Around the Kilt: Pete Rose
Liam Meyer - Contributing Writer
The legendary Pete Rose: 17-time all-star, 3-time world series champion, NL MVP, but not yet a Hall of Famer. For over three decades, Rose has been permanently ineligible to return to the game of baseball. Once he was caught gambling on horse racing and football games, his betting on baseball was quickly revealed. It was also mentioned in his novel, My Prison Without Bars, that he never bet against his Cincinnati Reds.
The all-time hits leader recently appealed the MLB’s decision following the 2017 Houston Astros sign stealing scheme. The Astros were caught stealing signs using electrical equipment which led to both the Astros manager and general manager being suspended then fired (ESPN). No Astros players were punished. Rose and his team of lawyers feel that because of a lack of punishment for these players, he deserves a lesser punishment. His petition reads, “‘It has never been suggested, let alone established, that any of Mr. Rose’s actions influenced the outcome of any game or the performance of any player. . .Yet for the thirty-first year and counting, he continues to suffer a punishment vastly disproportionate to those who have done just that. Given the manner in which Major League Baseball has treated and continues to treat other egregious assaults on the integrity of the game, Mr. Rose’s ongoing punishment is no longer justifiable as a proportional response to his transgressions’” (ESPN).
I personally feel that Rose deserves to be put in the hall of fame. I understand gambling in the 80’s was seen as a horrible act, but times have changed, and many fans view it as an entertaining part of the game. After serving his punishment for three decades, it is about time that Pete Rose gets his hall of fame bid.
Riley Dulin - Sports Editor
One of my favorite baseball players of all time is Pete Rose. In fact, I am pretty sure that I have an autographed baseball from him at home somewhere. Recently, the idea has floated around that Rose should no longer be banned from the Baseball Hall of Fame. Based on the statistics throughout his career and the severity (or lack thereof) of his actions, I could not agree more with this idea.
First of all, it is obvious that Pete Rose is one of baseball’s all-time greats. In his entire career, Rose had a lifetime batting average of .303 to go along with over 1300 career RBI’s. Rose, who spent the majority of his career with the Cincinnati Reds, made a whopping 17 All Star Games as well as winning the MVP award in 1973. Most impressive, however, is the fact that Rose has the most career hits of any player in MLB history, even more than the legendary Ty Cobb.
The severity of Rose’s actions banning him from baseball are not as bad as one might think. Rose is banned from baseball forever for betting while serving as the manager of his team, the Reds. The real question here is: was Rose betting for or against his team? If the answer is against, it is not a good look, but it is still not enough to ban MLB’s all-time hits leader from the HOF. If he simply bet on his team, this only shows the expectation he had for his team to win, and the faith he had in them.
Overall, to equate supreme confidence in oneself and one’s team to a lifetime ban from MLB is simply wrong. At the end of the day, Pete Rose is a winner, and penalizing him for something so trivial is a bad look for the MLB.