Pete

 

On a day when baseball had an absolutely compelling game that fans will talk about for years, the game has been rocked by some news.

First, the game. The Mets won game one of a doubleheader today in Atlanta in epic fashion. They rallied from down 3-0 to take the lead on the Braves. The lead swung back to Atlanta before Francisco Lindor hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning.

The Mets advanced to the playoffs where they'll have the Milwaukee Brewers. I congratulate the rational Mets fans whom I enjoy talking baseball with. The Braves won the second game and they've advanced to the playoffs against San Diego. The Arizona Diamondbacks -- the defending National League champion -- were eliminated.

However, the baseball world's eyes are distracted.

Within the last hour, news broke that Pete Rose -- undisputedly, the game's career-hit leader -- has died at the age of 83.

Where do we start?

As I considered the shock of the news and Pete's life, I began to try to explain him to Sean. We had taken a nice long walk around Greenwich, in part because we needed to mail a rent check (longer story there).

Sean knew he was a great player but didn't know the key takeaways.

- Hits leader (4,256). Also most games played, pate appearances, and at bats

- Played the game with an energy that one should aspire to.

- Had a way of getting under opponents with his style (see: Mets, Bud Harrelson)

- 1963 Rookie of the Year

- 1973 National League MVP

- Three-time World Champion (1975, 1976, 1980)

- 17-time All-Star

- Member of the All-Century Team

- 24-year career with his hometown Reds plus the Phillies and Expos

But...and I realize this is speaking ill of the dead on the day he died but that's how complicated his is...

- Gamebled on baseball. Gambled on his team. It's not unfair to say he was a degenerate gambler with a bad habit.

- More to the point, he lied about his gambling. Frequently.

- It took years for him to come clean and admit that he did, indeed, bet on baseball.

- Also had troubles with money laundering and tax evasion.

- More troubling was the accusation that Rose had a sexual relationship with an underage girl beginning in 1973. The girl was 14 or 15 at the time but Rose believed she was 16, which was legal age in Ohio. However you stack it, it's morally reprehensible at the very least.

So, as I add things up, I can't help thinking that Pete Rose might have the most complicated legacy of any athlete. Maybe ever.

I'm sure someone will tell me another name and I'm not even here to say they'd be wrong. 

Some of the faces of the 1970s:
Amos Otis, Willie Stargell, Bobby Murcer, Pete Rose

Rose, on the field, was fire and brimstone. Anything but a classic athlete, he existed almost purely to prove to everyone that he belonged. He wasn't a power hitter, cranking only 160 home runs, but he could hit, finishing with a career .303 batting average. His career high was .348 in 1969. 

Plus he was durable despite a style that was pure reckless abandon. He didn't just throw his body around. He lunged everywhere. He was constant energy at home plate and in the field.

But character -- the bugaboo of a place called the Hall of Fame -- was one of Pete's downfalls. On literally any account, he was a slam dunk Hall of Famer, minus the pesky character clause.

The gambling was bad. Very bad. A death sentence in terms of baseball. 

Quite obviously, statutory rape accusations are beyond the pall. I hope that's clear.

Barreling into third base during the 1976 World Series

Let's get right to it. On the field, he was a Hall of Fame player. If that was how we were to judge him, he would have strolled into Cooperstown years ago.

But the gambling is a non-starter, as he was banned from baseball in 1989. He was placed on the permanently ineligible list, which meant he could not hold a job within Major League Baseball. The Hall of Fame voted to ban those on that list in 1991, meaning Rose couldn't be elected.

He applied several times for reinstatement but was denied each time. It seemed clear that, at best, Pete Rose would not make the Hall of Fame while he was still alive.

The thing about Pete was that every time he took a step forward, he took steps back. I thought, for instance, he was very good on TV, working for FOX and MLB allowed him to do that. He was also allowed, on a few occasions, to be honored or be a part of groups honored in Cincinnati and Philadelphia, as well as the All-Century Team in 1999 in Atlanta.

He was otherwise not allowed to be in locker rooms or on the field.

But now the debate will fire up again about Pete Rose and the Hall of Fame. I'll remain as consistent as I have been forever.

Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame. 

So does "Shoeless" Joe Jackson.

And others (Bonds, Clemens, etc). 

The story of the game of baseball and the greats who we loved watching -- whether we liked them or not -- is incomplete without these players having their rightful place.

It's hypocritical. Don't tell me I can see Pete's uniform, etc in the museum. That's not what we're talking about. He belongs in the gallery. He deserves a plaque. 

He deserves to let me, as a fan, tell his story to those who visit with me. 

He deserves to have a plaque that says he was the hit leader, had an unstoppable energy, and was banned from baseball for gambling. 

I always said honesty was the best way to go. Don't honor him by allowing him to give a speech. Give the facts of him on his plaque.

Well, Pete Rose has died so he won't give a speech. Nor will Shoeless Joe, who died in 1951.

Athletes aren't Boy Scouts and it's unrealistic to think so. We know Babe Ruth was flawed. So was Mickey Mantle. So was Ty Cobb. So were a lot of others. Only the likes of Lou Gehrig and Stan Musial were close to being something considered innocent.

Hell, even Kirby Puckett -- once considered a paragon of goodness -- turned out to not be an innocent man off the field. Kirby is still rightly beloved in Minnesota and around the baseball world, but his story isn't so cut and dried.

Fans should have the right to assess Pete Rose on their own in Cooperstown. 

Look, I was never a fan of the man. I've been wrestling with how to discuss him for a while now.

But there's no question he was a Hall of Fame baseball player.

He was anything but a Hall of Fame man.

Again, congratulations to Mets fans. I fulfilled Chris Hunt's request that I write about it tonight.

Let the playoffs begin.