NationStates Jolt Archive

Rose Hustles Autographs, Seeks Return
By JON SARACENO, USA TODAY



Baseball's infamous outcast sits behind a table in front of a memorabilia store in an upscale mall. Pete Rose's full-time job these days is hustling his signature, and he is paid more than a million dollars to do it. Two young women wearing Cincinnati Reds jerseys hoist "Pete Rose Here Today" signs. The banished "Hit King" sports a doughy face and paunch and the glum look of a boy kicked out of a ballpark because he was bad.

"Why doesn't baseball ever do what the public wants?" says Rose, 64, a tape-measure homer from reinstatement after he disgraced the game by breaching its most sacrosanct rule - betting on it.

Baseball's moral gatekeepers - in essence, three commissioners - have refused to unlock the front gate to their fraternity and welcome back one of the most popular, decorated and, yes, tainted players. On Tuesday, the 2006 Hall of Fame class is announced and, once again, Peter Edward Rose is left standing in the corner.

Baseball writers no longer can consider the aging Rose for the Hall because his 15-year eligibility period expired in 2005, although in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY he muses, "I don't know how my eligibility lapsed when I've never been eligible."




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so seriously what do you guys think? Poll coming...

its a shame that rose fucked both himself and his fans over with his behavior.

maybe he can be in the disgraced athletes hall of fame some day.

Meh. I hate baseball. It makes soccer seem exciting. I do not remember the whole story, but I think he should be let into the hall of fame, just on the merit of his "on the field" accomplishments. I know he bet on games, including ones that he coached. If he actually bet against his own team, then I think he should be banned from any ownership/personel/coaching role for life. But if he merely bet FOR his team, then he didn't purposefully sabotage the team and should be eligible to work for baseball.

Pete Rose violated a ruling that was in place because of a previous incident that threatened the integrity and honesty of the game. This was a long time ago in a time where teams were family owned and there was a genuine competition to field the best possible team for the purpose of becoming the undisputable best in the game. The punishment at the time was just, and necessary.
Those days are now long over, the game is now an advertising scheme for the corportations that own it. The crime of betting on one's own team to win would now be hailed as a sign of a truely dedicated team player. In light of what literal crimes have been allowed to be perpetrated on a daily basis by the new corporate model, it makes absolutely no sense at all to continue this man's banishment and allow true criminials to be held up as "stars" and "examples" for youth to emulate. Professional sports no longer serve the public interest as they did in years past, and the high quality standards that MLB used to profess no longer apply. At least Pete Rose's records and accomplishments where that of the man and his ability, and not the result of a needle and syringe.

I think the punishment should fit the crime. I think it was justified to bar him for as long as baseball would have been of value to him. After this many years he will never be a manager or other official again. All the ban is doing is keeping him from the Hall of Fame. Lift the ban and see if he still has the votes.