Enough Already!  How long does Pete Rose have to pay a debt to society?  He has already admitted guilt and said he was wrong for betting on baseball.  Yet the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame continues to snub debate on when the all-time hit leader will be inducted.  Is Bud Selig going to wait until he dies?  Everyone knows that Pete Rose belongs in Cooperstown to take his rightful place amongst the other legends of the game.  He made a mistake, he paid a price, he deserves to be rewarded for what he accomplished as a player. 

In my humble opinion, there are people who are members in the Hall of Fame who have probably done worse.  Constantly drinking (Mickey Mantle, Billy Martin) is not a good message to send to the kids.  Steroid abuse is the hot button right now, the abusers will probably never get in because they altered their bodies to enhance performance.  Pete Rose did not need substances to accomplish anything in baseball.

Granted, he is cocky and hardheaded.  Ray Fosse probably hates him to this day.  But when you are the central cog in something called a Big Red Machine, you deserve some praise when work ends.  Think about it.  He was simply the best hitter of our lives, maybe of all times.  How do you keep the blueprint out of the museum?  Especially for something that happened after he accomplished what he had to for acceptance into this elite fraternity. 

This argument has been hashed and rehashed over a twenty year span.  The common sense of the whole shouting match revolves around whether or not it is time – yet.  I hope baseball does not make the mistake of waiting for Pete to die before they put him in.  In closing, Pete Rose was not the third gunman in the grassy knoll, he didn’t receive sexual favors from interns, and he didn’t kill his wife.  Pete Rose belongs, and his nomination is sadly long overdue.

No Responses to “Hasn’t Pete Rose Paid The Price Long Enough Already?”