by Peter L. Bosch

Created on: July 29, 2009

We all know that Pete Rose will be in the Hall of Fame one day, the question is whether or not he will be alive to see it. By all accounts, Rose never cheated during his playing days to get his stats. What he did was gamble, an activity that is despicable, but still off of the field. He has paid a hefty price as he has been unable to work in baseball for fifteen years. That means the younger general has not experienced Rose in baseball for longer than Clarissa Flockhart has experienced a calorie.

It is not like Pete Rose killed anybody. In fact, Michael Vick who did cause the death of animals is back in the NFL. His debt was owed to society and he paid it. Rose is the all time hits leader with 4,256 hits and I bet you that...errr did I say bet? I would guess that he worked hard for every single one of them, so why should we not celebrate his achievement after already being penalized.

We all know he gambled because he admitted it, in one of his books he sold, but nonetheless he admitted it. Allegations that he may have betted against his own team have never been proven. He has owned up to his actons, so enough already.

Does baseball still want to make an example out of him? Last time I checked, Selig is calling for the game to be healed from the steroid era. Yet, McGwire and Sosa can still freely attend any baseball game they want...assuming their jacked bodies can fit through the entrances. They actually manipulated outcomes on the field with their actions. How many games did their combined 1,192 homeruns affect? I would imagine the numbers would have been significantly less without their needled friends...allegedly.

Keeping the 1975 World Series MVP ban does little to keep Rose away from baseball fork lore. Rose's name comes up during every All-Star weekend for his hustling and perhaps dirty play to score the winning NL run in 1970. His 44 game hit streak in 1978 is tied for first all time in the National League. Even as a manager he has left his mark, with his 426 managerial wins ranking fourth all time in Reds history.

The decision is now in Bud Selig's hands and if he really wants to heal the game of past scandals, then he will make Rose the first player to be reinstated after a lifetime ban. Rose has paid his debt to the game, and it is time that Rose takes his rightful place inside of Cooperstown and not in a rented hall nearby signing autographs.

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