Pete Rose's betting admission---

[thekingofpain]

Charles Hustle comes clean---
Any fan comments?
I admire his ability to admit...
Hall of Famer?

[Theophylact]

Sure. Him and Shoeless Joe Jackson at the same time.

(It took him how many years of lying before he admitted it?)

[Gomer]

I don't follow baseball too much... But I would say no way.

There is no rule in baseball as stern as "DON'T BET ON BASEBALL." It is a cardinal sin. Not only did he break it.. he lied about it for 14 years. On top of that, after admitting to it he showed little remorse for having broken it, only saying he was sorry he did not come clean sooner.

He could have been revered as a God amongst baseball players and fans for his achievements, but in his selfishness, he threw it all away.

No need for him to be re-admitted to baseball or admitted into the hall of fame; asterisk or none. Let him go down in history as the player who chose to gamble and lost. It may keep it from happening again!

Charles Hustle was a hero
Charles Hustler is a scoundrel who should remain relegated to the stands.

[daveleau]

I don't think he should be readmitted. I think he is only fessing up to sell books, since he is broke (at least that's what I;ve heard). We already reward bad behavior enough. Rewarding Rose for betting on baseball, IMO, sets a bad example for our children. He was a great player and will be remembered as such, but he shouldn't be in. I also do not believe LT or Simpson should be in either, but it's too late for them.

On another note, my home town just erected a memorial to Shoeless Joe. He is from my home town. I don't know if he is heralded or just a historical anecdote. I didn't stop to read the plaques.

[Gomer]

In 1919, Jackson and the White Sox found themselves back in the running for another World Series ring. Jackson batted .351 during the regular season and .375 with perfect fielding in the World Series. The heavily favored Sox found themselves in a losing battle against the Cincinnati Reds. During the next year while batting .385 and leading the American league in triples Jackson was suspended after allegations that 8 members of the White Sox threw the previous World Series. In 1921 A Chicago jury acquitted Jackson of helping to fix the 1919 World Series, but Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the first commissioner of Baseball went against the ruling and banned all eight players including Joe Jackson from baseball for life.

I don't know the whole story tho... from what I have heard SJJ was innocent and unjustly kept out of the Hall.

[cbuddha42]

the hall of fame isnt about setting examples for kids its about memorializing great players. yes he broke the rules and got kicked out but his numbers deffinatly earn him a place among baseballs best. should he be allowed back into baseball? no, he broke the rule he must pay the consiquence. should he be in the hall of fame? yes, he was a great ball player while he played.

[Gomer]

Rose agreed to the lifetime ban in 1989, ending baseball's investigation of his finances and gambling. The commissioner's Dowd Report included evidence from gambling records of bookmakers and betting sheets with Rose's fingerprints that contained wagers by Rose on his Cincinnati Reds while he was managing the team - a violation of baseball's cardinal rule.

Several of the players who testified knew that rule by number - 21D - reinforcing Dershowitz's claim that it is well-known to everyone in the game; it's posted in every major- and minor-league clubhouse, and players are lectured on it each spring.

"My interpretation and any other player I ever played with or against realized that this was absolute," Garvey said, "that this crime was absolute, and it would corrupt absolutely."

It isn't like corking a bat or throwing a spit ball.

[Knothead]

I think Rose has an agenda; that's why he's finally admitting it.

How long did lying not work, eh? Now, alluva sudden, it's "oh, yeah, I did it"... shoot, I half expected a theatrical tear during his admission.

He gets no respect.

[pickel]

Hall of Fame , my @$$. He needs to crawl in the sewer somewhere and fade away......................

[Ed_S]

No matter what he says or does now, there is simply no way he should ever be reinstated by MLB. If it was simply the gambling issue, then OK - at least consider it. But he has continuously and publicly denied it for years, now he's admitting it? Why admit it now, Pete?
Hmmm... maybe because lying hasn't worked, and time is running out ?

He retired in 1986 and became eligible for the Hall of Fame five years later. Although he cannot be voted on because he is barred, his 15 years of eligibility in the annual balloting by writers have been ticking away. His last year of eligibility is for the class of 2006, which will be voted on in December 2005.

NOW would appear to be a good time to jump into the limelight with a grandstand play in hopes of reinstatement, wouldn't it.

He may have been a fantastic athlete, but he's certainly not much of a man after all he's done. Hall of Fame?? IMO, his name should be stricken from the records entirely, as if he never existed!