers hand which was relayed to a monitor in the dugout tunnel and then using either whistles or the banging on a trash can, relayed exactly what pitch was coming to the hitter in the batters box. Not only was this found to be true in Commisioner Rob Manfreds investigation report, but there is also a exuberant amount of video evidence to support the findings. No players were punished. 1 GM and 3 managers lost their jobs due to the scandal. Can anyone really tell me with a straight face That what Pete Rose did by betting on baseball games was worse than this?! To be fair, these teams and players that stole signs are no different than the Black Sox team in the way that THEY BOTH CONSPIRED TO CHANGE THE OUTCOME OF BASEBALL GAMES. So, Let me get this straight. Apparently betting on your own team to win games is worse than literally taking away half of the art of hitting and throwing games like the Black Sox did? These players knew exactly what pitch was coming and could sit on a breaking ball ahead of time and smack it all over the field but for the love of god ban a man for life for wagering money on games he thought his team was going to win and games he had no part of. Give me a break. Either reinstate Pete or you must ban all players and organizational leaders involved in Houston and Boston to the same extent and they must never even appear on the Hall Of Fame ballot. I mean you can almost go as far as saying that what the Astros and Red Sox did was more of a black eye on the sport than steroids….almost.
The Steroid era in baseball is one that was both exciting and downright sad by the time it came to an end. Anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs ran rampant throughout the sport in the 90’s and early 2000’s. Guys like Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGwire were all have found to have been using these substances to gain an advantage throughout their playing career and gain a significant advantage. We all know about the homeruns but it comes down to more than that. These guys became so feared at the plate, I’ve seen them intentionnaly walked with the bases loaded meaning that pitchers would rather voluntarily give up a run than throw the ball anywhere near the plate. Wow. A long lost fact in this argument goes further than just baseball when it comes to steroid use. Steroids are not just illegal within the realm of baseball, but they are illegal within the realm of the law! Some of these players were called to Congress to testify on the use of steroids in baseball. I watched the proceedings multiple times. I watched these players lie through their teeth. I watched them lie under oath, which again is a crime! That’s not even the most appalling aspect of this entire thing. Barry Bonds is still considered baseball’s all time home runs leader, McGwire is still considered baseball’s single season homerun record holder and most alarmingly, these men and others who have been proven to cheat and use steroids, are still able to have their names appear on The Hall Of Fame ballot! Writers are still given a choice whether these players transgressions were miniscule enough to still be elected. What a joke! You mean to tell me that players who have broken the law repeatedly and cheated the game repeatedly are given a fair shake but not Pete Rose for betting on baseball?!?! GIVE ME A BREAK! If these guys get a chance and receive no ban from the game, then at the very least, give Charlie Hustle his shot, lift his ban and let the writers vote accordingly.
If you can look through this article, go over the facts in these cases and still think that what Pete Rose did was worse and he still doesn’t deserve a chance, then I don’t know what to tell you. I’d say you’re better off maybe taking up watching cricket or soccer because there’s no scandal there…oh wait. It is absolutely blasphemous that players and organizations who deliberately cheated this game AND broke the law are allowed to still be a part of it, yet we blackball a man who’s only transgression on the game was betting on it. Rob Manfred, MLB, Cooperstown writers and commission, it’s time to end this foolishness. It’s time to step up, take action, lift the ban, and give Pete Rose his rightful place among baseball’s immortals!
To The Rack With Mac 