Pete Rose said he bet ON the Reds. Every night.

So the guy was placing bets on reds games every night while their manager, he was a typical pathological gambler always looking for an edge, was battling some heavy past gambling debts, and now wants us to believe he NEVER ONCE fell to the urge to bet against the Reds when he knew it was it his best bet (& easiest to control)? Ummm, bullshit. Deserves every bit of misfortune that's befallen him.

 

I'm not casty -- not even close -- but I do agree on Rose being in the Hall on his merits as a player. And, on his plaque, there should be an engraved asterisk with the note that he was banned for life. As there should be one for Joe Jackson, because he deserves to be in, too.

Ty Cobb was, by almost every account, a despicable human being. There is some evidence that suggests he was a murderer. But he is in the Hall, and rightfully so. Gaylord Perry admitted to cheating, and has capitalized post-career on his legacy as a spitballer. But he is in the Hall, and rightfully so.

The Hall is not a litmus test of a player's character, not if they're going to apply it so subjectively. FWIW, that clause was only added to the voters' list of criteria in 1946, the same year Shoeless Joe got two votes (he also received two in 1936.)

Pete should be in, too.

 

KUDOS to baseball. It's three most hallowed records will soon be monopolized by despicable vermin. And I hear ole Ty Cobb was no prize either.

 

What do you have against Hank Aaron? Why would you call him a raging douche bag?

 

Or you could just read the book on Delhanty by Mike Sowell.

 

I don't think the point here is that Rose bet on the Reds to win - I think that was common knowledge, and perhaps already admitted. The key here is he is saying he did it every game. Thus, if he didn't do it every game, then the games he did bet on, maybe he would have made different moves to ensure a win. Or in games he didn't, he'd rest guys so they'd be OK for the games he did bet.

 

Even better.

Shameless plug for the new SABR publication, is all.

 

Of course, there is also the very astute assumption that every single time Pete Rose moves his lips and sound comes out, he is lying.

 

Lantaur,

Previously, it had been mentioned that Rose bet on the Reds to win, except for the games Mario Soto started -- thus tipping off (inadvertently or not) the bookies. If you were a bookie and Pete Rose didn't bet on the Reds to win that night, you could easily take that as a sign that Rose didn't think they would win that night.

http://www.posner.com/articles/peterose.htm

 

I saw the exact same thing last March at the same spot (although I'm not sure what the price was then). Just a bunch of store employees in Reds jerseys trying to stir up interest among the passersby, and no one giving a rat's ass.

 

That's funny, because it's so close to being true.