Official Poll: Pete Rose

[Pretty Cool]

Love the fact that Darryl Strawberry's name is always mentioned whenever Pete Rose is discussed. Last time I checked, Strawberry has no chance of ever being selected because he simply did not play enough games to accumulate worthy statistics. Furthermore, he had a drug problem and did not gamble on baseball. Contrast this to Rose who thinks he is above the game by breaking the #1 rule and lying about for 14 years. Now, he further angers baseball people by releasing a book when the center of attention should be drawn to the new inductees. This same guy now claims to be remorseful, yet he is lifestyle has not changed as he is still addicted to gambling. I see no way he would even receive enough votes if he were eligible. Do you honestly believe if he were reinstated next year that he would stop betting on baseball? I don't. Say what you want about drugs, but to baseball owners, the integrity of the game is everything. Without it, they might as well close up shop.

 

[todpod]

I find it interesting that while watching an Expos game last summer, (probably against the Pirates or Reds) That there was an advertisement for an online casino. Esp realizing the fact that MLB owns the Expos.

As far a Ole Pete goes, He should be in the hall as a player, but never ever be involved on the field. That being said I think the reds would hire him to manage in a second because he would be a cheap way to put butts in the seat.

 

[kranky]

Rose should never, ever be allowed in the HOF, nor "reinstated", nor anything else. Ever.

You can't compare what he did (betting on baseball) to murder, drugs, or anything else. In Major League Baseball, the absolute worst thing you can do is gamble on the sport. The rule that bans anyone for doing this has been in effect for over 80 years. If I'm a bank officer, and I commit arson, should I be permanently banned from being a bank officer? Probably not. But what if I get caught embezzling money? Different story. If I'm a fireman, then committing arson should prevent me from ever being a fireman again.

Baseball established that rule in 1919 because bookies attempted to fix the World Series by bribing star players to throw games. Baseball understands that the public must know the integrity of the game is above suspicion or else there is no point in wanting to follow baseball. Therefore, gambling on baseball is the "death penalty" in that sport.

People claim Pete never bet against his own team; I say "so what". If you are a bookie, and Pete bets on his team 80% of the time but doesn't bet at all the other 20%, what does that tell you? I think it says Pete doesn't think things are going to go his team's way on the games he doesn't bet. For a bookie, that's good information. It's exactly the same as betting against your own team.

Some things don't merit a second chance. In baseball, gambling on baseball is completely prohibited because it undermines the integrity of the game. The rule has been posted in every single MLB clubhouse for decades because it's that important. Sorry, Pete, no second chances.

 

[NoUrENemY]

I feel even more hatred and betrayal since he confessed his gambling issue...... basically he lied to everyone about the situation for 20 some years..... thats fuckin pathetic

 

[Chumpman]

I was more pro-rose before he came and told everyone that he had been lying for 15 some years. Now I don't think he should ever make the HOF.

 

[edro]

He deserves in. All players do illegal things, and most probably gamble on baseball... They just haven't been caught.

 

[Ness]

He should be in. All of you people bitching and moaning about the integrity of the game can kiss my ass because as a manager there is little he could have done to throw the game.

Additionally, I think that 25 years is long enough.

The Hall of Fame is about showing the best of the best, and if you can show me why Pete Rose wasn't a good a player, then that woudl be the only reason he shouldn't be in.

 

[Indolent]

Originally posted by: edro13
He deserves in. All players do illegal things, and most probably gamble on baseball... They just haven't been caught.

uhhh..... ok...

 

[kranky]

He should be in. All of you people bitching and moaning about the integrity of the game can kiss my ass because as a manager there is little he could have done to throw the game.

Now there's a uninformed opinion.

A manager can leave an bad pitcher in too long, pull a good pitcher too quickly, put the wrong players in the lineup, send up the wrong pinch-hitter, call a hit-and-run with your best hitter up. What about the two years when he was a player-manager? Did he ever decide to put himself in the game instead of a better player?

While managing, there were a couple of times that Rose changed the lineup at the last minute without informing the players, and in one of the games that made Kal Daniels ineligible. His replacement went 0-for-5.

A friend remembers being at a game in September of 1987 when Rose didn't send up Dave Parker to pinch hit for Leo Garcia (.200 hitter) in the 9th inning who represented the tying run. Garcia was 0-for-5 that day.

