For about 20 years — from the mid 1960s to the mid 1980s — Pete Rose was my favorite baseball player.
He was never the most talented guy in the game, but he had the most amazing drive and desire to succeed. No one would ever compare him to Willie Mays or Mickey Mantle, but nobody worked harder to be a special ballplayer.
And just as Henry Aaron surpassed Babe Ruth when it came to home runs, Rose eventually managed to pass Ty Cobb and collect the most base hits ever. Cobb’s career batting average of .366 was much higher than Rose’s .303. but Rose played long enough to have 14,053 at-bats, while Cobb batted only 11,440 times.
In the early 1950s, someone asked Cobb how he would fare in the modern game. He responded that he would probably hit about .290.
Only .290, the questioner asked.
Cobb smiled. “Well, I am in my 60s.”
For much of his career, Cobbs was at least arguably the best player in the game. The same cannot be said for Rose. In fact, during the peak years of the Big Red Machine, he was no better than the third-best player on his own team. Catcher Johnny Bench is considered by many to be the best player ever at his position, and second baseman Joe Morgan was the National League’s most valuable player both years the Reds won the World Series.
Bench and Morgan are both in the Hall of Fame, each of them elected the first year they were eligible.
Rose isn’t, nor should he be.
Each January, when Hall of Fame voting is announced, the talk always turns to Rose. Just as there are those who believe the tarnished stars of the steroid era should be forgiven and admitted, people want to forgive Rose and remove his lifetime ban for gambling on baseball.
The problem is, Rose has never really asked for forgiveness. It was 33 years ago he was banned from the game, and while it took him a good chunk of that time to even admit he had done it, he has never really stopped gambling.
In fact, just last year, the 80-year-old Rose announced he would be providing betting information for a subscription service.
It’s essentially Rose giving a middle finger to anyone who disagrees with him.
Hall of Fame?
Never.