Pete Rose For The Baseball Hall of Fame

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Source:Stephen A. Smith talking about Pete Rose for the MLB-HOF.

From Stephen A. Smith

"Pete Rose, Shoeless Joe Eligible For Hall Of Fame After Being Removed From MLB Blacklist" 

Source:The Pat McAfee Show talking about Pete Rose for the MLB-HOF.

From the Pat McAfee Show

“If Pete were to get in now, it seems cruel. Just cruel," Bob Costas said. They should have done it years ago, he continued, and noted on his plaque that in 1989, after he got those 4256 base hits, he gambled on baseball and was banned for life." 

Source:The 92nd Street Y talking about Bob Costas about Pete Rose for the MLB-HOF.

From the The 92nd Street Y

From what I said about this in 2014: 

"The only reason why Pete Rose is not in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame (and he would’ve gone in I believe 1992) has to do with his gambling on Major League Baseball games. Which he gambled on even as manager of the Cincinnati Reds and even betted on Reds games. Pete being out of the Hall of Fame has nothing to do with his playing career and nothing to do with his playing career is keeping him out of the Hall of Fame.

I could understand banning Pete from ever being a MLB manager, coach or executive for life. Because betting on your own team’s games is a pretty bad offense. Especially if you are betting that they lose and have a say in the outcome of their games. But to keep him out of the Hall of Fame in general, when he’s arguably the best all around player of his era and generation, (and we are talking about a career that covers twenty-four seasons from 1963-86) makes no sense from a Hall of Fame perspective.

Keeping Pete out of the Hall of Fame also does more damage to Reds fans and the Cincinnati Reds organization than Pete. Because of all the respect and luster that comes from not just seeing one of your own players in the Hall of Fame, but having that person in the Hall of Fame: 

“That player was not just a great player, but he played for us and we won a lot of games with him and he’s in the Hall of Fame as one of us”. 

Things that the Reds organization and the Reds fans can’t say right now because they are denied of seeing Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame.

We are not talking about whether Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame as a manager or even as a human being. He would never make it to the Hall of Fame based on that criteria. We are talking about Pete Rose the player and based on his playing career and because of the facts that he’s the best player who’s been retired for at least five years from playing, not in the Hall of Fame. And of course what he did as a player would’ve put him in the Hall of Fame over twenty-years ago. Pete Rose should definitely be in the Hall of Fame. Just don’t allow him to manage or be an executive."

From The New Democrat

If you read my post about this from 10 years ago, this should be no newsflash for you. And no, I've never even met Bob Costas before, let alone talked to him about whether Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame or not, but Costas and I completely agree here. 

“My position and the position of millions of others is, yeah, we get it, he broke the cardinal rule. He should be banned from baseball under that rule for life,” Costas acknowledged. “But somebody got those 4,256 base hits and those three batting championships.

Put him in the Hall of Fame. Put it at the bottom of his plaque, ‘Banned from baseball in 1989 for life’ as part of the record. But he should be in as a player. If you have a slow day on a talk show and you just say, ‘Hey, should Pete Rose be in the Hall of Fame?’ The phones light up. All those decades after he last played, he remains a central figure in the minds of baseball fans. Including baseball fans who never saw him play.”

The Baseball Hall of Fame, is not Heaven, it's not Sainthood. It's for the best people ever, who've ever served in Major League Baseball. And I'm talking about what they contributed to the game as players, managers, executives, announcers, etc. Not people who could be the Pope or something because they hold such high moral standards and live by them. 

As Bob Costas also said, someone got those 4,256 hits and is still the all time MLB leader in hits. And I would add: 

Pete Rose is just 1 of 2 players ever with 4,000 hits and 2,000 runs 

1 of 14 players with 3,000 hits and 2,000 runs. 

Name 5-10 better all around offensive players in MLB than Pete Rose, in the 1960s and 70s. You would have a really hard time dong that. 

Not a Gold Glove fielder, but you are talking about a player who could play 2 outfield positions, could play 3rd, 2nd, and 1st, and do a good job for you. 

A player who could steal a base when you needed it. Could stretch a single to a double, get to home plate from 1st on a double.Not someone with great athletic ability, but someone who had the work ethic and professionalism of an entire platoon of great Marines and soldiers, all in 1 man. 

No one wanted to succeed and to win more than Pete Rose. And no one did more to win and to succeed than Pete Rose. He's the player that millions of fathers wanted there sons to be like as baseball players, simply as far as how they played the game and how hard they played and prepared to do well. 

And all due respect to the Baseball Hall of Fame, we're not talking about Heaven or Sainthood here. We're talking about the best people who've ever served in MLB, as far as what they brought to MLB. We're not talking about the best people who've ever lived on Planet Earth. 

If the HOF was in the business of just electing Saints, the Kenesaw Mountain Landis's, Thomas Yawkey's, the George "Highpockets" Kelly's, the Freddie Lindstrom's, would perhaps not get into the HOF today, because of their ties to racism. At least by the social and cultural standards of today. Ty Cobb wouldn't be in the HOF today, if you had to be a great person, just to be eligible for it. 

Yes, Pete Rose because he not just gambled on baseball, but his own freakin team, including the Reds... he should've been banned from ever managing and serving as an executive for the rest of his life. No question. But put aside the gambling, he probably doesn't get in as a manager or executive anyway. But as a player, where most of his baseball career came from... no question he's a Hall of Famer based on what he contributed to baseball as a player. And he should've gone in while he was still alive. 

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