No one knows if Rose ever did any of these things intentionally. But that's the point, isn't it? He could have, because we know he bet on the games!

Keeping Rose out of the HOF and remaining ineligible doesn't wipe out his playing accomplishments. He's still the all-time hit leader, etc. Does Rose belong in the HOF? Yes, he does. But his gambling on baseball means that he no longers deserves it.

 

[kranky]

And further to my comments of 11 years ago , it came out today that they found written proof that Rose bet on baseball while he was a player, the exact thing he has lied about all this time. He was hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt to the mob. And nobody thinks that could (or did) affect his actions as a player or manager?

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/entrie...te-rose-bet/story?id=31944922&singlePage=true

 

[HeXen]

This subject comes up so much and they keep reconsidering the idea of letting him in...they'll do it eventually. It might be after he dies or when a whole new generation take over but he'll get in.

 

[JujuFish]

And further to my comments of 11 years ago , it came out today that they found written proof that Rose bet on baseball while he was a player, the exact thing he has lied about all this time. He was hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt to the mob. And nobody thinks that could (or did) affect his actions as a player or manager?

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/entrie...te-rose-bet/story?id=31944922&singlePage=true

And yet he never bet against himself. He should be eligible for the Hall of Fame.

 

[futurefields]

Pete Rose deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Yes he has a gambling problem but I don't believe he ever bet against his team. The guy was one of the fiercest competitors in the sport and I just don't see that it in 'Charlie Hustle' to throw a game.

I hope they let him in before he dies.

 

[futurefields]

deleted

 

[waggy]

I agree that he should be in the hall. he was one hell of a ball player.

 

[KeithTalent]

He should absolutely be in the hall of fame. Should not even be a question.

KT

 

[K7SN]

Shoeless joe TOOK MONEY FROM GAMBLERS TO LOSE THE 1919 World Series....

No he didn't - there is evidence to believe he was aware that others (perhaps including some not banned) had taken money but all that did is make him play harder in the series. No errors - no mistakes - 12 hits which was a series record till 1964. Look it up - tell me no one on the Reds knew that Rose was betting on the games. Rose perhaps but only after Jefferson Joseph Jackson and long before those juiced power hitters of the recent past. Don't forget Charles Comiskey's role (if he had paid them anywhere what they were worth and whom Jackson reportedly tried to tell about the fix, but hi and mighty Comiskey refused to meet with him Better yet read a well researched Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoeless_Joe_Jackson and make your own opinion but don't slander a man who has been dead for 65 years. Oh what did Rose do for our country, Joe Jackson missed most of the 1918 season working in a defense plant to support the Great War effort.

 

[BUTCH1]

Yea, I remember him with " the big Red machine" as the beat the Red Sox in '75 but damm, what a WS, perhaps the best WS, ever. PR played his ass off, as usual and it went 7 games with the Sox nursing a 3-run lead till Bill "Spaceman" lee tried to fool tony Perez with his "Leephus pitch" but Perez was waiting on it and blasted it into low earth orbit. Despite the loss I was still proud of that team as most thought it would be a sweep, the Reds were that good. IMPO they should let him in, yea, he bet on baseball and was in fact a gambling "addict" but you could not watch him play and not realize how important winning was to him and how hard he worked at getting a win.

 

[Capt Caveman]

He bet on his team to lose.

Nope, does not belong in the HoF.

 

[smackababy]

If he broke the rules, regardless of betting for or against himself, he broke the rules. Sorry, you knew the consequences.

 

[umbrella39]

If they find even so much as ONE time him betting against his team... no hall. If all they still have is a gambling addict betting on his own team to win, they should let him be voted on already.

 

[preCRT]

This necro thread was from early 2004, before the world changed that October.



Rose crushed childhood hopes in 1975, so no way, he's a cheater.

 

[kranky]

And yet he never bet against himself

but I don't believe he ever bet against his team

As I said earlier, that's beside the point entirely. In debt to bookies for 6 figures, and they would want their money. Maybe there is pressure to pay up. So PR bets on his team all the time... then one day he doesn't bet. How is that not a giant signal what's going on in that game? Gee, think the team might not be at their best? Or that someone might make sure they aren't?

 

[SP33Demon]

Rose should be in the HOF, but not while he's still alive. Same for Bonds and Clemens.

 

[skyking]

and I love all this talk about "he never bet against his team".
Please.
Do you think all the bookies, mobsters, and casinos keep impeccable records?