After watching his interview on ABC last night, I've come to the conclusion that Pete Rose is in big-time financial difficulty ... my opinion is that he's into some pretty nasty loan sharks for extremely heavy gambling debts and his latest revelations are less motivated by possibly gaining admission to the HoF than to stay out of the clutches of these guys ...

I'm thinkin' that Pete is afraid of becoming Jimmy Hoffa's roommate if he doesn't raise the $$ they want from him ...

Naw, Hoffa's got a private room in the endzone at Meadowlands

SteveS

interesting observation. if he was that concerned about the hall of fame, he could have come out with the truth ten years ago.

i will watch the sports headlines.

It would be poetic justice if they iced that neanderthal. JonR

JonR

please define "iced".

i thought in street lingo that meant killed.

Rick, that's not only what I understood JonR to mean, that's what I'm thinking Pete understands the loan sharks have in mind if he doesn't cough up the dough ... ergo, his confession and book promo ...

He was wearing the suit of a man who got ripped off at a garage sale, or he himself is down-in-the-dumps, or plays it off that way. I think he is the type that cold-calls sporting card companies to do overpriced card-signings, so he can sleep in free hotels and stay on the move. SAD! JMO
Dave

another very sad note was his need for wearing #14 on the collar of his shirt ... that and the suit, which I also noticed, combined with the "hunted animal" look in his eyes make me think he's a desperate man, grasping at whatever straw presents itself ...

I grew up LOVING baseball, played all day and untill they told me to go away nobody wants you anymore!! I would have paid them to let me play. He was a great hitter who sold out the game! He is OUT!! No Hall, No baseball. Pete you hustled yourself out pal sorry. Just my .02 worth

Just saw this posting and will add my opinion to this one. Get off his back ! He's a hall of fame player and he does deserve to be included !!! so what , he gambles....if we only knoew how many others gambles on games i think we might be suprised !! it's just , he got caught ! that doesn't take away from the preformance he had in all the years he played ! the records he broke ! everyone's like.....i can't believe he gambles on a sports game ! WHAT??? i've gambled on games and most of you have gambled on games i'm sure at one point or another......ok, we aren't sports stars and don't play the game but as i remember it ( i could be mistaken ) he didn't bet on the game he was playing in ! he bet on another game that he didn't have a connection with personally ! so , i really do think they should induct him !! he's in the history books anyway ! he's really not a "bad" guy as most cut him down to be !! i grew up watching him and Johnny Bench play....and we'd get out there and "pretend" we were them when we played ball....wishing we were anyway ! had he murdered someone (isn't O.J. a H.O.F'er ? ) then i might feel differently , but he just made a bet on a sporting event as do millions of other people all the time . just my opinion....i'm still a fan of the way he played....just wish they had let him back in long ago ! i think if they had , he would have made them happy they gave him a second chance ! and he wouldn't be the way he's being shown today ! 2 cents

contendertotes ...

In every baseball clubhouse, there is a prominent posting of the MLB rule against betting on baseball ... whether you're a player, a coach or a manager ... Pete knew the rules, but couldn't settle for betting on horses or football ... he broke the rules KNOWING what the penalty would be if he got caught ...

A second chance? ... why? there's a LOT of evidence that indicates that even in his admissions, he's continuing to lie ...

Here's something that goes a long way toward explaining Pete Rose ... in SI, Frank Deford writes: "The late Richie Ashburn became an announcer with the Phillies after his playing career ended. I'll never forget asking Ashburn about Rose after the latter had spent his first season with the Phillies. 'Yes, let me tell you about Pete Rose,' Richie said. 'If ever Pete took one drink at lunch, he would be an alcoholic by nightfall. It doesn't matter what: baseball, gambling, women. Rose is the most obsessive man I've ever met.'"

Everyone loved Pete for the obsessive way he played right down to running to first on a walk ... he played the game with the sort of hustle we'd like to see more of in many of todays players ... but I'm afraid Rickie Ashburn's observation is all too true ... Pete became an obsessive gambler (and apparently still is) and sadly, it seems he's also an obsessive liar. And it IS sad ... his admissions which he has made in hopes of getting back in the game's good graces are being so badly mismanaged, he's costing himself support in areas where he's always had it ... with the fans and with the sportswriters ...

I'm one who's always maintained he belongs in the HoF because of his accomplishments, but like Peter Gammons, I too am having some second thoughts after watching the circus unfold this week ... Pete hasn't just shot himself in the foot this time ... it could easily be a mortal wound ...

And, here is the final paragraph of the SI story ... this, as much as anything, explains why I both agree AND disagree with you ...

"In the end, we are all -- however we feel -- just so angry at Rose. That's the crux. And, invariably, it is the people who love baseball the most who are most torn. If we support Rose's claim to the Hall of Fame, we're furious that he's tarnished his brilliance so by malfeasance and deceit. Yet if we find him unbearable and unworthy, maybe it pains us more because we know that it is precisely this curious, flawed creature who, better than anyone who ever played the game of baseball, played it as we idolize it, played it as we wish everyone did."

Very well put Steve.

