Pete Rose is back?

There are some people you just wish would go away.  Most of the Kardashians.  At least half of the GOP Presidential candidates from 2012.  Britney Spears.  I don’t understand it; people with talent have a difficult time hitting it big; Spears has no talent what so ever, yet she manages comeback after comeback until you can barely remember those blessed times when she was gone.

In sports, my nominee for Most Annoying Banquo’s Ghost is back on the cover of Sports Illustrated: Pete Rose.  Nearly a quarter of a century after his case was definitively adjudicated, the debate rages over whether he should be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.  The reason he is not in the Hall of Fame is because of a piece of paper agreeing to a lifetime ban, and that paper is signed by Pete Rose.  Case closed.

But the apologists continue.  Betting on baseball isn't as bad as using steroids.  There really was no evidence he bet on baseball, and even if he did there is no evidence it influenced the outcome of any games.  He’s the all-time hit leader, and how can the guy with the most base hits NOT be in the Hall of Fame (and what about the guy who hit the most home runs?  What are the odds Barry Bonds will be voted into the Hall once he’s eligible?).

The bottom line is this: Pete Rose agreed to a lifetime ban.  If Pete Rose accepted a lifetime ban, the rest of us should as well.  Gambling has been the cardinal (sorry St. Louis) sin of baseball players since the Black Sox scandal.  Gamblers always lose (do you think those big shiny buildings in Las Vegas were built in order to give money away?) and once losses pile up, the risk of influence exists whether it is exerted or not.  Even if Rose never bet on his team to lose, it still could affect performance.  If Rose bet a lot on his team to win a certain game, he might leave a pitcher in longer than he should, making that pitcher unavailable for later games.  Gambling raises the possibility of influence, whether that influence is perceived or not.

As for the fact that Rose is the “all-time hit king,” the fact is that in the latter part of his career, Rose was the least productive first baseman in baseball.  He was a 40 year old spray hitter with no power, yet his manager kept putting him in the line-up.  His manager’s name?  Pete Rose!  In his final year he hit .219 with no home runs and an OPS of .538, yet she still wrote his own name in at first base 45 times.  In his 1986 Baseball Abstract, Bill James rated Rose the 10th best first baseman in the National League (out of 12) and summed him up with one word--"Who?"  He ended up with 67 more hits than Cobb, but he would have been finished at least three years earlier and with 266 fewer hits if he hadn't been his own manager.  So I don’t put too much weight on him getting to the top of that list.

Still, even discounting that achievement, doesn’t Rose deserve to be in the Hall of Fame?  One of the most prolific hitters of all time, key member of the Big Red Machine, one of the greatest teams ever, Charlie Hustle, ender of Ray Fosse’s career.  What does Pete Rose have to do to get into the Hall of Fame?  The answer is simple.

Die.

Pete Rose agreed to a lifetime ban.  Once his lifetime is over, he’s eligible again.  He’s 73 years old, so he’s on the clock.  While he’s alive, he is ineligible to feel the pride of getting into the Baseball Hall of Fame without a ticket.  When he can no longer derive any enjoyment form his inclusion, then he can get in.

Of course the same logic applies to Shoeless Joe Jackson.  His lifetime ban ended years ago; why no one has picked up the banner and advocated for his inclusion is beyond me.  At this point does he even have any living grandchildren who could derive some pleasure from his induction into the Hall of Fame?

So stop the lobbying to get Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame.  He’s not eligible, and the person responsible for that decision was Pete Rose.  The fact that he now has buyer’s remorse and thinks he should be allowed in just means he’s a liar as well as a gambler.  Let’s get Craig Biggio and Mike Piazza in next year and let the Death Watch on Pete Rose start later.