A consequence of each year’s the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame inductions is the subject of Pete Rose. Today, sports media is abuzz with stories that several noteworthy players are calling for the expelled former highly accomplished all-star to have his ban from the sport lifted so he could be eligible for the Hall of Fame. Stories further suggest that Hall-of-Famer, Henry Aaron, has personally appealed to commissioner, Bud Selig to have the ban lifted.
The question remains should “Charlie Hustle” be considered for enshrinement in the Hall of Fame. It is this writer’s opinion absolutely not. Gambling on baseball has been explicitly spelled out as grounds for permanent banishment from the sport. The policy is posted in every Major League clubhouse. While issues like steroids and performance enhancing substances are serious misdeeds which might also be grounds for not selecting players for induction, it is bad enough to try to get an unfair competitive advantage to win games, but to purposely attempt to lose games for the sake of one’s personal fortune contrary to the team’s well-being is serious business. Further, while gambling is yet another vice society wrestles to deal with, when that activity could destroy the very integrity of a sport, it is very serious. Otherwise, baseball would only be an entertainment spectacle like Pro-Wrestling, a scripted farce staged to look like competition.
The evidence is clear, Pete Rose bet on baseball. He bet on the outcome of his own team’s performance. Additionally, after accepting the life time ban, remember this Pete Rose agreed to the life time banishment. He flaunted his love of gambling showing up in Atlantic City and Las Vegas. Add to that the matter of income tax evasion, due in part to his gambling involvement for which he did prison time. Only years later did Rose meekly concede to some gambling involvement in a television interview that was in part to promote sales of his autobiography. To confess under the most self-serving circumstances further dilutes the sense that Rose takes any responsibility for his behavior.
Could Rose have made himself worthy of the commissioner pardoning him to allow for reinstatement?
Probably. Had Pete Rose provided an unconditional apology and fully acknowledged the full scale of what he had done, that would have been the first door opener for reconsideration. On top of that, he’d need to engage in some meaningful activities helping to show the dangers of gambling and also working on service oriented projects around some cause that MLB supports. In essence, Rose would have to show public behavior that acts as a positive roll model for the sport not a major embarrassment.
Baseball is wise to include matters of character in determining Hall of Fame candidates. To be so honored, a player not only has to be an outstanding player but should also represent the sport and the virtues of sportsmanship and team play with honor. Players who do that, are worthy of the Hall of Fame.
For those who argue shouldn’t it just be a matter of what they accomplish between the lines? Our answer is, NO! The record books will immortalize those accomplishments. Whether Barry Bonds would ever be considered for the Hall of Fame, there is no removing the fact he set the records for the most homeruns in a season and the most homeruns for an entire career. Surely, those records can be posted with an asterisk or even disqualified. He still objectively achieved those marks. Anything beyond that is interpretation and valuating.
Record holders are not necessarily Hall of Fame inductees; likewise, some Hall of Fame inductees are far from record holders but their lifetime achievement, how they contributed to the sport and their teams’ success, and how they compared to other players of their time at their position is what makes them belong in Cooperstown.
Jim Rice was denied and almost shut out of the Hall of Fame based on his career stats. It would appear he didn’t play long enough to hit those legacy stats typically assuring Hall-of-Fame status, but when one considers his role with the Boston Red Sox from when he replaced Carl Yastrzemski to his early retirement brought on by injuries, few players were such clutch players as Jim Rice even hitting a pinch hit homerun in a game he was rested filling in for Wade Boggs who was practically batting .400. From the mid 70’s to the late 80’s, few players delivered in game situations the way the Red Sox left fielder did.
Baltimore’s own Brooks Robinson might not have set the highest career marks in many offensive categories, but for his multiple Gold Gloves and overall leadership and promotion of the game, who could deny him of the highest level of respect afforded Hall of Fame inductees.
While the Pete Rose debate continues, Mark McGwire was denied enshrinement despite being eligible to enter with Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn. His association with performance enhancers did him in. Soon, baseball writers will have big names who are way up on the all-time stat lists; Barry Bonds, Raphael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, and Roger Clemens to consider with the steroids hypodermic needle stuck right in the vein of their Hall of Fame discussion.
The Hall of Fame should be a rare and unique distinction for players who are truly the best on the field and for how they represent the game. There is no honor to gambling on one’s sport or taking drugs for the elusive pursuit of the magic winning edge.
Watch how Derek Jeter plays and represents the game and see a real future Hall of Famer in action. Cal Ripken Jr. will be ready to extend Jeter a warm embrace when his rendezvous with baseball immortality is bestowed on him in just a few more years.
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