The 2025 inductees into The National Baseball Hall of Fame were announced last week. Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, and former Phillies Closer Billy Wagner are getting in. Also getting in will be Phils great Dick Allen, who was finally elected last month by the Classic Era Baseball Committee. It is a disgrace that it took Allen this long to get in, and it's really sad that he isn't here to see it. He passed away back in 2020. Luckily he was around to see the Phillies retire his #15, and I give the Phils huge props for doing that.
Pete Rose is also gone, so if he ever does get into Cooperstown it will be posthumously. Unlike Dick Allen, Rose's Hall of Fame exclusion is mainly his own fault. We all know the Rose story. Banned from baseball for gambling in 1989. He was adamant that he never bet on baseball. He even wrote a book about it, called "Pete Rose: My Story", where, through author Roger Kahn, he denied all the allegations in John Dowd's report that said Rose broke baseball's cardinal rule. Then in 2004, he wrote another book where he finally admitted he bet on baseball...and on games involving his team, the Cincinnati Reds. But he says he only bet on them to win. The way I see it, Rose owes all of us who purchased that first book (including me). Obviously he isn't here to refund our money, not that he would. Rose was Manager of the Reds. Even betting on them to win could alter how he used his pitching staff, which could have impacted future games too.Full disclosure: Rose was my favorite player when I was a kid. The brief time I played Little League baseball, I wore #14 because of Pete Rose. As a diehard Phillies fan, I knew Pete Rose put the Phillies over the top in 1980, bringing the franchise its first World Series, after being around for nearly 100 years. As we all know, that is one of just two titles the Phils have won. Pete Rose was the missing piece of the puzzle. Like most great players, he made those around him better. Mike Schmidt gives Pete Rose a ton of credit for making him a better ballplayer, both in the field and at the plate.
It's time to let bygones be bygones with Rose, and put him in the Hall of Fame. Do you realize baseball's rule that anyone on the banned list is not eligible for the Hall of Fame, was a rule put in JUST for Rose. The rule was adopted in 1991. Rose stopped playing in 1986, and a player is eligible for the Hall five years after they're done playing. Do the math. That is not a coincidence. Baseball wanted to punish Rose, and maybe make an example of him. Mission Accomplished. For over 35 years now, he has been kept out of the Hall. And now he won't be around if he ever does get in. I think that is punishment enough.
Before I go on, let me tell you that I know Rose is a hard person to like. As I said earlier, his troubles with baseball are his own fault. Had he admitted to betting on baseball from the start, apologized, and made a real effort to change and educate others about the dangers of gambling, that ban would not have lasted long. Through the years, various olive branches have been extended to Rose. Years ago the Phillies were going to add him to the team's Wall of Fame. Baseball allowed it. But that was when the story of Rose and underage girls back in the 70's came out, so the Phillies, understandably, cancelled it. A few years back, the Phillies honored the 1980 team. A reporter from the Inquirer asked him about the underage girls allegations, and he snapped at her, asking her why she cares about something that happened 50 years ago...ignoring the fact that a team that won 40 years ago was being honored. Had Rose just said something like, "I was young and stupid back then, and I regret that". It would have gone away. And during that same weekend, the Phils had some of the '80 greats join Tom McCarthy and John Kruk in the TV booth. Rose was crass and vulgar in the booth, saying words that can't be said on TV. Having worked for Fox doing baseball, Rose knows what you can't say on TV. He didn't care.
My point is, I know Rose is not a good guy. Take it from someone who was a HUGE fan of his as a kid. As I got older, I started to see the warts of Pete Rose. And there are many. But if the Hall of Fame excluded players who were bad guys, there would be a lot less inductees. Rose should be in. He is baseball's all-time hit king, with 4,256 hits. He also holds the MLB records for most games played and most at-bats. He is a 17 time all star...and he made the all-star game at FIVE different positions. He was Rookie of the Year in 1963, and NL MVP in 1973. He was on 3 World Series championship teams. Rose was the kind of player fathers would point to and tell their sons, "that's how you should play the game".
He was a bad dude, but one hell of a ballplayer. I saw an interview with Bob Costas, where the legendary sportscaster suggested putting Rose in, with a notation at the bottom of his plaque that says "banned from baseball in 1989 for gambling". That's a good suggestion. Rose gets in, but what he did is acknowledged. There are Rose jerseys, gloves, helmets, and cleats in the Hall, because you can't tell the story of baseball without Pete Rose. Rose himself should be there too.