On May 13, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred reinstated Pete Rose and the players involved in the Chicago Black Sox scandal. That reinstatement means that Rose, baseball’s all-time hit leader, is finally eligible for enshrinement in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. That raises two major questions. First, should Rose be inducted into the Hall of Fame? Second, will he be inducted?
Should Pete Rose be allowed in the Hall of Fame after it was found that he bet on baseball as the Cincinnati Reds’ manager in 1989? Then, Commissioner Bart Giamatti banned Rose from the sport for life, sparking a decades-long debate amongst fans and the media. Yes, he broke the cardinal rule of the game, but there has been no proof that Rose ever tried to change the game’s outcomes to win bets.
There is a difference between banning Rose from the Hall of Fame as a manager and banning him as a player. He was never likely to make it to Cooperstown as a manager. As a player, though, he was a first-ballot shoo-in. Beyond just being the all-time hit king, Rose is also the all-time MLB leader in games played, at-bats, plate appearances, and singles. He was also a Rookie of the Year, MVP, World Series MVP, two-time Gold Glove winner, a 17-time All-Star, a Roberto Clemente Award winner, and a Silver Slugger winner.
Rose won three batting titles and led the league in hits seven times. He led the league in doubles five times, runs scored four times, games played five times, and on-base percentage twice. He played over 500 games at five different positions and rarely missed a game. He earned the nickname “Charlie Hustle” because of his all-out effort on every play, even sprinting to first base when he was walked. Rose personified the sport of baseball.
While there is no debate on Rose’s numbers as a player, there is still much dispute on whether his transgressions supersede those numbers. Many sportswriters have said that his reinstatement does not change their thinking on his eligibility. Look at the cases of steroid-era players like Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Rafael Palmeiro. None of those players were deemed ineligible as steroids were not banned from the game when they played, but none of them are in Cooperstown. Writers take their roles as gatekeepers deadly seriously.
As it currently stands, Rose will not be on the standard Hall of Fame ballot. For him to be inducted, he will have to get past the Classic Baseball Era Committee, consisting of 16 Hall of Fame players, executives, and veteran media members appointed by the HOF Board of Directors. That may or may not help Rose. That committee currently includes his former teammate Tony Perez, which could be helpful. However, even if all six of the committee’s former players vote yes, Rose would also have to get six more votes from the executives and media members to get in. That could still prove challenging.
I am not a Hall of Fame voter, but I am a lifelong fan of the sport. Rose was one of the greatest players the game has ever known. His skills, ability, hustle, and relentless pursuit of victory are legendary. It is a shame that he ruined that reputation after the fact with his betting and other questionable behavior. It is a disgrace that many fans’ childhood memories are marred by what he did after his playing career was essentially over.
Consider this, though. Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker are in the Hall of Fame. Cobb was known for many violent episodes, including beating up a groundskeeper and the groundskeeper’s wife in 1907. In 1912, he famously climbed into the stands between innings and violently attacked a disabled fan who had heckled him. Cobb was also arrested for assault after an incident at a Cleveland hotel. Speaker had ties to the Ku Klux Klan. Both players were accused of fixing a game by one of Cobb’s former teammates. Despite some supporting evidence, then-Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis dismissed the allegations, wanting to avoid another Black Sox-like scandal.
These are just two of many instances of players who sullied the game of baseball but still got inducted into the Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame has many known racists and drunks. Is what Pete Rose did any worse? The National Baseball Hall of Fame is a museum, a historical record of the game’s best players and moments. It is also a historical record of the game’s black-eye moments. Cooperstown has a collection of materials on display about the Black Sox scandal, the 1877 Louisville Grays game-fixing scandal, and the steroid era. The recent sign-stealing scandals are documented there as well.
I say enshrine the best players, warts and all. Tell their stories, good and bad. Extoll their talents and achievements, but use their scandals as cautionary tales. I believe that Rose, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, Bonds, Clemens, McGwire, Palmeiro, Sosa, and Manny Ramirez all belong in the Hall of Fame. That doesn’t mean that some players shouldn’t be banned from participating in any league-affiliated activities. It also doesn’t mean that the stats of the steroid-era players shouldn’t have asterisks next to their names.
If Cobb, Speaker, and spitball-throwing Gaylord Perry are enshrined, Rose should be, too. Read up on Babe Ruth. He was no angel either. The point is, if you are going to make a museum of the league’s best players, Rose belongs within those walls. Who is to say that his offenses were more or less egregious than Cobb’s, or Speaker’s, or Sosa’s, or Landis’s, for that matter? People can be great and flawed at the same time. Rose was both. Kids learning the game today should be able to emulate his hustle while learning from his mistakes.
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