Don’t bother putting Pete Rose into the Baseball Hall of Fame now, it’s too late

FORT WORTH, Texas – Pete Rose played the game as well as anyone who ever lived, and yet his inability to “play the game” prevented him from reaching the one place he sought above all others.

The hit king died on Monday in Nevada at the age of 83. Pete always felt like one of those people who might live forever.

There was a time when Pete Rose was the most popular and popular athlete in America. He owned Cincinnati in a way that few athletes have ever owned their city.

In every way, Pete Rose was self-made and self-destructed.

The man was from western Cincinnati. It’s not nothing, but “wrong side of the tracks” and West Cincinnati don’t mix because no train wanted any part of that side of town. (FWIW: I was born in Cincy and grew up a die-hard Reds and Pete fan).

Pete built a granite baseball career that will last forever. He is also responsible for permanently changing our view of a career that is second to none.

Rose died after never being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He has never appeared on a ballot and should not. Not now. It is too late.
The HOF screwed this up. Pete too.

You can’t tell the story of Major League Baseball without Pete Rose. He should have always been in it, including the sordid details that led to his eventual expulsion. The Hall is about preserving history, not active engagement or participation in the game it celebrates and records.
If the Hall accepts him now, it would just be a sad day in the history of the sport.

When Pete was banned for life from the MLB in 1989 for playing in that game, the Hall acted shortly thereafter, effectively disqualifying him from eligibility. For more than a decade, Rose denied ever betting on baseball during his managerial career with the Reds, despite evidence that he had done so repeatedly.

He applied for reinstatement several times, but was always rejected.

Banning baseball was “just”; He bet on games in which he was involved, violating a cardinal rule. Baseball could get along with players who snorted cocaine, took steroids, or beat their wives, but the first priority was always the integrity of the product. Rose could never figure out why betting on the game was worse than betting on a player taking drugs.

It had always escaped Pete’s attention that he was asking rhetorical questions about morality and professional ethics, although throughout his life he paid little attention to either.

People who worked for Rose tried to convince him to play the role of a humble man seeking advice and expressing remorse. Pete couldn’t do it. The way he played was the way he lived. Full of arrogance. Full of self-confidence.

Empowered by the fact that in every room he walked into, the crowds stopped, smiled, pointed, asked for his autograph and told him how much they loved him. If you knew him and he liked you, you could overlook the human flaws. We allow anything famous to be endorsed, even if it’s just for a few seconds or requires $50.

Speaking of $50, Pete’s attitude toward admitting that he had bet on baseball changed when the dollar value associated with the admission was high enough. In January 2004, Rose “authored” a book in which he claimed to have actually bet on baseball.

This was done with the idea that he would receive a check that would help open the doors to Cooperstown. As always with Pete, he got his check. As always with Pete, he didn’t get the hall.

For the man known as “Charlie Hustle,” everything was hectic. Everything he did came with a price tag.

Not only did he monetize his lack of introduction, he turned it into a final act that lasted 30 years. The reason Rose remained relevant well into the 21st century isn’t those 4,256 hits. That’s because he never made it to Cooperstown.

HBO recently released a documentary about Rose, and there’s not much new in it other than his willingness to be as candid as possible. A few parts are sad, especially seeing Pete getting his hair cut and colored at a salon and how bad he looked.

The documentary seemed like another Pete Pity party.

Earlier this year, author Keith O’Brien published a fantastic, comprehensive book about Rose’s life.

“I think Pete Rose is genuinely contrite, but I don’t think he knows how to encapsulate that apology and the feeling that people want,” O’Brien said in an interview. “I’m not going to blame the media here. We all love it when people listen to Oprah and cry, mea culpa, and show the world that you’re hurting.

“If Pete had done something like that and really meant it, it would have done wonders for him. I don’t think he can do that. He doesn’t know how to be vulnerable.”

If Parliament reverses its decision and Rose is allowed entry, it would not be a day to toast.

It will simply be a sad day when a man who built a career worth celebrating will be remembered, especially because he was the one who destroyed it.

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