Why Isn't There A Rose In The Hall Of Fame?
Why isn't Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame? It's a question most worthy of being asked, yet the reasons he's not leave a bad taste in my mouth. Pete Rose doesn't just belong in the Hall of Fame, a statue of him should be standing outside the building. Old teammates who were perhaps more talented, but didn't accomplish as much for nearly as long continue to parade in, while baseball's all-time hit king sits and waits for forgiveness. Johnny Bench is in, Tom Seaver is in, Joe Morgan is in, Tony Perez is knocking on the door, but Rose, who would have been eligible for the Hall in 1992, hangs in the balance. For those who are not baseball fans, and haven't a clue as to what I am taking about let me try and some it up. Ten years ago baseball great Pete Rose was given a lifetime ban from the game for allegedly betting on games involving the team he was coaching at the time the Cincinnatti Reds, the very same team played for and gave his heart to for nineteen seasons. Due to this baseball "death" sentence he is ineligible for induction into the Hall of Fame. Rule five in the guidelines for induction states, "Any player on Baseball's ineligible list shall not be eligible for the Hall of Fame"(Pre-amble1932).
Just like his supporters, his enemies are very outspoken. "It doesn't matter if Pete Rose had 4,000 hits, he broke the rules and in turn disgraced the game," said Mike Lupica of ESPN. (ESPN the mag. 1998). This is true, Rose did break the rules, but this also poses a bigger question. How many all-time greats broke the rules? The legendary Babe Ruth was a full- fledged alcoholic. Ty Cobb admitted to killing a man, and died alone in an insane asylum. Rogers Hornsby had the same dirty little secret Rose has, he spent most of his time at the horse track, gambling. All of these stars just to name a few weren't exactly angels by any stretch of the imagination. However, they all earned their rightful spots in the Hall of Fame. "I absolutely believe that Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame. If you exclude him you would have to exclude many others whose behavior would not stand the test of our current moral standards," commented Ken Burns, producer of "Baseball Tonight." The fact of the matter is, induction into the Hall of Fame is not based on what a player does off the field, but rather what he has done on the field and for the game itself. Would it be fair to induct a career .230 hitter who never did a thing in baseball, because upon retirement he was active in charity, was a clean and sober citizen, and received awards for civic duty? Certainly not, so why is the reverse true in Rose's case? We should reward Pete Rose for what he did as an athlete, not how he is as a citizen. Roger Kahn, author of Rose's biography
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Approximate Word count = 1096
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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