Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame
Is it his fault that nobody really likes him?
Pete Rose belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame - not because he is or is not a nice guy (he apparently isn't), not because he has or has not behaved badly, and not because he was or was not a proper role model.
Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame because he was one of the best all-round ballplayers in history - far and away better than most of the stars already in the hall, and at least as good as a handful of superstars.
And if Pete Rose doesn't belong in the Baseball Hall of Fame, then nobody does. The Hall of Fame without Pete Rose is incomplete.
The official reason Rose has been barred from the hall - in a ruling that is reportedly being reconsidered - is that he gambled on baseball games (though never against his own team, he insists) and repeatedly lied about it.
But the real reason he's been barred, I suspect, is that nobody likes him. Even in his glory days, despite his extraordinary talent, Rose was unpopular with his colleagues and with the news media.
He was not the first ballplayer to be generally disliked, nor will he be the last. But if Rose had been more popular, his sins - although certainly deserving of punishment - would have been overlooked or rationalized long ago.
Rose's banishment from baseball - for example, from working as a manager or coach - can be justified. But continuing to keep him out of the Hall of Fame is unthinkable.
The self-righteous refer to the "integrity of the game." But Rose's hustle, passion, and fierce competitiveness did enough for the integrity of the game to easily outweigh any negative impact he may have had.
Without Rose, the Phillies never would have won their world championship in 1980. Just ask Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt and other former teammates. Rose inspired them - and the fans - in a way that's seldom been matched.
Role model? Rose showed young fans how the game should be played. He made the sport exciting to watch and fun to follow. No play was too difficult, no at-bat too daunting for him. Will we ever forget Rose, in the 1980 World Series, emerging from nowhere to snag the pop-up foul that had bounced from catcher Bob Boone's glove?
Maybe his gambling should keep him from active participation in the game, but the integrity of the game demands that Pete Rose be in the Hall of Fame.