25 Years Later-Why Pete Rose is Still in Exile
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Without a doubt, Pete Rose was, and still is, one of the greatest baseball players to ever play America’s favorite pastime. A switch hitter who dominated the sport from 1963 through 1986, Rose is still the all-time Major League leader in hits, games played, singles, doubles, at-bats, and outs, and while no one has ever doubted his prowess on the field, his lifetime ban from the game in 1989 due to gambling still clouds his legacy and his life. Banned on August 24, 1989, Pete Rose’s exile from the sport he loves has now entered its 25th year, and while many are clamoring for his re-instatement, his ongoing ineligibility from all things associated with Major League Baseball doesn’t look like it will be changing anytime soon. Here is a closer look at why Charlie Hustle still hasn’t been welcomed back into the fold, and why he may never be.
Gambling Is Illegal and Highly Taboo in MLB
Betting on baseball by a player, coach, umpire, or manager is not only against the rules set forth by Major League Baseball, it’s also the game’s most nefarious taboo. Gambling, more than anything else, has the potential to undo the whole notion of sport itself, because betting by those directly involved in the stakes of competition undermines the integrity of that competition — something that players, fans, team owners, and hot dog vendors want to be able to take for granted in order to lose themselves in that pleasure of uncertainty that is inherent in a game. The idea that the winner of a sporting event isn’t determined by the players’ and coaches’ best efforts desecrates the spontaneity and drama of the sport. It creates a scenario where events take on a scripted and pre-determined feeling where deep pockets instead of athleticism and hard work determine outcomes. Gambling is illegal in baseball so that the sport can remain a place where wins and losses are determined by who plays the best, not who rigs the game in order to make the most money.
Money Can Muck Up the Game
People who don’t work for Major League Baseball bet on games all the time. From online betting sites like http://www.usasportsbooksites.com/ to office pools that predict the winner of the World Series, gambling on sports is big business, and it also adds plenty of fun for fans, too. But when gambling by those directly involved occurs, the game gets murky. Because baseball functions with a luxury tax instead of a salary cap in hopes of keeping some version of a competitive edge in place in a league where some teams have a lot more money to spend on payroll than others, there’s already plenty of grumbling from the fans of almost any team that isn’t the Yankees.
That being said, if gambling were to ever be allowed in the management, ownership, umpires, or roster of the sport, all semblance of fairness would disappear, and fans would no longer find the game meaningful. Some have argued that because Rose only bet for the Reds to win when he was their manager, his gambling couldn’t have had negative effects on his team. But the fact that he bet differing sums of money on different games and that he didn’t bet at all on some games begs the question of whether or not his management of the team was affected by money he did — and didn’t — have riding on games’ outcomes. It isn’t hard to imagine a scenario in which a manager might use someone from his bullpen on a game he’d bet on, even though he knew that the team needed that pitcher the next night. Whether or not that ever happened with Pete Rose won’t ever be known, but that his management decisions can be called into question at all due to the money he bet proves how unfairly heavy money’s bat can be in competitions.
MLB Has to Protect Itself
If Pete Rose is absolved and allowed into the Hall of Fame, the reversal of that lifetime ban may effectively open the doors of gambling to other coaches and players. After all, if you’ll eventually be forgiven, why not make some extra cash on the side? If, however, the baseball commissioner and all future baseball commissioners stick to their guns regarding Rose, his lifetime ban makes for a very effective deterrent that will also continue to protect the integrity of the game for future generations of players and fans.
There’s no doubt that Pete Rose the baseball player has the stats, status and history that make for a Hall of Famer. However, as long as baseball maintains a vested interest in protecting its reputation as a place where honest competition takes place, his re-instatement into the sport — and induction into the Hall of Fame — is unlikely.
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I had occasion to associate with him on a fairly regular but totally informal basis in the 70s. He was an arrogant ass then. The only real question is how many points did he shave, games did he throw before he got caught? He is an embarrassment to the game.