selig warming up to idea of rose in hof?

interesting piece by bill madden today, saying even selig advisor hank aaron has gone to bat for rose. i've long been an anti-pete guy but even i agree it's time to give him his get out of jail card:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2009/07/27/2009-07-27_pete_rose.html

 

As long as he's dead when it happens, I'm all for it.

 

I heard it being mentioned on the radio. A baseball writer was saying he believed it was time to let Pete Rose into the Hall of Fame because he is a big part of baseball history. However, convincing enough other writers to agree would be a difficult task.

 

Here's how I would handle it.

ROSE: "Hello."

SELIG: "Pete? Bug Selig here. You're in."

ROSE: "Excuse me?"

SELIG: "The Hall of Fame. You're in. Effective today, you have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame."

ROSE: "That's wonderful news, sir. Thank you. When is the ceremony?"

SELIG: "There is no ceremony. No press conference. No spectacle of any kind. You're in the Hall. That's what you wanted, right?"

ROSE: "Well, yes. But . . . "

SELIG: "Good. Congratulations, Pete. Goodbye."

 

know what? that would be perfect! i'd have no stomach for watching pete at the podium on induction day day.

 

The all-time hit leader, all-time home run leader and one of its winningest pitchers, in Clemens, all excluded from the Hall of Fame for various forms of cheating. Maybe they should admit them all with a similar phone call from Selig, and put their plaques in a broom closet or a dark hallway.

 

shit, pete would take it in a second, as long as he can write "Pete Rose HOF Hits Leader" as his autograph. His inscription price would go up big time. Now's the time to put him in, because he's no longer baseball villain numero uno, thanks to the steroid era.

 

That's not bad, BTE, but I would also have it come with a continued ban from working in baseball. I don't know if any team would hire him anyway, but just to be sure. Keep him out of the game.

I heard a bit about this on the radio this morning, too. Mike & Mike were talking about it and suggested that if they were going to let Rose in, they should let Joe Jackson in, too.

 

And, of course, Selig does non have the power to unilaterally put Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame. And since Pete's 15 years on the BBWAA ballot are up, it will be up to the vet's committee to eventually elect him if Bud lifts the ban.
Which means, if Selig says he's reinstated, the current living Hall of Fame members, the veterans' commmittee, will have to vote him in. There are a lot of guys who won't ever vote for him so it might still be iffy.

 

So his 15-year clock wouldn't start over after he came off the banned list?

 

The 15-year clock applies only to the BBWAA voting, not to the Veterans Committee.