Should Pete Rose be in the National Baseball Hall of Fame?

Question

If you choose to answer this question please make a logical argument. Consider the circumstances surrounding hall of fame inductees both past and present.

Answer 1

OK, as a lifelong baseball fanatic, amateur player & umpire for countless years, & owner of a collegiate wooden bat team I read each & every response w interest & objectivity (well I tried) I have to address several gross misstaements of FACT regarding this issue.
1) There IS proof he not only that Rose bet on baseball, but that he bet on games involving his own team. His fingerprints on betting slips are irrefutable.

2) There is NO PROOF he EVER bet against his team.

3) The sign posted in every baseball locker room says betting on baseball is prohibited.....it doesn't specify a lifetime ban as stated by one response.

4) To call Rose a CHEATER is a misplaced conclusion based upon documented evidence. No MLB official has ever accused or even inferred Rose may have fixed games or actually cheated in any manner.

Comparisons between admitting McGwire, Bonds, or any alleged/admitted steroid user to the HOF w Rose's situation are ill conceived and problematic because enhancing your body w chemicals WOULD be cheating......betting while clearly forbidden is NOT cheating, & has no bearing on statistical achievements.

References to Joe Jackson ARE appropriate, & I believe he belongs in the HOF, keeping him out was an act of personal revenge perpetrated by Commissioner Landis, & not addressed today by MLB because they have plenty of damaging controversy without going there, & Bud Selig has other personal agendas requiring less courage to champion.

So, to sum up, Rose did bet on baseball, he voluntarily signed a lifetime ban, & he has NEVER apologized for his indiscretions, altho he has acknowledged them.

The point of my rant....? Pete Rose was the best hitter in the history of baseball, played 5 positions w All Star caliber results, & gave more to the game in effort & hustle than players possessing superior talent.

I think Rose is a great example of a man, a human being like the rest of us to use as a role model teaching any child about life!!

He had an exemplary work ethic which never varied thoughout his long career. Dedication, commitment to succeed, & loyalty to his teammates were something any of us should aspire to.

Then....he screwed up!! BIG TIME !! No denying it he violated a trust & broke the 1st commandment of baseball, & he has been punished for his indiscretion.

Isn't that something we teach children as well?? You break the rules, you accept the punishment attached.

Personally, I don't agree the punishment must be a lifetime of shame & denial of previous stellar performance...forgive & forget....isn't that what we all expect when we do something wrong??

Obviously I think the HOF deserves to have Rose, just as he deserves his plaque at the HOF....w one condition.......I still need that apology......nothing prolonged necessarily, but a public , heartfelt APOLOGY for letting us all down by violating that trust.

Answer 2

Yes. There are players in the Hall who definitely cheated. For example, Babe Ruth used amphetamines (heck so did a lot of players back then), Gaylord Perry threw a spitter even though that was illegal when he threw it (All pitchers after Burleigh Grimes were not allowed to throw spitters), George Brett was caught with pine tar.

Also, other players did reprehensible things too. Cap Anson refused to play any black players. Kirby Puckett was accused of a sex crime. Also, 80's players caught doing coke are still eligible. Pete Rose's "infraction" didn't affect the outcome of a game (he didn't bet on his own team or against it), and he should have just been removed from his managerial duties and fined heavily, not barred from going into the Hall of Fame for his record number of hits for a career by a ridiculous margin.

And put Shoeless Joe Jackson in the Hall. Look at his numbers, he wasn't throwing the Series.

Answer 3

No because Pete lied about betting on baseball it with a straight face for so many years then turned around and admitted it. The Hall of Fame should be reserved for honest players and not liars. Ty Cobb was a womanizer, boozer and a bum , but he never lied or cheated and that's why he made it.

Answer 4

Gambling is the one major sin in Major League Baseball. It almost shut the game down in the early 1900s. Every player contract, and every locker room has a posting warning against even mingling with gamblers, much less gambling.

Pete Managed the Reds to second place finishes with the same team that Lou Piniella won the World Series with. Pete also, after lying for years, admitted that he gambled. What do his actions tell us? That even though he was a fierce competitor, he threw games. He fixed competitions and that is Baseball's cardinal sin. He will never get in, nor should he. While he didn't rape, murder, or drug his way to the top, he did rape baseball, and as such, should be punished.

Answer 5

He and Joe Jackson should both be put in the Hall of Fame. For Joe Jackson it can be statistically proven that he did not try to throw the World Series. As said many times before with the Pete Rose situation, it's not the goodie goodie Hall of Fame. It's the Baseball Hall of Fame and it should have the players that played the best baseball.

Answer 6

To reiterate what I have said once before, and will continue to do so

No, not no way, not no how.

