Pete Rose

If you are reading this, you are likely someone who knows that Pete Rose is attempting to get released from his lifelong banishment from Major League Baseball.  

I like Pete Rose.  Last year I went with a friend to hear Pete talk at an event in Dayton, Ohio.  It was fun, but it was also a little weird.  The man was dressed so casually that you might have thought he had been told about the event only moments before.  But, because Pete is a story teller, he came out without any notes and told us stories that kept our attention for ... I don't remember how long.  Two hours?  

In 1975 I was coming to consciousness of major league sports.  Baseball was, and remains, my first love.  I watch some NFL, especially around playoff time, and even more especially if the teams I love or the players I watch are involved.  I never watch any NBA games, though I'm keeping one eye on the sports pages (online, anyway), because I'm a lifelong Cleveland fan, and, gosh, it is a possibility.  I don't pay any attention to hockey at all.  College basketball I do track a bit, especially as a Buckeye fan.  College football, ditto.

But baseball is my sport love.  And, when I was becoming sport-conscious back in 1975, it was a tremendous year to be an Ohio fan.  I watched the Reds and Red Sox, which meant watching Pete Rose hustle, Joe Morgan twitch at bat, and Luis Tiant's bizarre windup.  Though Morgan was my favorite back then, I wish now that he would never ever ever ever talk politics.  Kind of spoils his good image in my head.  

But Pete?  Man... sometimes you wish he would just keep quiet.  

His stories are great.  I've read stories of him in various books over the years.  One of my favorites was of how much fun he had in game 6, even though the Reds lost that one, back in 1975.  His child-like love for the game, even as his team loses a critical game, was a beautiful thing to me.  His hustle was wonderful.  

When I look at his lifetime numbers, I can't help but seeing that he was essentially an accumulator.  But what Hall of Famer wasn't?  Rare are the guys who, like Ruth, could have had Hall of Fame careers if they had played 7 to 10 years less than they did.  Pete wouldn't have.  

So what.

As a ball player I love the man.

But, honestly, if he gets released from this "capital punishment" at this point, how can we not question the integrity of the game?  There's far more evidence of Pete's wrong-doing, even from his own lips, than there ever has been for Shoeless Joe Jackson.  How about we forgive Shoeless first--a genuine Hall of Fame caliber player.  

Sorry, man.