Steroids and Pete Rose: What lies ahead for the Baseball Hall of Fame

Charlie Hustle

Speaking of preserving the history, how many of you would argue that the Baseball Hall of Fame is accurately doing so without acknowledging the MLB’s all-time hits leader?

Like Bonds, Pete Rose is a record-holder who remains removed from Cooperstown. Unlike Bonds, Rose’s name has never appeared on the voting ballot.

Like Bonds, Pete Rose violated an MLB rule. Unlike Bonds, Rose broke a rule without giving himself or his team any true advantage.

For those unfamiliar with Rose’s story, he remains the MLB’s all-time hits leader at 4,256 in his career. In 1989, he was banned from baseball by Commissioner Bart Giamatti for allegedly betting on baseball games.

One thing that Rose-haters like to hide is that he never bet on his team to lose. This is a major difference from the 1919 Black Sox scandal, when the Chicago White Sox fixed the World Series and intentionally lost to the Cincinnati Reds.

Even though Pete Rose is undoubtedly a central piece of our pastime’s history, the Hall of Fame has a policy stating that nobody who bets on baseball can be elected.