Visitor Email – Question # 2 – A-Rod Hall Of Fame Vs. Pete Rose

My thoughts on the GREAT topic brought up are this, neither of them should get in. Pete Rose knew what he was doing. He knew what the consequences were if he were caught. The rule in place is that you can’t bet and it was broken. You can’t try to change it or have exceptions under any circumstances. I also think A-Rod shouldn’t make it either. The idea of taking steroids is to enhance how you play the game. Thus his numbers can only be compared to other players that have taken steroids. And how many people that have been accused of taking steroids are in the Hall of Fame? I’m not sure. My guess would be few or none. Along with the fact that steroids are illegal in the United States, there should be some sort of punishment for that. Not necessarily banned from Hall of Fame but some measure I believe is appropriate. I don’t think him saying he never has taken steroids before they found out helps his cause much either.

First off Pete Rose should not be allowed into the HOF under any circumstances. The facts are clear – he bet on baseball, was placed on the permanently ineligible list, and as a result, is not eligible for induction. And the fact that players have used steroids will not change a single fact in his case, and should never be used as an excuse to change the gambling rules.

Having said that, I would also like to say that I do agree that steroids in baseball are a more serious problem for the game than Rose’s gambling was. And my reasoning is very simple – a lot more players were doing steroids than betting on baseball. If you were to reverse it, and have one player doing steroids, and more than 100 found guilty of betting on games, then the gambling issue would obviously be much more of a threat than the use of steroids.

But again, the actions of any of the steroid using players does not in any way make Rose’s habitual breaking of the most sacred rule in baseball any less egregious. And the actions of these particular players certainly should never be used in a feeble attempt to make Rose seem any more sympathetic.

Honestly, steroids are FAR worse than betting is, its not even close. Let’s look at how each affects the game.

Steroids give a player an unfair advantage, abilities they shouldn’t have. That directly benefits that player, his team, and directly screws over all the other teams. It causes stats, records, everything to change in a way that shouldn’t be. I mean, even one player taking steroids could have a trickle down effect that could change everything from the result of a game to the World Series champion. There’s no doubt that its cheating and alters the outcome of games.

Now, while what Rose did was against the rules, who really cares if he placed a bet on a game. I mean all it did was give Rose a little more cash if he won, which players like A-Roid got A LOT more cash due to their stats on roids. Rose admitted to placing bets, but he never bet against his team. If he bet against his team then I would say its a big deal because he was in a position to throw games and that would directly affect the game, but he didnt. Who cares if he bet on his team? What would it do, make him try harder to win so he could win his bet? He’s already trying his hardest to win anyway, so its a moot point. As long as he didn’t place a bet against his own team, it didn’t affect the game one bit.

So, you’re asking which is worse, something that affects the game or something that doesnt. Its pretty easy to see that steroids are far worse. Rose gained no advantage at all by placing bets, he just made a bad decision. Honestly, I would rather see Rose in the hall of fame before A-Roid. You at least know all of Rose’s accomplishments were done legit.

Seriously, the HoF should be for the best players in the game, and Rose deserves to be there. What he did was against the rules, but the HoF isn’t a place for the best humanitarians, its a place for the best baseball players of all time, of which Rose was one of them. Nothing he did changed the fact that he was a great baseball player.

I hate to burst everyone’s bubble (again) but just because they weren’t breaking an MLB rule prior to 2004…… they were still breaking the law. Steroids are illegal w/ out a prescription….. MLB rule or not.

And while gamblers may or may not be trusted…… neither can cheaters. hmmmmmmm

I think Pete Rose should be reinstated

Betting in favour of your team can certainly affect the outcome. Besides Stros009’s point that getting involved with gambling rings, especially when you have a clear gambling problem as Rose did, puts you at risk of losing more than you can afford and falling under the thumb of a bookie (which is why gambling, even if it’s not on your games or even your sport, is banned), a manager’s job is not to put everything on the line to win a game. He has to show restraint and make decisions in the best interest of the team over the course of the entire season. Sometimes that means pulling your best pitcher when he’s showing signs of fatigue, or leaving your best pinch runner on the bench when he’s nursing a sore hamstring. If a manager has extra incentive to win that one game (like if he has money on it), he can make decisions that increase his chances of winning that game but hurt his team or his players..

Betting the game is a worse thing. It involves some gamblings to win the game. If one play a game it must played truthfully to get win a game for country but not to win the bet.

Plain and simple, steroids are illegal, gambling isn’t.

It really doesn’t matter that MLB didn’t have a law in place either. These players cheated and should not be measured on the same plateau that a player who didn’t use PED’s are measured.

None of them should go to Cooperstown, Pete Rose should be re-instated by MLB, and he should be inducted into the HOF.

I firmly believe Pete Rose definitely deserve than any one else.

When it comes to A-Rod vs. Pete and the Hall of Fame, I’m not quite sure what to think. On one hand you have Rose, one of the best players to ever play the game, hard working to a fault, never dogged it on the field, holds the record for total career hits, etc. He was a shoe in for the Hall…..until the betting scandal broke. I think what hurt him most wasn’t so much that he bet on the game, but that he denied it for YEARS after the fact, and when he finally did admit it, he was coming out with a book at the same time. That IMO is why he is not in the Hall today.

I think he should be from his numbers alone regardless of the gambling, after all other players had issues too, Ty Cobb for example, but they’re still in the hall. However because he refused to come clean till it was far too late, he is not and likely will never be.

Then…..you have A-Rod. He is no question a talented player, and up until this year was seen as the good guy that was gonna right the wrongs of the steroid era (Barry Bonds). Now he’s not, should he be in the Hall? Perhaps so, but I’m not so sure he will. He did admit his usage once discovered, but…..he also has had the misfortune of playing in an era full of juicers. Whether or not that will impact his getting into the Hall sometime down the line, remains to be seen, but it is a possibility, as almost everyone from this era fair or unfair, is going to be put under the microscope because of who they played with.

So that being said, I say Pete should be in, A-Rod……maybe.