Say what you want about Pete Rose and his gambling, but I believe that he should be in the hall of fame. I understand that Rose has been banned from baseball because he gambled on the games that he managed and other baseball games around the league. I do feel he should be suspended for life from the game because of his actions. However inducting Rose into the Hall should be a separate issue based on his accomplishments on the field.
We are talking about a player who broke Ty Cobb’s hit record. As far as I know, the baseball hall of fame is not operated by Major League Baseball and this does not have to abide by their rules in terms of who should be let in and not let in. Pete Rose’s accomplishments on the field should be honored by his induction into the Hall. Rose should not be given a pass in regards to his past transgressions and should not be allowed to be reinstated into baseball.
The baseball hall of fame has several players who were either dirty or cheated during their time playing the game. The aforementioned Ty Cobb was a “dirty” player who had no problem sliding, spikes up, into a base to try and hurt the fielder. “Catfish” Hunter was an admitted spitball pitcher.
I am not talking about the players that took performance enhancing drugs to increase their home run totals. That is an issue for another post. I am talking about a hard nosed player who broke a long standing record by hard work and longevity. Rose deserves to be in the Hall but not let back into the game that he betrayed.
