Pete Rose Finally Confesses To Betting On Baseball But Want's Back In

[Sprayber]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylc=X3oDMTBpcDBuM2RlBF9TAzk1ODYxNzc3BHNlYwN0aA--?slug=ap-rosegambling&prov=ap&type=lgns

By RONALD BLUM, AP Sports Writer
January 5, 2004

AP - Jan 5, 6:05 pm EST
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NEW YORK (AP) -- Now the wait begins.

Pete Rose hopes baseball will end his lifetime ban after his first public acknowledgment he bet on games while managing the Cincinnati Reds.

The admission in ``My Prison Without Bars,'' his autobiography due out Thursday, will be part of the evidence in Rose's case for reinstatement, commissioner Bud Selig's chief deputy, Bob DuPuy, said Monday.

``The application remains pending, and the commissioner will take all of this into account,'' DuPuy said.

Whether or when baseball makes a decision is anyone's guess. Selig has refused to rule for more than six years on Rose's bid for reinstatement, which is necessary for the career hits leader to reach the Hall of Fame.

Rose agreed to the lifetime ban in August 1989, and he applied for reinstatement in 1997.

For 14 years, Rose denied publicly he bet on baseball. He fesses up in the book, saying he regrets gambling on the game he loves and then lying about it.


Rose says he started betting regularly on baseball in 1987, the year after he stopped playing, according to excerpts from the book released to Sports Illustrated for this week's issue, which hits newsstands Wednesday. He says he only ever bet on the Reds to win.

Selig's immediate predecessor, Fay Vincent, read the excerpts and was outraged, concluding that Rose did not deserve reinstatement.

``There's no sense of regret, no sense of shame, no sense of the damage he did to baseball,'' Vincent said. ``I guess I'm really disgusted. I think the whole thing is a sordid, miserable story. It's sort of like turning over a stone -- you see a lot of maggots, and it's not very pretty.''

Rose chronicles two meetings with baseball commissioners more than 13 years apart. In the first, with Peter Ueberroth in February 1989, the Reds' manager denied ever betting on baseball. In the second, with Selig in November 2002, Rose decided to confess.

``Yes, sir, I did bet on baseball,'' Rose told Selig during the private meeting.

``How often?'' Selig asked.

``Four or five times a week,'' Rose replied. ``But I never bet against my own team, and I never made any bets from the clubhouse.''

``Why?'' Selig asked.

``I didn't think I'd get caught.''

After the meeting, Rose came away thinking he would be reinstated ``within a reasonable period.''

``I've consistently heard the statement: 'If Pete Rose came clean, all would be forgiven,''' he writes. ``Well, I've done what you've asked. The rest is up to the commissioner and the big umpire in the sky.''

If reinstated, Rose's last chance to appear on the writers' ballot for the Hall of Fame is December 2005. After that, he could be voted in by the veterans' committee.

But even if he appears on the ballot, he needs 75 percent of the voters to select him, and Hall rules state ``voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.''

Rose repeated his admission in an interview on ABC News' ``Primetime Thursday,'' parts of which aired Monday on ``Good Morning America.''

``It's time to clean the slate, it's time to take responsibility,'' Rose says in the interview. ``I'm 14 years late.

``I just never had the opportunity to tell anybody that was going to help me. ... I couldn't get a response from baseball for 12 years. It's like I died and, and they knew I died and they didn't want to bring me back. They were just going to let me rot.''

Rose wrote that if he ``had been an alcoholic or a drug addict, baseball would have suspended me for six weeks and paid for my rehabilitation.''

``I should have had the opportunity to get help, but baseball had no fancy rehab for gamblers like they do for drug addicts,'' Rose wrote. ``If I had admitted my guilt, it would have been the same as putting my head on the chopping block -- lifetime ban. Death penalty. I spent my entire life on the baseball fields of America, and I was not going to give up my profession without first seeing some hard evidence. ... Right or wrong, the punishment didn't fit the crime -- so I denied the crime.''

Rose admitted placing bets with Ronald Peters through Thomas Gioiosa and Paul Janszen; they were the primary witnesses in the 1989 investigation by baseball lawyer John Dowd that led to the agreement in which Rose accepted a lifetime ban.

Dowd concluded Rose bet on baseball from 1985-87 and detailed 412 baseball wagers between April 8-July 5, 1987, including 52 on Cincinnati to win.

