Pete Rose was considered an American Icon and he was offered; A. a mere suspension while he would go to rehab for his gambling addiction. Rose recently claimed he wasn't addicted to gambling and could control it.. B. the FBI would get the IRS to drop the tax evasion charges against him. It seems he didn't pay income taxes on that memorabilia and wins at a horse track. C. the FBI would get the NJ mobsters to forgive the hundreds of thousands of dollars Rose owed them. It was estimated to be as high as $500,000 owed to some pretty unsavory characters. All Pete Rose had to do was come clean and publicly apologize for gambling, he refused and tried to bully Bart Giamatti, but Giamatti banned him. Rose spent 5 months in a medium security federal prison for those tax evasion charges. How he paid off his debts is unknown, but he had financed some cocaine deals before he was banned to double his money. He didn't deal directly with it he just fronted the money. The MLB investigation was over to hundred pages long plus accompanying betting slips in Roses handwriting. Also it was noted that Rose had a pattern of NOT betting on the Reds when certain pitchers pitched and he left them in a little to long. That was sending a clear signal to the bookies who were sometimes allowed in the dugout, to bet against the Reds. Having sex with a minor didn't help his case either. www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2015/03/21/rose-investigator-pete-belong-game/25112355/ www.nydailynews.com/sports/all-time-hits-leader-pete-rose-admits-sexual-tryst-teen-article-1.3372777 Rose is lucky he didn't go to jail for statutory rape.
The gambling was stupid; the baseball was exemplary. What is the Hall of Fame all about - it is lacking without Charlie Hustle, and I was a Clemente fan. Kieth is right on.
The greatest thing Pete Rose did was it took him two seasons to get the Philadelphia Phillies their very first World Championship in their then 97 year history in 1980.
Keith says that game fixing isn't as big a deal as it was before 2005. What changed? And, does Keith feel the same way about football and basketball? The kids who play college football don't get paid. Would Keith be o.k. with them fixing games to make ends meet? Show us the future Keith.
I was born and raised about 13 miles NE of Cincinnati in Milford, OH. I grew up idolizing the Big Red Machine. My 2 favorite players were Johnny Bench and Pete Rose. That team was the greatest group of players EVER to me!!! I dreamed of playing baseball and being like one of those guys. When the story first came out, I was about a year out of high school and the big-league dreams were gone, but I still LOVED our Reds. I believed Pete when he denied the allegations. I believed him the entire time. All the years. All the questions. And then the book he wrote. Admitting it was ALL TRUE. I was SICKENED by this. Rewind back to the day he accepted the ban…Pete probably figured he would “do his time” and it would all blow over. He would apply for re-instatement in a year and Giamatti would more-than-likely accept his request and his path to the HOF was sealed. Buuuuut, Giamatti died of a heart attack about a week later and the new commissioners weren’t gonna have it. He LIED. He DENIED. He even cried. He was given EVERY opportunity to come clean and admit what he did. The reason he LIED, is because he KNEW what he did was wrong. But again, he ASSUMED everyone would forgive and/or forget. When he did admit, he said it was only on games not involving the Reds. Then later, he said “Well, yes. I DID bet on the Reds. But only to win…” I have no idea other than his past speaks volumes. I believe and agree that if he had just come clean since day one, things would be different. He may have had to wait a little while to get into the HOF (make him sweat it out so to speak), but he would have eventually been enshrined on his first ballot. But he didn’t. What Pete did on the field was amazing. He gave his all, 110% ALL THE TIME. He left it all out on the field. He set and broke records that will more than likely stand the test of all eternity. He EARNED those records and they will always be listed as his, which is 1,000,000% acceptable. What he did OFF the field locked him into his OWN PRISON WITHOUT BARS. Where, to me, he should remain. Pete will ALWAYS be known as a GREAT player. One of the all time BEST, but he REPEATEDLY effed up. I even recently heard an interview where he said: “everyone should just GET OVER IT…” No, Pete. YOU should just “GET OVER IT”
CC, here we have you as a Reds fan who wants desperately to be loyal to Pete Rose. But your integrity to the game you love will not let YOU off the hook. I salute you.
you're wrong when he was a young player and hustling and running to first base on a walk that's when people from the other dugout nicknamed him Charlie hustle you're very wrong on what you quoted in your talk showhe got that from running like hell around the bases and running to his position and running to the dugout okay sir
“Say you’re sorry..” THAT is the problem. He’s never fully told the truth and only partially told it to sell books. Add in human trafficking bring girls as young as 13 to Spring Training and he shouldn’t be in the HOF he should be in prison and required to knock on doors when he moves into a neighborhood.
Get off of your holier than thou high horse . People go to Reno to bet on baseball every day . John Hinkley Jr . is a rotten criminal who shot our greatest President and is free and has been forgiven . It is time to forgive Pete Rose .
Spare me. Here is a comparable situation: let's go back and check all fly ball outs in the last 50 years and retroactively award all those that reached the warning track a home run? Very simple here. There was a rule in place at that time with a direct penalty. Bet on baseball while in the game, lifetime banishment. While baseball has screwed up virtually EVERYTHING since then, that fact did not change. Let's also remember how many friends he threw under a chartered plane with the lies that were only copped to by Rose when he needed to sell his book. Vote him in at the first opportunity after he passes away.
Pete was so bad so greedy still its enough of suffering for him me im 62 i can talk about this. Baseball was everything to me... pete was not a great guy... no he wasnt.... still he could play.
