A really great Major League Baseball player who was banned for gambling on the game. Should he be in the Baseball Hall of Fame?
The issue I have with this is that MLB now promotes gambling sites, so keeping him out because of that seems a little hypocritical to me. He did bet, yes, but on his own team. As the manager, he was trying to win anyway.
he played to WIN....bet to win...Should absolutely be in the Hall
I feel that his performance on the field with his stats and championships warrants him being in the hall of fame. Not as a manager though. Prior to Mountain Landis becoming commissioner gambling ran rampant in the league. I would guess that there are players in the hall of fame that were participants during those early days.
I think Rose’s barber is in the Hall of Shame. Obviously he thinks a bowl cut is a fashion statement. BUT Rose…Definitely Hall of Fame. Same with Joe Jackson.
Of course! It's so ironic because every other commercial you see, and ad you hear while watching sports is an ad for GAMBLING! Nearly all the shows on ESPN are about gambling, and every other celeb or retired athlete shills for gambling sites. Pete Rose wasn't perfect, but what professional athlete is? The most hits in history, no steroids needed.
How many politicians have had serious “personal scandals” yet remained in office (and were often reelected) because the consensus of the media and the majority of voters was, “their personal life doesn’t impact how they do their job”.
As a society it makes us appear hypocritical to hold sports figures to higher standards than our elected leaders.
I wish he had been let in to the Hall of Fame. The idea that MLB has much integrity left itself these days is a joke. Like others have said with the gambling.
I was born and raised in Cincinnati. My dad bought me my first pack of baseball cards in 1987 and I got a Pete Rose in it! I was so excited. He meant so much to so many of the people in my life.
It was heartbreaking when the scandal came out. He hurt a whole city with that one.
What made Pete great is what kept him out of the Hall. He could not give up for one second. No one tried harder than Pete. At baseball or at maintaining his stance on the scandal. It is said they would have let him in if he had just admitted it. But he couldn't give up. A definite Captain Ahab and Moby Dick story.
I'm sorry he didn't get in before he died. And MLB seems petty and small to me for it. My values have changed as I've aged. And I don't watch baseball not anymore. Not because of the scandal, but because MLB itself doesn't have the integrity it pretends to. It's all about $$$ now and I just don't care anymore.
@billiam And Cincinnati was so proud of The Big Red Machine.
It is said they would have let him in if he had just admitted it.
First, as I said earlier, he belongs in the HOF as does Joe Jackson and Barry Bonds. But Rose did admit he gambled on baseball in 2004. But then the prevarication continued for the years following as on what, to what extent and when. Rose was a great player, but he was a walking ego and an inveterate liar as well.
The hypocrisy of Major League Baseball is astounding. The ball itself has been altered many times to increase run production and home runs but players cannot use substances to do the same. MLB marches with same ego as Pete Rose.
@gem7 Oh MLB gives the NCAA a run for the money in the hypocrisy department.
@TheFunCartel right. He didn't admit to everything.
Something we agree on 👍
I've never heard of him...the only baseball name I retained from hearing my dad listen to sports radio throughout my childhood was Galarraga. Not the young pipsqueak who comes up on Google...the one who played in the 90's. ⚾️
In any case, I'm sorry for Pete's family and fans.
~ Sunset Snuggles
🫂 Enthusiast 🌄 Travel Junkie 📸 Shutter Bug
I think now that he has passed, he will be put into the hall of fame. Im betting he was always going to be but that there was a stipulation that it would be after his passing. Rip to a legend.
@team_cuddle I think you may be right. But it's so petty and sad and weak to me.
I used to look up to athletes when I was young. But my three favorites were all involved in scandals, so I quit that pretty early. Pete Rose, Mark McGwire, and don't laugh - I was 10-14 years old, Hulk Hogan.
@billiam Sorry, I laughed about the Hulk Hogan part.
Put him in the hall!!!
Here's your chance boys - who's got a few mil in pocket change? 😁
Personally, I was stoked to hear a song from a band I grew up on, P.O.D., used as the video shows off close-ups of the ball. 💥⚾️
Technically, he’s eligible now. It was a lifetime ban, so…
@SeekerInVA Good point. I guess we will see what happens.
I am sure that MLB will have to actually exhume the body to make sure he didn’t fake his death because of a bet on a dead pool.
As @justwanthugs noted, MLB now assists in the promotion of gambling although they most likely have restrictions written into MLB contracts. I recall Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle being banned from baseball because they signed on as greeters at a casino after they retired.
His bowl cut will live in infamy
Reporter to Pete: Do you think you will be inducted into the MLB Hall of fame?
Pete: If I were a betting man I would bet $100 on yes.
Today is the day Pete Rose's family held the Pete Rose Public Memorial at the ballpark in Cincinnati. I believe as I am posting this people are still standing in line in the rain to view the memorial set up there. I can sympathize, relate and understand a lot of the comments posted above.
I grew up in Ohio in the 1960's and 1970's when Pete was a player for my beloved Cincinnati Reds. This was a time when Baseball was still the National Pastime and any patch of dirt or grass in the neighborhood was turned into a baseball field. So many memories of pretending to be Pete when playing in little leagues. I remember he would play all kinds of different positions to help the Reds and the team. When he switched positions for the good of the team, I would ask my coaches if I could switch positions too. lol. (Did you know he started five different positions in the All-Star games? ) Not bad for an undersized, slow, power lacking, goofy haircut boy, born in Cincinnati Ohio!
Amazing ball player and yet a tarnished and fallen human being. Not all our heroes teach us what's right. Some teach us what's wrong too. My memories and thoughts of Pete are confusing probably to some. I have so many great memories of all the excitement he brought to me and others, and yet I have all of these challenging memories that i can't nor should I forget or ignore. So I continue to hang on to these childhood memories which are conflicted by my adult ones.
I never got to meet Pete in person as a child, other than seeing him play, but many times I got to meet and chat with him as an adult at the ballpark and sports shows around the country. Every time he was pleasant with me and the other fans.
I have quite a few pictures meeting Pete and this is one of them....
@15 years ago I think...
Pete's memorial today
His statue outside ball park today
@OhioMike Thanks for sharing, and for taking this thread seriously.
Pete meant a lot to me growing up. Nobody tried harder than Charlie Hustle. He gave every minute of every game everything he had. I kept the local newspaper from his record-breaking hit - 4192 - for decades. I finally gave it to my little brother. But I still have my 1987 Topps Pete Rose card. I got it in my first ever pack of baseball cards. I opened that wax pack, and wow! There he was. I felt so lucky. I was in love with collecting those cards. I had so much innocent fun with my cousins and friends collecting cards, going to Riverfront to catch a game, staying up late during the hot summer nights watching the game on channel 5.
Pete's refusal to ever give up had a downside too.
I was 13 when the scandal was brought to light. It broke my heart, partially because my dad had just moved us from Cincinnati, my birthplace and home of everything I loved. I lost everything at once, except for my immediate family. I had just lost my homeland. And because of Pete, I lost the pride I had for her too. Things were never the same for me afterwards.
I remember being the new kid, having just told everyone where I was from, and then suddenly getting all these questions about Pete. Most kids were respectful, but there were some bullies. They didn't like me. It was a terrible year.
It makes me happy that his memorial means something to people still. Lord knows I've failed too, and I hope people notice and remember how hard I try more than how many times I fail. Heck, I need to notice that about myself!!!