At the time I am writing this article, the Baltimore Orioles have just opened up training camp for their catchers and pitchers down in Sarasota, Florida. Every year during spring training, young players from across the country go out and try to prove that they have the ability to make a professional baseball team. If the players are good enough, they will be offered a chance to go and play for a minor league team, or maybe even make it straight to the big leagues. The struggle for most professional baseball players is that they only get so many chances to get into the spotlight.
Every year, a different struggle fights on for one particular former baseball player/manager during the Baseball Hall of Fame induction process. Pete Rose tries, every year, to get his lifetime ban from baseball for gambling lifted, and to get the chance to compete for a spot in the baseball hall of fame. I believe that he has a right to get his chance, and so here are my five reasons why Pete Rose deserves the Hall of Fame.
1. His Stats
Love him or not, one thing nobody can argue are the stats. Pete Rose has more hits than any other player in the history of baseball (4,256) . He has won more baseball games than anyone else (1,972), as well as played more games than anyone else (3,562). He also holds the most runs by a switch hitter (2,165). Had the permanent ban from baseball not been put in place, Pete Rose would be an automatic hall of famer based on his stats alone.
2. His competitive drive
Pete Rose's competitive drive to win at every chance he had was second to none. Pete Rose blew out Ray Fosse's shoulder in the 1970 all-star game to help beat the American League. In what other sport have you ever heard of a player laying it on the line during a meaningless, all-star game? Michael Jordan is regarded as one of the greatest competitors in history, especially after his display during the 1997 "Flu Game" in Game 5 of the NBA finals. However, had it not been game 5 of the NBA finals, would have Jordan played in that condition in a regular game, let alone an all-star game? Pete Rose probably would have.
3. His love for the game
Very few players seemed to have loved the game of baseball as much as Pete Rose. Pete Rose was quoted once saying "I'd walk through hell in a gasoline suit to play baseball." Pete Rose played baseball, either as a player or a player-manager, from 1963 to 1986, and then went on to manage until 1989. Pete essentially played professional baseball until he was 45-years-old. While most athletes would never try to sacrifice their bodies to that extent, Pete Rose simply fought age off as he continued to play the sport he loved so dearly.
4. He never cheated to gain an unfair advantage
In a time where putting players into the baseball hall of fame can be difficult following the infamous steroid era, one thing is for certain. Although Pete Rose was a gambling man and broke the rules, he did not cheat to gain an advantage in baseball. Pete Rose's talent and athletic ability was pure and true, unlike some of the more questionable selections for the hall of fame, including Roger Clemons and Barry Bonds. The fact that those who have been exposed for cheating with PEDs are still on the hall of fame ballot, and that Pete Rose won't be given even a chance to get on the ballot, shows the hypocrisy on the part of Major League Baseball.
5. He never gambled against his own team
Pete Rose has never been proven in betting games against his own team. Although a large amount of evidence on his gambling has been discovered, not one bit of it has suggested that he had ever gambled against the teams he was playing on and/or managing. Since he did not gamble against his own team, it therefore did not compromise how he, and his teams, played the game. Although I do not believe that you should be allowed to gamble on the games you played, the punishment of being banned for life was too harsh to fit the crime.
I think it is time for Major League Baseball to finally come out and recognize one of it's all-time greatest players. For the past 27 years, Pete Rose has been banned from the game he loves, and has been denied his right to be recognized in the baseball hall of fame. He has served his time and punishment, and it is only fair to finally allow him to be on the ballot while the aging Pete Rose is still alive.
