After 26 years, the tide finally seemed to be turning in Pete Rose‘s favor. Despite his predecessor’s staunch resistance, new commissioner Rob Manfred publicly indicated his willingness to hear Rose’s appeal for reinstatement to Major League Baseball with fresh ears. The longtime pariah, banned in 1989 for allegedly betting on baseball, would seemingly get one last chance to take his place in the Hall of Fame.
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Until ESPN’s Outside the Lines dropped a bombshell yesterday, and our understanding of Pete Rose’s crime once again changed.
For years the former Cincinnati Reds great insisted that none of the accusations against him were true. He relented in 2004, confessing in his autobiography and to Sports Illustrated that he only bet on games as a manager, and never against the Reds.
Now, Rose’s “true story” has again been called into doubt. As a result of its investigation, ESPN uncovered a notebook belonging to a former associate of Rose’s indicating he bet on baseball frequently while as a player in 1986. According to the records, Rose bet on various teams, including the Reds in games in which he played. Jim Dowd, the prosecutor who built MLB’s case against Rose over twenty years ago, provided a succinct reaction: “This does it. This closes the door.”
So is the door really shut for good on Pete Rose’s long-held dream of reinstatement and entrance into the Baseball Hall of Fame? The topic has been debated within the baseball community on an almost yearly basis. League officials, media pundits and fans alike have all grappled with how to reconcile Rose the player with Rose the personally flawed individual.
Rose’s legacy on the field makes the situation all the more dire and tragic. MLB’s all-time hits record is one of the most impressive individual milestones in the sport, and its owner should by all means be in the Hall of Fame. Beyond those 4,256 base hits, “Charlie Hustle” was simply an icon of his era and an indispensible part of baseball history. But at what point do we decide the personal mistakes outweigh the on-field achievements?
The Hall of Fame and its qualifications for entry have been under particular scrutiny over the past several years in light of performance-enhancing drugs. Voters have come out strongly against admitted or heavily suspected steroid users, highlighting the considerable weight they place on issues of integrity. Some have questioned such a hardline approach, arguing that voters should not ignore the finer details of players’ individual cases. After all, if the Hall was only open to figures of absolutely unimpeachable character, someone like Ty Cobb would never get near it.
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Rose’s problem, however, is that his case is now looking worse by the minute. Sports fans can be very forgiving in the right circumstances. If players admit their offenses upfront, take their punishments and move on quietly, the public tends soften over time. Alex Rodriguez‘s image may have been hurt as much by the scorched earth legal approach he took after receiving his suspension than he was by using steroids in the first place. Rose now finds himself in a similar dilemma contending with a public just about through with patience.
The sports world is abound with second chances, but third chances are much more difficult to come by. And Rose would now be asking for quite the third chance in his long-running reinstatement saga. Nobody likes being taken for a fool, and if Rose had indeed been lying yet again over the past eleven years about the exact nature of his gambling history, that is a lot harder to forgive.
With the All-Star Game in Cincinnati only three weeks away, the timing of ESPN’s report seems convenient to say the least. Rose had received permission from the commissioner to participate in the event and was presumably going to play a visible role in the festivities. But if the contents of the report are legitimate as they appear to be, it’s hard to cut Rose any more slack. Redemption seemed as close as it had ever been, but after this latest development perhaps it’s time to just shake our collective head and let this one go.
Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame on the basis of his playing career, but his serious personal mistakes made it impossible for him to get there without the help of fans, media and ultimately Major League Baseball itself. That helping hand is far less likely to come to his aid now.