``During the times I gambled as a manager, I never took an unfair advantage,'' Rose wrote. ``I never bet more or less based on injuries or inside information. I never allowed my wagers to influence my baseball decisions. So in my mind, I wasn't corrupt.''

Dowd was traveling Monday and could not be contacted.

In his first autobiography, published in 1989, Rose denied gambling. That book, ``Pete Rose: My Story,'' was written with Roger Kahn.

``I feel he has embarrassed me,'' Kahn said Monday. ``I must have asked Pete 20 times, `Did you bet on baseball?' He would look at me, blink his eyes and say, `I didn't bet baseball. I have too much respect for the game.'''

So he finally admitts it. Should be be let back in to be put in the Hall of Fame or is this too much to forgive.

[Sikander]

He's too stupid to be let into the hall of fame. Every time I see his moronic mug I'm glad that he isn't allowed to have an even higher profile.

[Harry Tuttle]

No one escapes the kiss of death. He'll be let in probably one day after he's dead. The commisioner is not going to compromise.

[Sprayber]

Well, I don't know if being smart is a necessity for getting into the Hall of Fame, but I'll note your opinion

[Agathon]

Oh Jeez, he didn't bet against his own team and the commissioner did the dirty on him. Let him back in.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Shoeless Joe Jackson deserves to get in more than Rose does. If Shoeless Joe ain't in, then **** Rose.

[TCO]

Let em both rot. Shoeless Joe sat in conference with players who set the fix. Rose is a complete moron. He has about the Stewart Spinks level of contrition. Let me say I'm sorry so that I can come back. All worms. Ban them all.

The first guy who says..."I did wrong and I admit it...and I'm taking my lumps, that guy I will respect."

But I still won't let him in. But it's better to earn a little respect than to get out of punishment.

[Ming]

It's ok with me if they put him on the ballot. I actually look forward to it. Because there is no way in hell he will get the votes needed to be elected now. Many past hard core Rose supporters are now disgusted with him. And key members of the veterans committee have already voice their opinion that it will be a cold day in hell before they elect him.

So it will be fitting justice for his many years of stonewalling baseball and thumbing his nose at them...
He will be eligible, and NOT get elected.

Fine by me.

[PLATO]

Pete Rose is one of the greatest players to play the game. I grew up listening to the Reds on the radio and scoring their games. His playing contributions should get him into the hall easily if that is all that baseball is about. But that's not all baseball is about. The Blacksox taught the sport a harsh lesson. Integrity must be part of the game...a player must have respect for the integrity of the game. Rose doesn't have it and his continued ban would serve the future of the sport well.

Tough for me to say...I was a huge Reds fan pre Marge.

[TCO]

Originally posted by Ming
It's ok with me if they put him on the ballot. I actually look forward to it. Because there is no way in hell he will get the votes needed to be elected now. Many past hard core Rose supporters are now disgusted with him. And key members of the veterans committee have already voice their opinion that it will be a cold day in hell before they elect him.

So it will be fitting justice for his many years of stonewalling baseball and thumbing his nose at them...
He will be eligible, and NOT get elected.

Fine by me.

You're so twisted. Do it the easy way. Honor the permanent ban.

[TCO]

I love the way he played.* Really. It was killer. Just love that spirit. The Jason Kidd of baseball. But Plato has it right on. He can do most good by having his head figuratively cut off and stuck on a pike.

*Although, there is a funny story. Some reporter was asking Rose's teammates to describe the experience of playing with Rose. They got to the catcher and his response: "What do you mean, what's it like to play with him? I'M JOHNNY BENCH!"

http://espn.go.com/classic/biography...ch_Johnny.html

[Imran Siddiqui]

Funny that TWO mods posted on this!

Already done, Spray:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...90#post2610890



--

Oh, and:

Because there is no way in hell he will get the votes needed to be elected now. Many past hard core Rose supporters are now disgusted with him. And key members of the veterans committee have already voice their opinion that it will be a cold day in hell before they elect him.

Bull. He will be elected by MORE than enough votes. A few grumpy old men won't prevent Rose from getting in. Remember, the voters are sportswriters and they mostly LOVE Rose (who do you think have been pushing him the most?). Because he'll be put on the ballot for the first time, he goes through the normal process and not the veteran's committee.

