Come on Baseball, Let Him In

As a kid growing up playing Little League there were some players you came to respect.  For me there was more than one, but as I got older my favorite was Pete Rose.  Nobody played the game like Pete.  You’d struggle to compare his style to any other. 

When Pete was walked, he would sprint to first base.  If he was hit by a pitch, he’d sprint to the bag.  So many times I could hear my Dad yelling from the other side of the fence “Come on 6, hustle!”.  Although he never said it I guess in many ways it’s like my Dad was trying to say that Pete did it right.  Why would he want me to hustle?  He thought it was the right thing to do, and so did Pete.  So I did.  I’d run on the field.  I’d run off the field.  I’d hustle to the base for no other reason than to get there faster.

At the time it didn’t make much sense to me, but I figured it was the right thing to do.  It wouldn’t be until many years later I’d truly come to understand what he was doing.  Now I see how people that separate themselves from the others with positive habits and actions standout in even the most remedial situations.  There are good ways to do this and bad.

The bad way is to follow the Manny Ramirez approach.  What a slacker.  He has so much talent yet refuses to shine by playing the game the right way.  Instead he loafs around the base path and refuses to slide, usually giving up an easy out.  Pete was quite the opposite.  There was no such thing as an easy out when he got on base.  When you saw him running full speed around a base there was no doubt he was giving the game all that he had.  Stretching a single into a double, or a double into a triple, you knew the trademark head first slide was coming.  And to think all of the things he did for Baseball would later be tarnished by a bad decision.

In each clubhouse exists a sign stating that gambling is not permitted, and the penalty would be a lifetime ban from the game.  So what was he thinking?  Impossible to answer, but easy to discuss.  Yes, gambling while managing clearly gives you the power to determine the outcome of a game.  Leave a pitcher in too long, send the wrong batter to the plate, whatever, it all undermines the fabric of the game.  Agreed.  But when you consider the effect that steroid use has had on the game it begs to be discussed.  

When a player becomes the all-time home run leader yet the whole saga is shrouded with uncertainty by fans displaying signs with an asterisk, it makes you wonder who is calling the shots.  There’s no doubt that Baseball is loving the media coverage for record breaking events.  So much that it seems that there is now an “acceptable” amount of rule breaking allowed to take place if it generates ratings and revenue.  Truly sad.  You’re denying a player who holds 7 National and 12 all time Major League records.  Are you kidding?  Ripken gets in because he played in 2,131 consecutive games and was a 19 time All-Star.  No slouch to be sure, but he’s got a way to go before he tops Pete — at least in my book.

In any event, I’ll support Baseball’s ban on Pete Rose because I know he knew what he was doing.  I’d even go so far to support never allowing him to manage again, a wish of his, but you’ll never convince me that a player with his statistics should be left out of the Hall of Fame.  Tampering with the game’s integrity is never a good thing, yet it continues to happen today. 

Mr. Selig, swallow your pride and immortalize a true living legend.  Put Pete in the Hall.

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