When the subject of Pete Rose making the Hall of Fame comes up, I know I am in the minority when I say he shouldn’t be elected. Why not? He broke the cardinal rule which was always painted on the walls of every single clubhouse in baseball: If you bet on the game you will be banished from baseball for life.
Now if we are going to excuse him just because he has more hits than anyone else, please put an asterisk by the rule, which would say that if you’re great, the rule will be waived. But if you’re hitting .189 and leading the league in strikeouts and you’re kicked out for betting on the game, no one will jump on your bandwagon and plead for you to be reinstated.
This case very much reminds me of what happens in high schools across this country. As a teacher for over 30 years, I have seen this at each school I have taught at. Here it is in a nutshell- it is easy to discipline a student who gets D’s and F’s and is always testing the system. It is much harder and more controversial to enforce rules against a star athlete or the valedictorian when it means they will miss an important game or not receive their medals.
At the school I student taught at, there was a rule that said when two kids get in a fight, they will be suspended. Our star quarterback, Tom Peitz, got in a fight on the day of the first play-off game and guess what? He was not suspended. If Joe Blow the “D” student had done it, he would have been gone. This just in: that is not right!.......but it happens all the time.
On day one of your first education class in college, they teach you that if you are not going to enforce the rule, do not list it on the sheet of rules. Then you land your first job and you see that mistake happen time and time again.
There was a team in Idaho that was at a state basketball tournament. It happened years ago and I don’t remember which school it was. Anyway, many players on the team got caught drinking and the coach did the right thing: he forfeited because he didn’t have enough players to play the game. Guess what happened? The school board fired the coach. What message do you think that sent to the students at that high school? The wrong one!!
Let’s get back to Pete Rose. He knew the rule. He knew the chance he was taking. He got caught. Does he remember the painted rule on the wall? “Banned for life……….”
The Hall of Fame also has another set of rules for enshrinement: the athlete must have great character and integrity. Whether you agree if that should be important or not, it is part of the criteria. Now, do you really think Pete Rose showed those qualities? He lied about betting on baseball for years. He wrote his first book and in it, he swore he didn’t bet on baseball. When he finally came clean, did he do it on Oprah, ESPN, or the Tonight Show with Jay Leno? Nope, he wrote another book saying he bet on baseball…...so he could make some more money. In my world, that doesn’t qualify as great integrity.
The Chicago Black Sox threw a World Series for money. Do the great players on that team deserve to be in the Hall of Fame? No, you say, but Rose does? He says he never bet on the Reds to lose, but do you believe him? You actually believe a guy who lied for years and only told the truth through a book he charged you for?
I feel sorry for Pete Rose, just like I feel sorry for students who throw great moments of their career away for a drink of alcohol. But a rule is a rule. I remember when I talked to an administrator about an athlete that was allowed to play in a senior night basketball game after breaking a rule that many students had already been suspended for. Here’s the answer I got- each and every infraction must be judged separately. Each time before you enforce a rule, you must take it on an individual basis. The individual basis they were talking about was- does this affect a sports team? Oops, can’t enforce it. Will this cost them their 4.0 GPA, oops again. Can’t do it.
When people defend Rose, they say that people always deserve a second chance. I agree, but they only deserve it after they pay for the mistake they committed. No one loves dogs more than I do, but Michael Vick definitely deserves a second chance because he paid enough already for his crime. So Rose’s punishment is too severe for what he did? Then change the rule, but when Rose broke it, the punishment was a lifetime ban.
I’d like to ask Mr. Rose just two questions and I’d be happy. Hey, Pete, when you were betting on baseball, did you know that it meant a lifetime ban if you got caught? Wanna bet?