What part of pete rose does NOT belong in the HOF don't you understand?

Question

It is simply incomprehensible how any REAL baseball fan could even think what he did was okay.

Answer 1

You can rip Bud Selig all you want, but at least he still has this ban right!
To all you out there saying that what he did was wrong, but you should only look at his on field play, then tell me this - what about Barry Bonds?? I mean, look only at his on field stats. What was that, he was on Steroids? Well, I am only looking at his on field stats.
See - you cannot have it both ways. Rose is a cheat. He spit on the game of baseball. He only told the truth to make money on a book, now is changing the story even more. Next he will spring it on us that he bet as a player, but only on the Reds.
I wish I could ban Rose from any more discussion here. This piece of trash does not deserve sympathy, and will never get my support to go to the Hall of Fame.
But fans of Charlie Hustler take pride in his wing of the Hall of Shame.

Answer 2

I agree with you from the core of my being. Rose's conduct renders him a disgrace to the game he purports to love. It's not as if this were somthing the Commissioner's Office pulled out of their rear ends. Banishment for conspiring with gamblers (much less actually betting not just on baseball, but on one's own team) dates back well over a century. The first cases involved five members of the Louisville Grays in 1876 & 77. Following the Black Sox scandal, six additional players and an owner were banned for incidents involving gambling. Baseball has a longstanding and ironclad policy about gambling on baseball. It is posted in every clubhouse in Organized Baseball, and comes as no surprise to anyone.

The gentleman who discussed other HOF'ers indiscretions is missing the point. The actions of the players he mentioned were reprehensible, but they did not bring baseball's credibility and honesty into question. Sports are a business unlike any other. If one questions the honesty of the game, why pay to see a game? If all players aren't giving 100% on each and every play, what good is the sport? We'll never know if Rose ever threw a game, but calling the integrity of the game itself into question harms us all almostl irreparably.

Keep Rose banned forever. The day they let him or Shoeless Joe into Cooperstown is the day I lose all respect for the game I love.

Answer 3

No one thinks what he did was ok. That is not the issue at all. The issue is whether or not what he did cancels out his baseball career.

The problem is that if you arbitrarily start throwing people out for things they did aside of the game itself, then you technically need to go back and clean it out. There are a ton of criminals, drunks, drug users, adulterers, jerks, and bad characters in the Hall already. You have your Tigers D for your avatar (which I applaud, being a huge Tigers fan myself), but it only brings to mind Ty Cobb. He was a jerk, a bad role model, a known cheater, and assaulted a fan once. Mickey Mantle was an alcoholic and infamously cheated on his wife. I could go on, but I don't want to write a book on the subject.

I'm not arguing that Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame, or even that these other guys should be out. I'm just saying that it is not as simple of an argument as "Pete did wrong." The people who think he should be in are looking at baseball as a whole. When you consider how horribly MLB has handled its other problems over the years, including the steroids controversy, you realize pretty quickly that the league is not all squeaky clean. It is arguably hypocritical for the league to keep Rose out, as if they were sin-free.

That said, I'd like to see them take a stand on Rose, as they have thus far. I've lost faith in baseball. I cannot help but seeing it as a corrupt shell of what it used to be. Keeping Rose out is a step in the right direction for helping me get that faith back... if it is possible.

Answer 4

When you violate the integrity of the game, any game, you should not only be disqualified, but civil law suits should be attempted by the Attorney General's Office of either the state where the franchise is headquartered or the federal government under the R.I.C.O. statute as a crime of fraud has been committed between the owners of the team, the team members and the ticket buying public, who agreed to a contract in good faith.

Many times we read about ball-players who have gotten drunk, were abusive in their marital affairs, etc., as those allegations were not brought on the field of play. What Pete Rose did violated the time he spent on the diamond. If he bet to win, and only to win, I could forgive his actions. As I, as an owner of a horse would often hand out betting tickets (win only) to the trainers, grooms and jockeys to win, ONLY.

Never should anyone connected to the game of baseball ever deliberately loose or hold back in any way. You must always be out to win and never be connected with your team to either loose or not win by widest possible margin and allow the fans to enjoy the game with a nine inning all out effort. This concept involving betting should also apply to any activity that violates the integrity of the game. Including drugs and equipment (bats, balls, etc.)

Did Pete Rose bet on his team to win by the widest possible margin?... If the answer is yes...Rose is forgiven...If the answer is no, a prison would be more appropriate and not the Baseball Hall of Fame.

This issue of Pete Rose should have more dialogue ...All are invited to join FansOfBaseball....and SOUND OFF.

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/FansOfBaseball/settings?mode=1

Answer 5

I personally agree with Georgie. I do not believe that he belongs in the HOF. But the argument can be made for him as well. What he did on the field as a player where great accomplishments and I loved to watch him play. They did not kick OJ, or LT out of the Football hall of fame for what they did after their playing careers. Pete was a truly great player throughout his career as was Shoeless Joe Jackson. Shoeless Joe has never been re-instated and neither should Pete. Even though his numbers and career are HOF worthy, he is a LIAR and a cheat. In my Opinion he is a self serving self righteous SOB that only care about himself,

Answer 6

Well, i would consider myself a REAL baseball fan and I don't think what he did was ok. However, my perspective of the hall of fame is that it should be a celebration of the game. I'm not saying that we should put him in the hall or not put him in the hall, but reinstate him and let the writers decide. He won't get in anyway.

He's probably not the best ambassador of the game (as he claims he is), but he's a better ambassador for the game than Bud Selig.

He bet on baseball, he may have even fixed games to win money, but he is a part of baseball history.

One other thing to consider...IF he were reinstated, the baseball writers would decide on his entry into the HOF. They would almost certainly decide that he AIN'T GETTING IN. And when he sees that, he may FINALLY figure out how much he hurt the game.

Answer 7

There is nothing that hard to understand.All of Pete Rose's fans need to understand what he did.He could have ruined many of your games in the late 1980's.He does not deserve to be in the hall of fame,he lied and lied and lied and then decided"Hey I'm gonna tell the truth"and now we have all this conterversy about it.He does not belong.Read up on what Bob Feller has to say about Pete Rose,you could find stuff on that for hours.

Answer 8

Personally, I think that using steroids is worse than gambling on baseball. Players caught with 'roids should be instantly banned for life from anything involving MLB.

At least Rose got to over 4,000 hits without steroids. In my opinion, a person like Rafael Palmerio is 100 times worse than Pete Rose.

Answer 9

I understand perfectly.
I understand he accepted a ban from baseball.
I understand he admitting to betting on baseball.
I understand he accepted a ban from baseball.
I understand he was an outstanding player.
I understand he accepted a ban from baseball.

Pete Rose is a grown man and he has to live with this, sorry to all of his fans, but that is just the way thay it is. Forget the fabulous stats, he got himself banned from baseball due to unscrupulous acts while he was managing a team. And he accepted it, now he is only trying to garner up sympathy where none is deserved.

What is so difficult to understand about that?

Answer 10

What he did was wrong, but many Hall of Famers have done things that were just as bad. If being a racist didn't stop Ty Cobb from making the Hall of Fame, then gambling shouldn't stop Pete Rose.