A Rose-Coloured Dilema.
Josh Higgs lays out why Pete Rose’s banishment from baseball is incredibly wrong when MLB refuses to hold everyone to the same standard.
The shunning of MLB legend Pete Rose is arguably the biggest travesty in the history of baseball.
Rose is the MLB all-time hits leader, and will likely continue to be until the end of time. When he retired, Rose finished with an astonishing 4,256 hits over his illustrious 23-year career. That would average out to approximately 284 hits per season over a 15-year career. The single season hit record is held by future Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki, who tallied 262 hits in 2004. In order to eclipse the record set by Pete Rose, someone would have to replicate Ichiro’s record breaking season just over 16 times. Given that the average major league career is only 5.6 years long, and that even elite players fail to maintain All Star form past their mid 30s, it’s safe to assume that this feat will likely never be achieved.
So why is he banned from ever being inducted into the Hall of Fame?
Pete Rose was caught gambling on his team while he was a manager. It has been reported that he may have bet on baseball when he played as well, but even so, should the greatest hitter in baseball history be punished for something so trivial as betting on a game? Undoubtedly what he did was wrong, as he is in a position of power to influence games and outcomes which could alter the history of seasons. But why ignore a person’s on-field accomplishments on account of his off-field behaviour? Even if Pete Rose were to bet against his own team every single game, he still managed to dominate the batter’s box in a way that the major leagues may never see again.
Think about it. If he ever took at-bats off or games off, it’s scary to think how many hits he could have added to his 4200+ total if he did play every game giving maximum effort. That’s the kind of God-given talent that should not be denied.
Furthermore, it’s quite hypocritical of the MLB to punish a player for off-field issues like gambling when there are a plethora of other guilty offenders that are already enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
I won’t touch on steroid users, as I’m saving that juicy perspective for another day, but there are plenty of examples over the past 100+ years of players who committed more heinous and severe acts than Rose’s betting on games. For example, Ty Cobb used to sharpen the spikes on his cleats before games in hopes of injuring opponents. He was also guilty of fixing games and gambling himself. He was a racist. He attacked a handicapped fan in the stands who was heckling him, and was charged with attempted murder. Yet this man is lauded as one of baseballs all-time greats, while Pete Rose, who looks like a saint compared to Cobb, is banned from the Hall of Fame.
Several other Hall of Fame inductees have darker pasts than Rose, including noted racists Cap Anson and former commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, world series fixer and former White Sox owner Charles Comiskey, adulterous sex addict Wade Boggs, and players busted for drug possession such as Orlando Cepeda and Fergie Jenkins. Even Hall of Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry would cheat in games to a greater extent than Rose by doctoring the balls, whether by covering them in spit, vaseline, or any sort of illegal substance that would consistently give him a competitive edge while he played.
What’s even more sad is that some current players will likely enter into the Hall of Fame with questionable past mistakes that are worse than Rose’s, and he will be forced to watch as they are admitted into Cooperstown. Several years ago, future HOFer Miguel Cabrera was arrested for a DUI. He caused multiple accidents, threatened to blow up a steak house for refusal of service, and nearly killed other motorists while driving. His career numbers speak for themselves, and if a player’s statistics were the only thing of merit for consideration in the Hall of Fame, then Miggy is a sure-fire candidate to be inducted. Yet, if Miggy is held to the same standards of conduct as Pete Rose in regards to off-field conduct, then there’s no way he’ll be allowed to enter the Hall without buying a ticket. As highlighted recently, similar patterns of recklessness to what Cabrera exhibited have taken the lives of highly touted prospect Oscar Taveras and superstar MLB pitcher Jose Fernandez.
Nobody was killed as a result of Pete Rose betting on a few baseball games.
Betting on baseball is wrong, especially if you’re involved in the game as a player or a manager. But to completely disregard a person’s legendary accomplishments and ban him for life from the Hall of Fame based off external issues is the lowest form of robbery. This is especially true when the current list of Hall of Famers is full of shameful and despicable acts that far outrank Rose’s mistakes.
I think it’s a certainty that Pete Rose will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame one day. I just think they won’t grant him that honour while he is alive. A posthumous induction would be doubly sad, as it would rob the greatest hitter in baseball a chance to celebrate his own induction into an institution that exists to celebrate people like him.
Josh Higgs is a baseball contributor for TheOcho.ca. By day he teaches in schools or works at gas stations. By night he’s watching hours of sports and brainstorming his next article.
