Are you really sorry you bet on baseball?
Pete Rose — Baseball Treasure turned tragedy
On August 24, 1989, Pete Rose voluntarily accepted a permanent place on baseball’s ineligible list. This has equated to a lifetime ban from a sport that he gave his all to for 26 years as both a player and a manger. Rose claims that baseball would be better if he were allowed a place in it. Others feel that he made a choice and he deserves to pay the consequences. Despite whatever your personal views on Rose are, there’s no question that his ban has changed the course of baseball history forever.
Pete Rose is baseball’s all-time hits king, his nickname “Charlie Hustle” comes from his all-out style of play, he has won three World Series rings, one NL MVP, and made 17 All-Star appearances at five different positions. Yet, he isn’t allowed in a single MLB clubhouse, and has to enter as paying customer or get special permission if he ever wants to set foot in the Great American Ballpark ever again.
Rose’s work ethic stems from his unusual ascension on to baseball’s biggest stage. He attended an extra year of high school because of his poor grades. But as a fifth-year senior, he was no longer eligible to play for the school’s baseball team. Instead, he joined a local amateur team in Ohio. This would have been the pinnacle of his career if his uncle, “bird dog” wasn’t a scout for the Reds.“Bird dog” convinced the organization to take a flyer on his nephew. Rose impressed in Spring Training and eventually made his major league debut on Opening Day 1963. That year, he won NL Rookie of the Year.
Pete Rose’s playing career lasted from 1963 to 1986 (23 years). During his last two seasons with the Reds he was named the club’s player manager. After he retired from playing, he continued to act as the manager of the team until 1989. Rose was a key cog in “the Big Red Machine,” the nickname given to the formidable Reds team of the 1970s. He joined the 3,000 hit club in1978. That same year, he also made a run at Joe DiMaggio’s “unbreakable” 56 game hit streak, recording a hit in 44 straight games. In 1984, Rose doubled for his 4,000-career hit and joined Ty Cobb as (still) the second person ever to reach that milestone. In 1985, Rose finally broke Cobb’s all-time hit record, and by the end of his career he had totaled 4,256 hits.
Pete Rose’s career was filled with milestones, accolades, and achievement. However, it has since been marred by scandals and accusations. In 2010, Deadspin reported that Rose used a corked bat during his 1985 pursuit of Cobb’s record. He also served five-months in prison for tax evasion in 1991. But what was truly damning for his post baseball career was when he was caught violating the cardinal rule of baseball: betting on the games while being an integral part of their outcome.
Rule 21 states, “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.” Such a rule has been in effect since the 1800s. Most famously, the eight players who took part in the Black Sox Scandal in 1919 all received lifetime bans, even Shoeless Joe Jackson who some suspected wasn’t in on the plot.
1989 — Rose is accused of gambling on baseball. He was questioned by MLB commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti but vehemently denied any involvement. However, a 225-page document called the Dowd Report and witness testimony led many to believe he was guilty
August 1989 — Later that year, Rose admitted there was factual reason for the ban and signs an agreement in which he accepted a lifetime ban from baseball. In return, the MLB agreed to make no formal findings with regards to the gambling allegations. According to the terms, Rose could apply for reinstatement in one year but there was no guarantee
1992 — Rose applies for reinstatement, but MLB commissioner, Fay Vincent, never acts on the application
1998 — Rose applied for reinstatement again with new MLB commissioner Bud Selig, but this application was also never acted upon
2004 — Rose releases and autobiography My Prison Without Bars. In it, Rose admits to betting on baseball. This comes after 15 years of passionately denying these charges. Rose states that he bet on the Reds while playing and managing for the clubs, but claimed he never bet against them
2015 — Again, Rose applies for reinstatement. This time, it is commissioner Robert Manfred who rejects this appeal
The issue of Rose’s possible reinstatement and election to the Hall of Fame remains contentious throughout baseball. Taking only his baseball career into account, Rose is a no doubt Hall of Famer. However, many believe that he forfeited that spot when he sacrificed the integrity of the game for the chance at a few extra bucks.
Pete Rose still holds out hope that someday he will be reinstated, work for the Reds, and be inducted to the Hall of Fame. Until then, he spends the majority of the year signing autographs and posing for pictures in Las Vegas as a full time job. One of the most popular items he offers is an autographed baseball signed, “Sorry I bet on baseball.” Some believe Rose is truly sorry he bet on baseball, others just think he’s sorry that it got him banned from the sport. Either way, it’s a consequence that Rose has had to deal with for his entire life.
At age 48 Pete Rose signed a deal which banned him from baseball for the rest of his life and condemned him to what he calls “a prison without bars,” a life without baseball. Rose never dreamed his ban would carry on beyond the one year he had to wait to apply for reinstatement, but decades later, he is still on baseball’s ineligible list.
What do you think? Did gambling addict Pete Rose deserve what he got, or should the all-time hit king join the other baseball treasures in the Hall of Fame?
#JoinTheHunt for more -
Baseball Treasure
Riley Poole
Baseball Treasure
Riley Poole
