Why does he not? Do people not deserve second chances? In his last year, he bet on games as a player-manager and his first couple of years as a manager for the Cincinnati Reds. “When you do that, you disrespect your teammates, the game and your family… I got suspended 21 years ago. For 10-12 years, I kept it inside… That’s changed. I’m a different guy… I love the fans, I love the game of baseball, and I love Cincinnati baseball.” – Pete Rose
Rose has changed as a person, and he is regretful of his mistakes in his past life. Why are we as a society holding Pete Rose accountable for the mistakes he made in his past life? Rose spent five months in jail, and he has been banned from baseball games indefinitely for betting on himself and selling his memorabilia. I think that rule is pathetic, but it is a good rule, and he deserves some punishment. Rose has served his sentence. Suppose he doesn’t go to another baseball game that hurts him a lot more than it hurts the fans. I believe he should be allowed in the Hall of Fame, though. He BET on the games; he didn’t do anything to alter his stats. He didn’t take steroids, yet people view him as a cheater and idolize David Ortiz and Sammy Sosa.
He has the most hits of all time (4,256) and most games played of all time (3,562). We can forever seal those two records in the record books. I thought the Hall of Fame was for the best baseball players, not for the best “humans.” Humans make mistakes, Babe Ruth was a drunk, but people idolize him. Alex Rodriguez did so many steroids, but people worship him because he could turn his life around and become an announcer. Why can’t we give Pete Rose that same chance? Why are we holding a grudge against the best hitter in baseball?
My two favorite hitters are Tony Gwynn and Pete Rose. Tony Gwynn once went an entire season using the same bat. That’s crazy, especially because wood bats never last more than a month in today’s MLB.
Pete Rose should get a second chance at making things right with the baseball community. He sold his memorabilia and bet on his team. I can think of 1000 things worse he could’ve done, but he didn’t do that. We are punishing him because of mistakes from the 1980s.
The 2021 Hall of Fame Class for MLB should include Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson. I won’t get into the Black Sox scandal because I will be here all day.
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