Posted By:
CarlTime for all the anti-Rose peeps to wake up to reality. I have a bunch of opinions on this.
#1- What gambling was at the turn of the 20th century is not what it is now. We have legal gambling casino's dotted across the US. Don't we read the BETTING lines everyday in every newspaper? Heck, how about we make a stop at Vegas and drop a 50 spot that the coin lands on heads for the superbowl.
#2- Do you really think that no other ballplayer has ever bet on baseball and do you think that there are any that don't do it now? Keep dreaming..Rose just happened to get caught.
#3- As for him breaking some sacred rule--"whoopie freakin do" I find cheating worse then any other action you can do. Cheating is completely and utterly a loser thing to do, there no "integrity" or "sportsmanship" in cheating. So with that said..we better pull out Whitey Ford (spit balls), Gaylord Perry (spit balls among others)among dozens of other HOF's that were caught cheating at one time or another in their careers.
Forget about Sammy Sosa getting in --heck he was swinging with a corked bat. Bonds, McGwire--not only should they not be allowed in..maybe the records should be erased..they used performance enhancers. That's cheating..no integrity in not playing fair now is there?
#4- The Hall of Fame is simple...to enshrine the "PLAYERS" that had a monumental impact on the field. Rose indeed had that. Should we care what he did as a manager, no, he stunk as one anyway, besides he would be voted in as a player.
The Hall of Fame is not the judge of character, honesty, or any other personal characteristics. It's about stats no doubt about that. And all those that disagree..well you better be pulling out Ty Cobb, Cap Anson..pure racists and heck one was a member of the KKK among other unspeakable acts. And while we are at it..lets take out Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle--they were drop dead drunks and womanizers of the ages, horrible .
Lets remember that Baseball is a game--it's not putting one single penny in my pocket and probably not yours either but I'll "bet" that it's taking a few dollars out of each of our pockets. It's entertainment and do we really care what the athletes do with their personal lives..no.
Rose broke a rule of baseball. Did his misjudgment make an effect on the game? Probably Not.
Does cheating make an effect on the game such as spitballs, corked bats, stealing signs from the outfield boxes, being juiced up so that you can hit a ball 500 feet off the end of the bat, and how many batters have been caught looking back at the catcher to steal a sign(that's against the rules too)? You better believe it does. But that's OK you say.
Rose's election to the HOF would be as a player and nothing else, no denying the fact that his numbers are among the greatest. Let him in and let it be...no one said he had to be allowed back in the game in any manner..but the man belongs in the HOF with the greats.