Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame.

The next time I'm in Vegas, I'm going to see Pete. He's an American hero. You can't say that about anyone in the game today. He slid headfirst when sliding headfirst wasn't cool.

Pete Rose is an American Hero. You said it exactly right Casca. I was lucky enough to see The Big Red Machine in their prime. I put the '75 Red Sox-Cincinnati Series in my memory bank. Thanks Pete. The Hall of Fame is a sham until Rose is in it.

The case for Pete Rose and the Hall of Fame

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tajcLJ-ETys

I found this depressing. Well done, but depressing nonetheless.

Yes, Alex, that's true enough. That's why I added "bittersweet" to the title. Still, it is what it is.

What's the depressing part? Nobody stops by to tell him that he doesn't deserve to be in the Hall. He lived the game at a high level of intensity. It's time for a slower pace of life. I hope he's sitting in his shop in Vegas thirty years from now, when they put him in the Hall.

Mr Hustle!

It's way past time to lift the lifetime ban and allow him to enter the Hall of Fame. It's only a matter of time and his name will always carry a asterisk next to it.

There is no doubt he'll never be a contender for the Phi Beta Kappa Club, but he definitely belongs in Cooperstown.

By gambling on baseball games, Heedless Pete stomped on baseball's rawest nerve: the great primal trauma in the entire history of MLB; the scandal that almost nipped the sport in its bud --the Black Sox scandal of 1919. And because of this gambling on baseball is encoded in MLB's genetic memory as the ultimate unforgiveable sin

Accordingly, MLB reacted with a fury that, absent this factor, is hard to comprehend. So here is my suggestion to MLB: declare a 100 year statute of limitations for all transgressions related to the Black Sox scandal because, hey, it's just not that relevant anymore; and then in 2019, you declare Pete forgiven and induct him into the Hall

Hero? Dude played baseball, nothing more. Nobody is a hero for merely PLAYING a sport. Unless your definition of hero has been so diluted down that unimportant things like playing sports for a living classifies someone as doing something of importance. Rather sad.

As far as the Hall of Fame…hmmm, now why isn’t he in again? Not worth mentioning I guess. Let’s just gloss over that stuff...yup. Didn’t happen, didn’t happen…must ignore…

“…so that makes me the biggest winner in the history of sports."

And yet some would say you’re the biggest loser in the history of sports.

Hell of a baseball player, no doubt. The rest speaks for itself.

Sitting in a Vegas shop signing autographs at 71, he still doesn’t get it.

Well, the man's probably got bills backed up. Addicted and compulsive gamblers, no matter how they may win in baseball, don't win at money.

Rose was not a talented guy, ML baseball wise. "Never being satisfied" was a large element of his baseball success. It is also the root of gambling hell.

Cobb was famous for becoming a multi-millionare--when it really meant something--through buying Coke stock. He bought it with gambling earnings from the game. Most teams had a player who passed out favors and money from the gamblers. The deal was that wins and losses were not affected. The Black Sox crossed that line. So did Denny McLain on the last day of the season in 1967.

I was permitted to sit at a GA meeting as a proxy for one of my children. MLB has reason to be paranoid. Rose should not be in the Hall. If he seeks consolation, his star, like Joe Jackson's, is brighter by exclusion.

Pete Rose screwed the ROYAL POOCH. F*¢k him! Besides he played for a perennial losing team.

I was born in Cinncinnati, and I grew up there. My dad always watched the games when he was at home (traveled a lot). I remember Jim Maloney, Lee May, and Bernie Carbo. I remember the Burger & Hudepohl beer commercials. When our school had trips to downtown (like to the Natural History museum) we would all raise a cheer when the bus went by Crosley Field.

You couldn't keep a schoolkid away from a radio or (more rarely back then) a TV during the '70s, especially '75 & '76. The 1975 World Series was one of the best. Ever.

I also remember Pete Rose's reason for moving to the Phillies: he wanted to be the "highest paid player in baseball." I don't think I'll ever forget that quote. Pete served up a big, heaping pile of "FU" to the fans who had cheered him on for 15 years. Side note: now we know why he wanted that big salary, right?

When the rumors started, it was almost literally a "Say it ain't so, Joe!" moment for me. I kept defending Rose against every new salacious rumor or charge, pointing out the accusers were lowlifes, criminals, or someone who had a grudge against Rose.

Finally it all came out. Pete Rose lied about betting. He lied about betting on baseball. Finally, he like about betting on the Reds. He lied to Cincinnati. He lied to me.

The sad thing is that he really was one of the greatest players, on one of the greatest baseball teams in history. He could have avoided this by 'fessing up several different times after his retirement, but -just like in the video- he just didn't "get" the gambling anonymous "thing;" it's not like he killed anyone. Right?

For those who say he should be in the Hall, I feel you, but just can't see his admission after his serial lying; not just once but over & over. But, yeah, in a way I do wish he could be there.

Oh, and Peccable? You can kiss my hairy, white buttocks. The Reds teams Rose played on kicked ass & took names, and he played on the best baseball team since the 1930s Yankees. '77 & '78 were the losing teams. That's hardly "perennial." You might want to look that word up.

Rose was always a baseball hero of mine. I was born and raised in Cincinnati, and my dad took me to my first baseball game in 1963, which was his rookie year.

Time passed; my family moved to the Philadelphia area and I became a Phillies fan. After his glory days with the Big Red Machine, along came Rose to help lead the Phils to their first-ever World Championship in 1980.

I was horrified to learn of his gambling problem and his banning. But the Black Sox story had been drummed into me from a young age, and I could see no alternative.

(Whoa, Casey. I just happened to see your comment while I was previewing mine!)

I've been a Reds fan since the late 50's. Pete has always been an arrogant asshole, on the field he was awesome, his attitude screwed him, they had a Pete Rose day at Great American Ball Park, Pete isn't allowed on the field (across the baseline, commissioner's rule), during the ceremonies Pete strolls over to the baseline and like a child steps his foot over the line! He's a jerk who thinks the rules don't apply to him!

Your grasp of facts with respect to Pete Rose's career is anything but impeccable, Peccable. Rose played on only two losing teams in the 21 years when he was a full time player. And in his last three years when he was just hanging on in order to get the all time hits record, he still played on only one more losing team

So if you're going to say Rose played for perennial losers, you'd also have to call the Yankees in the post dead ball era perennial losers because they had 10 losing seasons in the last 92 years. I don't think most people are prepared to go that far; though more than a few are willing to call both Rose and the Yankees arrogant jerks

. . . "though more than a few are willing to call both Rose and the Yankees arrogant jerks." - Callmelennie

Amen!

What a bunch of fucking nancy boys. Pete was an arrogant jerk? So what! He gambled? If you had hair on your nutsack, you would too.

It wasn't what he did as much as how he did it. Pete transformed the moment and the lives of the people around him. You say, "Pete Rose", and those who know, understand. None have come close to playing with his intensity, except for Cobb.