Pete Rose — Sports Commentary

By Art Spander

The right man made the right statement. Nobody in baseball, in sports, is more admired, more respected than Henry Aaron. If he says Pete Rose belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame, where Aaron long ago was placed, then Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame.

"How long does a person have to die?'' was Aaron's rhetorical question about the lifetime ban against Rose.

Rose, at 68, lives, but as a pariah, an individual whose accomplishments in uniform remain tainted by his arrogance in going against the code and wagering on the sport while managing the Cincinnati Reds. Then denying his sins.

Rose has more base hits than anyone in history. He played the game with a petulance. He was Charlie Hustle. Now he's Charlie Humbled, having agreed 20 years ago, 1989, to never again being involved in any way with the sport from which he cannot be separated.

"I think the thing that bothers me,'' said Aaron, "is (Rose) is missing out on a lot of things. He made a mistake. I don't know what else can be done or what else can be said.''

We've heard a lot about mistakes lately, about athletes accused or convicted of acts that in the context of society are much worse than gambling. We understand the sports we watch, the games we follow, are built entirely on integrity, that when there's a doubt if a team or individual is trying, there's no reason to care.

But Pete never fixed any games. Or beat up any women. Or abused any animals.

It's a different sport with a different issue, but if the NFL can forgive Michael Vick, reinstate him, allow him to have that so-called second chance we're always hearing counselors and coaches and parents contend is the American way, then why can't baseball finally forgive Pete Rose?

What do think is worse? What Michael Vick did to those pit bulls? Or what Pete Rose did to baseball?

These are complex times, not only in sport but our world as a whole. Our values have been tossed around, by the financial system, by our revised thoughts on what matters, to a point where the judgments of today sometimes have no relevance to those of the past.

Ponzi schemes and steroids and scandals in virtually every political arena offer a different perspective. Is Aaron, with his 755 pharmacologically unassisted blows still the lifetime home run champion, or is it Barry Bonds and his 762, even though he apparently had the advantage of the performance enhancing drugs prevalent in Barry's era?

The Hall of Fame's roster includes individuals who, to borrow the old Jim Murray line, were less than a group of choir boys. Ty Cobb, as you've been told, was a sociopath. In the old days, baseball had its supply of brigands. And gamblers.

Aaron said he would like to see these steroid guys have an asterisk by their name and their numbers. Why not do the same for Pete Rose? The man is a Hall of Fame baseball player -- the main street in Cooperstown, N.Y., has one shop after another selling Rose paraphernalia -- even if he's not a Hall of Fame person.

Contrition never has been his style. Neither, remind his critics, has been honesty. For years Rose denied he had wagered on baseball, but finally in 2004 on ABC-TV news, Rose conceded, "I did. That was my mistake for not coming clean a lot earlier.''

The confession was neatly timed with the release an autobiography, "My Life Without Bars,'' and skeptics thought the whole setup was just an attempt to sell more books. As if he and his publishers were unique in that plan.

Without the admission, in print, in conversation, there wouldn't be any chance Rose merely could be considered, much less put on a ballot. Now, five years later, there's been no progress. Until Aaron's suggestion.

There's talk the commissioner, Bud Selig, so opposed to lifting the restrictions on Rose, has had discussions with Aaron, who played for Milwaukee when Selig was the Brewers' president. Maybe Selig is softening. Maybe not.

It's time for baseball to soften, time for baseball to confront reality. For a generation, Rose has been separated from the game he played with a vengeance and such success.

If Hank Aaron, an individual of great honor, believes Pete belongs back in the game and then in the Hall of Fame, that should be good enough for the rest of us.

As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.

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