Pete Rose shouldn't be put on any pedestal for even his on-the-field performance. Sure...he hustled, but there are so many players since Pete that hustled, played phenominally AND made an impact in their communities. How can we say that athletes deserve ungodly amounts of money, then deserve accolades IF they weren't standup human beings off the field? The Hall of Fame says in their voting guidelines that the inductee should be of "high moral character". Pete couldn't be further from that, so in my opinion he should GO AWAY and not be considered.
Dave

I am not arguing that he's not guilty....he is , and admitted it i'm sorry to say. my small point is just that "he got caught" ! you can't even for a moment think that there aren't "many" others....playing in any sport that doesn't bet on some form of sporting event ! but they aren't getting caught....yet. and after all the years of ridicule and shame he's had ( even though he's lied about it ) he's still had it "inside" "eating at him" and for all those years...man ! let him be....and let him in. murderers even get parolled ! ...... i don't want to sound like i'm arguing but this has been slapping him in his face for many years.....let it pass, he does deserve to be inducted "before" his death !

smelly4tay,
I'm not going to argue whether Rose should or shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame, but there is a double standard on their voting.
the guideline that the inductee should be of "high moral character", Mantle was far from that too, but still was inducted. Players who have been caught with drugs are still eligible.
Players, such as Shoeless Joe Jackson and Buck Weaver were banned from baseball for being guilty by association. Both men went to their graves fighting to be reinstated.
To ban someone for gambling, yet allowing things like drug convictions to remain eligible (whether or not the sports writers vote for them), is not what I would call a good message to kids.
Does Rose's on field accomplishments deserve to be in the Hall? How can they not be, he broke a few records that still stand.
Does he deserve to be in the Hall? That decision should be up to the voting sports writers.

Just my opinion.

His name could have commanded a press-conference at any time to come clean. He was just sleazy enough to lie over and over again.

Sure...there are players and coaches that probably bet at aome time or another, but not only does that sway away from the point of Rose himself, but what message does that send 8-13 yr. old baseball players? "As long as I am talented, I can be a jerk." NOT GOOD for baseball!

Let's look at the opposite: A player like Harold Reynolds. A good baseball player, a great human being, and one of the best baseball analysts. The only thing holding him back was a higher career batting average, but would be automatically in if you considered his "character" for the game. I can think of many more players even better in talent since, that did the same.

Rose's name would look ugly in the Hall, and if anybody wants to support Pete's payback to loansharks and bookies, by all means...buy his book. I feel sorry for the contributing writers and consultants that actually had to spend extensive time with such a greaseball to get information that probably could have been acquired through his greaseball friend that he lived with.

It would be Extreme hogwash, and a pinch of baulderdash if he got in, but JMHO.
Dave

O,
Mantle, Ruth and the others that got in, when they got in, shows how sport changes, and culture changes.
Apples and Oranges, how baseball was then...to now. You are talking about some players that were around WAY before the color barrier was even broken, and getting away from my point of how much players get paid TODAY, and the "high moral standards" we should, and writers should hold them to. Baseball is just toooo damn good to bend over and take it for such a sleaze.
Dave

smelly4tay ...... i'm sure that if you look into the hall of fame ??/ you are gonna find all kinds of skeletons. for his preformance...on field ! if he had not been cought it is undesputed that he would have been in years ago....right? right ! so ,since he got caught gambling on "one" game...even though we all know there was countless games bet on by him....but one game...and he's the games worst enemy ! now ....think about all the "unknowns" that "have" and "still do" secretly bet on a sporting events. he got caught and thats what's persicuting him.....one game. i'm not saying he was right or wrong ...yes it is stated in the rules and in the dugout and in the clubhouse , but they still do it ! player "A" just has a friend or his brother do it for him.....it's not less of a charge , because he still initiated the thought and bet in the first place ! if he hadn't got caught ...he'd be in ! so after all this time and misery...just let him in and be done with it ! his sentance to this date has been tough and he has paid a price for that one bet already without not being let in !!

It bears noting that the HoF is a private organization and can admit any player they wish to admit, irrespective of his personal qualities ... HOWEVER, they have made a committment to MLB that they will only admit those who're in good standing with baseball, that is, those not banned from the game.

Baseball (and all sports) are well advised to continue their bans on anyone, irrespective of his accomplishments, who wagers on the games. The integrity of the games is critical ...

Sure, Pete's accomplishments merit him a place in the HoF ... no debate there. BUT, he does NOT deserve to have his ban lifted and until or unless the HoF changes their policies, he won't get in ... bottom line is he KNEW the consequences of his actions, but thumbed his nose at the rules ... tough break, Pete ... live with it.

Thank you very much 0patience !!! my point ! there have been others that by the guidelines shouldnt have been let in but guess where they are ! Pete Rose Belongs in the hall ! it's still going to be posted all about the gambling , but he's got the numbers and record to be included among them that are already there ! look at Babe Ruth....What a drunk and womanizer ! if that's moral enough for the hall then one bet should be !

I agree with you on that point.
I remember when Jackie Robinson was inducted and the ruckus it raised. Then when they decided to induct guys like Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson and many folks had a fit. These were men who had to work 3 times as hard and still very few people had bad words for any of them.
Those weren't moral issues at that time.
Gambling may have been considered a moral issue, but look at today's times. Gambling is an accepted practice in almost every state and even state sanctioned.
Living in the NW, I would have to agree that Harold Reynolds is a person that should be inducted.

My point was that should a player be eligible if he is caught doing something illegal?
If the answer is no, then Steve Howe, Daryl Strawberry and a host of others should have been banned completely from baseball. Instead, they were given several chances and to this day, remain eligible, even if they are not voted in.
While on the other hand, gambling is not illegal and is punishable by a lifetime ban. That doesn't make sense to me.
I have tons of baseball stuff and at one time when I was farily young I did alot of research into certain aspects of baseball.
There are players, like Bob Doerr, who I found to be one of the nicest men in the world and guys like Mantle, who was grumpy and didn't want to talk with anyone. As a kid meeting a great ball player, I was very disappointed with him.

Great discussion. 🙂
As much as I didn't care for Mantle, he did deserve