The Pete Rose Issue

A number of recent events have caused the Pete Rose issue to resurface. Pete Rose is currently serving a lifetime suspension from Baseball "in accordance with Major League Rule 21," which defines and describes "misconduct" and the applicable penalties.

Before I continue, let me say that I have read the Dowd report, and there is no doubt in my mind that Rose bet on baseball, and more specifically, on the Reds. While there is no evidence that he ever bet on the Reds to lose, there were days when he chose not to bet on the Reds at all. This is a very big problem.

In a 1989 article, Gerald Posner explains why Rose’s actions were so hurtful to the game. "The possibility exists that decisions won’t be made in the team’s best interests, but rather because of the money riding on the game. If a manager bets on a game, he may bring a player off injured reserves sooner than he should in order to win, or he may pitch a reliever without enough rest, not caring that he won’t be able to pitch for several extra days.

If a betting manager gets in large debt to bookies, he can clear his account by merely revealing inside information about the team. The opportunity for corruption is greatly increased. This is not to suggest that Rose compromised the Reds in any way. The chance that such impropriety could result is the reason for such a strict taboo on betting baseball. "This is why Pete Rose should never be allowed back into baseball. What Rose did is the worst possible thing that anyone in Baseball could possibly do (with the possible exception of purposely throwing a game), as it undermines the genuineness of the game. I don’t believe that I could ever go to a Major League game that Rose was managing and have confidence in the integrity of what I was watching. In fact, I would argue that anyone watching a game that Rose had any hand in, would, on some level, have at least a modicum of doubt regarding the authentic nature of the game.

Major League Rule 21, posted in the clubhouse of every major-league team, is very clear on the due punishment for Rose’s actions:

Rose was given a choice. A) A hearing would take place and he could continue to deny the charges. At this hearing the public would find out everything he did. As Rose was shown all the evidence against him, he could have predicted being found guilty, and being banned from baseball forever, in accordance with Rule 21(d). B) While not admitting to anything incriminating, he could agree to place himself on the permanently ineligible list, effectively keeping himself from the game forever. Baseball would agree not to publicize any of the evidence against him. (A judge later decided to make the report public, but Baseball tried to suppress it.) It was an easy decision for him to make. He accepted upon himself a punishment more lenient than the one baseball was going to levy on him. He would never have been allowed back into baseball if he were banned for life. The detail that he placed himself on the permanently ineligible list should not change that fact. If Rose were back in Baseball, fans could not have confidence that everyone involved was doing his best to win, no matter what Rose did to try and regain the trust of the fans. The bottom line: Pete Rose is bad for the interests of Baseball, and as such, should never be allowed back in.