The question has arisen once again, this time with a bit more force and relevance: Should Pete Rose be admitted into the Hall of Fame? The answer, of course, is yes.
The Serm must admit somewhat of a bias here. We’re devout Reds fans. We were there for Riverfront Stadium’s last season. We have an Eric Davis Starting Lineup figure. We boast that Chris Sabo was the greatest Rookie of the Year of all time. And we scoff at the idea that Carlton Fisk’s game-winning home run in Game Six of the 1975 World Series was legendary BECAUSE THE RED SOX LOST THE SERIES!
The strongest indicator of bias in the Rose case, though, is that we love Pete Rose. We have 25 copies of the 1985 Cincinnati Enquirer commemorating his historic 4,192nd hit that broke Ty Cobb’s record. He may not be the best pure hitter of all time, but he’s the most effective hitter of all time.
Pete Rose bet on baseball. There’s no denying it. We know the guy who married Pete Rose’s sister, a guy who hangs out with Pete on the weekends. True story. He’s seen Pete’s compulsive desire to bet on everything from cards to NASCAR, and he’s told The Serm. Pete’s a gambler, no doubt.
The biggest indictment, of course, is the 1989 report by John Dowd, which proves with betting slips and phone records that Rose bet on baseball.
Did he bet on the Reds? Yes, at least twice. But Rose never bet against the Reds, which saves the man some grace. A competitor of Rose’s fierceness would never have bet against his own team. Betting against the Reds would have been akin to the Shoeless Joe scandal of 1919, and there’s no way the Serm, let alone most people in Cincy, would be defending Rose if that were true.
So Rose bet on baseball. But he should be allowed back into baseball and onto the next Hall of Fame ballot. Why? Because people want it.
Yesterday a poll on ESPN.com measured those who favored Rose’s readmittance into baseball at 75 percent! That’s just one poll, but countless other fans agree—from those who were shocked at Jim Gray’s unexpected interrogation of Rose during the 1999 World Series to those who sign up for his many autograph sessions.
The Hall of Fame should be for the fans, Reds fans included, not a bunch of stuck-up grudge-holding white-collar assholes like John Dowd and Bud Selig. Pete Rose’s personal life may be tainted, but his accomplishments and his fans are not. And that’s what should count.