Imagine this scenario...

You take your kid to Cooperstown, young, impressionable, but he's going to do more than hear about the legends of the game.... he'll see them

Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron, Johnny Bench to name a few.. you read all thier accolades, and then you get to Mr. Rose.... what would it say? 3 World Series, 3 batting titles, 4256 career hits, and at the bottom, as a little sidenote.... Rose agreed to permanent ineligibility from baseball amidst accusations that he gambled on baseball games while playing for and managing the Reds; some accusations claimed that he bet on, and even against, the Reds.

HE ACCEPTED HIS FATE in 1989, now he has to live with it!!!!!! For crying out loud, he pleaded guilty to tax evasion charges in 1990 for gambling (among other things). In 2004 in his book he admitted to betting on baseball. He violated the code of conduct in baseball... He's a cheat.
So my answer is NO,NO, NEVER, EVER ,EVER.....
He doesn't belong in the Hall of Fame, if not for the sake of ourselves, then for the sake of generations to come.

THE HALL IS
THE HALL OF FAME
NOT
THE HALL OF THE INFAMOUS!!!!

Answer 7

No he should not.

He admitted to betting on baseball games played by the team he was managing. It was a well known rule that is posted in every clubhouse in the league. He has been banned from baseball according to an agreement that he signed and banned individuals are not eligible for induction. That seems a closed case, to me.

The only other past players for whom comparison is applicable are the Chicago White Sox players who were banned in 1920 for throwing the WS. They are still banned and not in the HoF.

There are other players who have been disgraced by commiting crimes, or drugs but that doesn't mean being banned.

Answer 8

We should only consider admitting Pete Rose after we have allowed "Shoeless" Joe Jackson to enter the Hall of Fame.

Answer 9

Absolutely not.

Let’s examine two different premises.

First, let’s say that Pete Rose bet on Reds games. Why? He was gambling large enough sums to make itconceivable that he could be offered the chance toretire gambling debts by non-financial means. How?

Understand first that I am not casting aspersions on this individual; I think he just showed poor judgement. But, when Grady Little went to the mound in game 7 (03 LCS), ships at sea and babes in arms knew that Pedro Martinez had had it. I even noted a pitching change on my scoresheet, and I sure I wasn’t alone in doing so. Further, after every game, what do we hear
but people second-guessing the managers about something. My contention here is that it’s very easy for a manager to leave a pitcher in one batter too long, to give a red light to a base stealer, to not start the runners with one out and runners on, etc.

Every year that Rose managed the Reds, they were predicted to win the division. And every year that he managed the team, they finished less than 6 games back – that’s less than 1 game per month of the season. And only he knows if any of the much-discusses moves or lack thereof were made because of poor judgement or in order to retire debts.

Even if he didn’t bet directly on Reds games, he still bet on baseball. He’s now admitted what we had all known for 14 years. Why is this so bad?

As a manager, Pete Rose was privy to scouting reports on other teams. He had friends associated with other teams. He had an agent who had clients on other teams. He also had team members who had friends on other teams and who had agents with clients on other teams. He was therefore in a position to have information about other teams and about players on other teams that you and I did not have. And having this information, he would of course have used it in betting on baseball.

The problem here, therefore, is not that he bet on baseball. The problem is not something that would be subject to a criminal investigation by the vice squad. It’s something that would be subject to a criminal investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission – it’s called inside trading. And if you
don’t think that that’s serious, talk to Martha Stewart.

So, why did Rose admit to gambling on baseball? He had only one or two years of HOF eligibility left with the writers. But he has a better chance of being voted in by the writers than he does if he has to wait for the veterans committee – men who were also bound by the no gambling on baseball rule and who
(presumably) followed that rule. Why wouldn’t they resent that he didn’t follow the rules? Why would they therefore vote him into the HOF?

For those who say that he did this only after he finished his playing career, I remind you that Pete Rose was the last player-manager in MLB.

Answer 10

If they let America vote, I think he would be in for sure. There are not too many players that play the game as he did. He always left it on the field and played at the top of his ability. He never quit. He gave it his all in every play of every game.

Look at what the sport has become. A lot of steroid addicts trying to break records by breaking the rules that make it a game. A lot of players do anything they can to cheat to make themselves look better, and in the end everyone gets hurt. Their bodies will suffer at some point from the abuse, and kids watching the game are hurt because they think they need to be like their hero.

Let's be honest! How many people would actually be in the Hall if they only allowed people in that never broke the rules.

Let he who has no sin cast the first stone. We all make mistakes and yes I think there is consequence for that, but I think he has paid over and over again.

"Mr Hustle" deserves his spot in the Hall!