[Ming]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Bull. He will be elected by MORE than enough votes. A few grumpy old men won't prevent Rose from getting in. Remember, the voters are sportswriters and they mostly LOVE Rose (who do you think have been pushing him the most?). Because he'll be put on the ballot for the first time, he goes through the normal process and not the veteran's committee.

What would you like to bet on this "IF" he is placed on the ballot. Getting 75% of all ballots is going to be next to impossible for Rose. We aren't talking about "a few grumpy old men"... have you been listening to what the sportswriters have been saying. Even just a year ago, I would have agreed with you... but not now. Maybe it's different on the east coast, but none of the sportswriters in Chicago that have a vote have said they would vote for him. There are some deserving players that can't get 75% of the vote... it doesn't take much not to make it. Rose has pissed off a lot of the writers as this is seen as an obvious ploy for him to cash in. All reports say that he in no way apologizes or shows any remorse, and is his normal arrogant self... this will not play well with the voters, based on what some of the voters have stated.

[TCO]

So what, Ming. He's not going on the damn ballot. He was banned from baseball for life and that included the Hall. And we don't need to do your test. He's ineligible and will not have a chance.

[Boris Godunov]

The gambling isn't the bad part, it's the constant lie. He's had how many years to come clean, and only does it now? How about all of the friends, family and colleagues to whom he lied and has now embarrassed for their sticking by him? Until Rose apologizes for that as suplicatingly as possible, the commission shouldn't budge.

[Ming]

Originally posted by TCO
So what, Ming. He's not going on the damn ballot. He was banned from baseball for life and that included the Hall. And we don't need to do your test. He's ineligible and will not have a chance.

While I hope you are right, some of the "insiders" disagree with you and indicate he will be on the ballot next year... which would give him two chances (20 year eligibilty rule) before it would be put to the veterans committee.

[Ecthy]

he couldn't hit anything then

[TCO]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
The gambling isn't the bad part, it's the constant lie. He's had how many years to come clean, and only does it now? How about all of the friends, family and colleagues to whom he lied and has now embarrassed for their sticking by him? Until Rose apologizes for that as suplicatingly as possible, the commission shouldn't budge.

even if he does, the commission should not budge. he should still apologize as the right thing to do. not in expectation of a favor.

[Arrian]

**** him.

He was banned for life for betting on baseball. Now, after years of pretending he was wronged, he admits he did it, only because people have given him the impression that by confessing he will escape the ban.

Uh, no. Beyond the fact that he is a disgusting excuse for a human being, which doesn't really distinguish him from many others in the HoF, he broke a cardinal rule of baseball and was banned for it. I say the ruling stands, and he can be inducted postumously.

Shoeless Joe also deserves his ban. The man was part of a conspiracy to throw the World Series ffs!

-Arrian

[Drake Tungsten]

I'm sorry, but if a piece of **** like Ty Cobb got into the Hall of Fame, the man that broke his record surely should, no matter how bad a human being he might be.

He should never be able to manage again, though. He can't be trusted.

[rah]

Yes, like Drake says, being and Ahole shouldn't disqualify you from the HOF. I go back and forth whether he deserves to be there. The gambling should eliminate him but he deserves it on merit. I figure leave it up to the writers, I suspect that Ming is correct that getting 75% would be a lot tougher now than a few years ago.

But despite anything else, he's going to make a bundle off his book, which I believe is his main motivation at this point.

[SpencerH]

There must be something in the world of less importance than whether a baseball player gets into another 'boys club' but I cant think of anything.






Oh, perhaps what the Hilton sisters are doing today!

[DinoDoc]

What MtG said.

[Guynemer]

What DinoDoc said.

[Imran Siddiqui]

What would you like to bet on this "IF" he is placed on the ballot.

I'd place $10 that if Rose was on the ballot, he'd get in from the writers voting.

The Hall is a joke without Rose and Jackson. Moreso with Rose, however. Jackson was a great ballplayer... but he doesn't hold any major records. The all time hits leader has gotta be in there.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by SpencerH
There must be something in the world of less importance than whether a baseball player gets into another 'boys club' but I cant think of anything.






Oh, perhaps what the Hilton sisters are doing today!

I probably have ten more emails in my inbox offering me a "free" chance to see just what they have been doing. ****ing spammers.

[GhengisFarb™]

He deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, but a large part of the reason he deserves to be in is the whole gambling and ban thing. The Pete Rose story has become a major part of Baseball History if nothing else I would like the whole story and saga in the Hall of Fame simply because its part of Baseball.