Baseball’s thorny rose

Rose is the all-time MLB leader in hits, games played, at-bats, and singles.   He was an integral part of three World Series victories, won three batting titles, one Most Valuable Player Award, two Gold Gloves, and was the game’s 1963 Rookie of the Year.  He was a 17-time all-star at an unrivalled five positions: second baseman, left fielder, right fielder, third baseman, and first baseman.  What other MLB players had a pseudonym that exemplified how they played the game: Charlie Hustle.  

There is no evidence that he ever did anything to change the outcome of a game by performing or managing less than his best.  There is no question Rose could be brash and crude.  However, he was undeniably one of the game’s all-time greats.  

Manfred denied Rose’s petition for forgiveness twice in 2015 and again in 2022.  

Seven months after Rose died, Manfred declared “permanent ineligibility” now ends with one’s death.  

Manfred also lifted the ban of “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, who was exiled from the game in 1921 along with seven of his Chicago White Sox teammates who were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series. Jackson hit much better in the 1919 World Series than in the 1917 World Series, collecting 12 hits – a World Series record then.  

Jackson died in 1951.    

Once upon a time in America, gambling and ticket scalping were illegal.  Betting on baseball (Rule 21) was MLB’s mortal sin – and remains unchanged despite sports books being a major source of revenue for all professional sports’ leagues. 

Pete Rose was ahead of his time. 

Now that Rose is dead, they reinstate him. MLB will profit from Pete Rose, but they made sure he could not.

The ban made sense when professional sports’ leagues were not in bed with gambling.  It is the height of hypocrisy when every major league ballpark is festooned with MGM Resorts International, Draft Kings, ESPN Bet signs with odds listed for every pitch.

There are plenty of rogues in Cooperstown who cheated on their wives, their taxes and engaged in other nefarious activities too long to list.  If only those without flaws were enshrined in Cooperstown, the place would be empty.  Moreover, despite having a team in the Jim Crow South, MLB and Cooperstown excluded Blacks for decades. Cooperstown is about performance on the field. 

The ultimate punishment is that Rose did not live to see the ban lifted.  A suspension and censure would have sufficed for both Rose and Jackson.  It’s the Hall of Fame, not the Hall of Saints.

In MLB’s storied past, many used amphetamines, steroids and other drugs to enhance their performance and pitchers have admitted to using illegal substances on baseballs, while stealing signs is the game’s version of performance art. MLB’s product has never been pure. Everyone is looking for an edge to win.

Which is the greater crime?  Betting on your team to win the game or cheating by using electronic communications during the World Series.   

The 2017 Houston Astros anyone?   

Same goes for the Dodger’s all-star Shohei Ohtani. It begs belief that his Japanese translator could place such huge bets without Ohtani knowing.  MLB’s reaction: Nothing to see here.  

The integrity of MLB?  Give me a break.  

FanDuel has a naming rights deal with several teams’ broadcast partners, meaning a handful of teams play on networks named for legalized bookies. While players and managers are still banned from betting on games, MLB reaps untold millions from sports books enticing fans to wager away.  

The Classic Baseball Eras Committee convenes every three years and will not meet again until December 2027.  However, Rose still needs 12 of 16 votes for enshrinement in Cooperstown.  Given the committee’s membership many believe that Rose will face long odds, initially.  

When Rose does finally get in, his induction will be sponsored by FanDuel, the official sports book of MLB.  

Wanna bet?