At least they waited till he was dead.
When major league baseball reinstated Pete Rose and other players who had been banned for life, there were plenty of fans who said it was about time and in fact it was a shame it didn’t happen while Rose was still alive.
I couldn’t disagree more, and in fact, I’ll be honest and say that for nearly 20 years from the mid 1960s to the early 1980’s, Rose was my very favorite baseball player.
In fact, during my career as a sportswriter, I interviewed Rose four times, twice one-on-one for feature stories. The third time was the week before he broke Ty Cobb’s record and the fourth time was a winter banquet a few years after he had been banned. Of course that time he lied to me and said he had never bet on baseball.
Rose wasn’t the best player who had been banned and now reinstated. Many Hall of Famers of his era said Shoeless Joe Jackson was the greatest hitter they ever saw. He was banned for life in 1920 after being part of the group who threw the 1919 World Series.
At least he was ashamed of what he did. When Cobb bought a bottle in Jackson’s liquor store in Greenville, SC, he asked Jackson if he recognized him. Jackson grinned sheepishly and said, “Oh sure, Ty. I just didn’t think you would want to know me.”
Rose gambled till the end of his life. He also spent time in prison for tax evasion and was accused of numerous sexual affairs with underage girls.
Rose and Jackson will likely be voted in this winter by the committee that deals with pre-1980 stars. Assuming Rose is elected, his plaque had damn well contain both the good and the bad about his career.
And one other thing I expect to see. If Rose is going into the Hall of Fame after what he did, there are better players than him who should go in as well.
Players named Bonds, Rodriguez, Sosa, Palmeiro, Clemens …
Get the picture?
Tell the truth about all of them, but if you’re letting Rose in, it’s tough to justify keeping anyone out.