Monday, January 05, 2004

Screw You Pete Rose So, all of a sudden Pete Rose has decided to come clean. After years of saying that he never bet on baseball and then saying he never bet on Reds games, Pete has decided to confess. Yes he did bet on Reds games, but only in favor of his team, never against. Even if he's telling the truth, which given his years of denial, I tend to doubt, there's a basic flaw in his argument. If he did bet in favor of his team on occassion, doesn't he think that he sent some kind of message to the bookies those times when he chose not to bet on his team? I never liked Pete Rose. All that BS about "Charlie Hustle" always sounded a bit false. At that level you don't only get by on hustle, you still must have a considerable amount of talent. No amount of hustle puts the bat on a Nolan Ryan fastball. My dislike has nothing to do with that, or the time he separated Ray Fosse from his shoulder in a meaningless game. To me, Pete Rose was always a punk. If he had less talent he would have just been one of those a-hole gym teachers that every school seems to have. I don't believe that Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame. He dirtied the game. The game that treated a moron like him very, very well. I definitely agree Michele's sentiments over at a small victory in that regard. I think the way I feel about Pete Rose can best be summed up by what Bill James wrote in The Historical Baseball Abstract about another pox on the game, Joe Jackson. After finding reasons for various other persons (such as Roger Maris, the great players from the Negro Leagues, Billy Williams, Ron Santo, etc.) to go into the Hall Of Fame first, James wrote: And then, at last, when every honest ballplayer who has ever played the game, at any level from Babe Ruth ball through the majors, when every coach, writer, umpire and organistwho has helped to make baseball the wonderful game that it is rather than trying to destroy it with the poison of deceit, when each hs been given his due, then I think we should hold our noses and make room for Joe Jackson to join the Hall of Fame. It is only right. Same goes for you Pete, you bum. On a sad note, I just saw on the news that the great relief pitcher Tug McGraw has lost his battle with brain cancer. I'd hate to think that Pete would get into the Hall ahead of Tug. File under From The Sports Desk. 11:11:33 PM