Hustle
What are the odds Pete Rose finally makes it into the Hall?
The only real baseball story this week was a twist in a thirty-year saga when Pete Rose, ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson and a number of other deceased former players were removed from MLB’s ‘permanently ineligible’ list, making them technically able to be elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame.
When – and indeed whether – any of the players ever actually end up in Cooperstown remains to be seen.
They had all received life bans from the game for their involvement with gambling; Rose in 1989, Jackson and his Chicago ‘Black Sox’ teammates following the World Series seventy years earlier.
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Baseball’s all-time hits leader Rose – like Jackson before him – had been a divisive figure to say the least, so this week’s development seems likely only to perpetuate those enduring differences of opinion. There have been many, and not just in Cincinnati, who have welcomed the decision, and many who haven’t.
Coincidentally, of course, the Reds had already scheduled Pete Rose Night for Wednesday’s game against – again, totally coincidentally – the White Sox.
For these fans, Rose could literally do no wrong.
Sportswriter Sally Jenkins wrote at the Washington Post that Baseball’s surrender on Pete Rose is a disgrace to the game.
“Rose, Jackson and the others are now eternal examples that you can get away with the long con, that you can not only outrun larceny but ultimately be lionized for it if you’ve got a pol in your corner. The years-long lobbying, the denials and dogged impenitence finally worked. The Hall of Fame, one of the few anachronistic holdouts in the ongoing American war on basic decency, can become just another leveled dumping ground for louses.”
One question, though, will be why MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred would let it appear so obvious that Donald Trump had pressured him to act now. Rose and the current President were clearly big fans of each other – somewhat bizarrely, on the same day as his infamous Oval Office meltdown against Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump randomly posted that evening that he would issue a “complete pardon” for Rose, who had been imprisoned for five months for tax offenses in 1990.
Manfred’s change of mind – he had rejected Rose’s application for reinstatement a decade ago – came after a meeting with Trump in April.
Manfred’s explanation for his decision now was that once an individual was deceased - Rose died last September - the rule governing betting in baseball no longer applies. Obviously when former Commissioner Bart Giamatti imposed Rose’s ban in 1989, baseball had a vastly different relationship with gambling than it does today, through the growth of fantasy sports and with numerous betting sites as sponsors.
Chelsea Janes wrote last summer of the increasingly difficult fine line between baseball’s notion of integrity and the monetary benefits on offer.
“As clear as MLB’s message to players is and has always been when it comes to gambling on its games, its embrace of legal sports betting partners and the money they deliver is not only muddying moral waters but also drawing road maps to temptation in clubhouses around the country.”
Rose himself even appeared on TV on Jan 1, 2023 placing Ohio’s first legal sports bet at the Hard Rock Casino in Cincinnati. “I don’t know a damn thing about odds,” he said. The bet he placed was on the Reds to win the World Series.
In the first year of legal operation, more than $7billion was wagered in the state.
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I went along to the visitation for Rose at Great American Ball Park last November and I wrote this at the time. It’s how I feel about pretty much all the contentious figures excluded – for now – from the Hall. Maybe we’re not happy about it in terms of examples set beyond just the numbers, but I believe the Hall exists to tell the story of the game, warts and all. Put everything on the plaque and let visitors make their own minds up.
If part of the story is excluded, it means you’re getting someone else’s version of what the game should be, not how it reflects real life.
This should be a really interesting SABR webinar on the issue next week.
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Batting Around
It seemed to take the Pete Rose news to stop everyone talking about Aaron Judge and the Yankees’ offense this week. Bob Nightengale tweeted that the Bombers’ MLB-leading 76 homers are the most through their first 43 games in franchise history. It can’t all be about the bats, right?
Jasson Dominguez became the youngest Yankee to hit three HRs in a game, his third of the night against the Athletics also being his first career grand slam.
But the serious ankle injury to Oswaldo Cabrera in Seattle left the AL East leaders shaken.
Bud Black was fired – “inevitable but messy” according to the Denver Post – after the Rockies’ worst start ever. The Padres demolished them 21-0 on their way to getting two managers fired on the same road trip, having already seen off Derek Shelton in Pittsburgh. It’s just the latest attempt to try to fix a run of problems for the last-place Pirates.
One bright spot for Bucs fans, though, although they might not all think so, Paul Skenes will pitch for Team USA in next year’s World Baseball Classic. Meanwhile, Juan Soto has indicated he will play for the DR. Soto’s fellow Met Edwin Diaz, who missed the whole 2023 season after getting injured while celebrating a Puerto Rico victory over the DR, said if selected he would play in next year’s tournament if the team allowed him…
Talking of squalls, the Tampa Bay Rays had a new experience this week – their first ever home rain delay after playing their first 24 years in the Tropicana Dome, the roof of which was badly damaged in Hurricane Milton last October. (pic via @recjus85)
The team also announced they’re planning a retirement ceremony for Evan Longoria on June 7.
The Cubs and White Sox square off in the Crosstown Classic this weekend at Wrigley Field. Both Chicago teams have some exciting young players that make them worth watching. Pete Crow-Armstrong is the most fun Cub to watch since Javier Baez. And the Cubs’ series in New York last weekend revived talk of the 2021 trade where they swapped uniforms.
Cade Horton made his long-awaited Cubs debut, striking out the aforementioned Juan Soto on his his way to the win. For the Sox, Tim Elko hit a home run for his first major league hit in front of his mom on Mothers’ Day
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Take Me To Church
And after finally settling the beef between the Chicago teams over the allegiance of the new Pope, Leo XIV signed a ball for a fan in the receiving line on Monday, but not before asking “Cubs or Sox?”
Weirdly, a ball signed by Leo’s immediate predecessor, Pope Francis, sold at auction for $18,750 on Wednesday. It’s not known who Francis may have been a fan of. The Padres, perhaps.
I’m currently reading an excellent book that I missed first time around - Church of Baseball by Ron Shelton, a wonderful account of how he came to create the movie Bull Durham and bring it to the screen. I loved the movie and can really recommend the book.
I’m also re-reading Bill Clinton at the Church of Baseball – The Presidency, Civil Religion and the National Pastime in the 1990s by Chris Birkett, and am hoping to do a Q&A with Chris soon.
I’m in the process of compiling a short bibliography of my own favorite baseball books. I’ll link to it when it’s ready, but this one will undoubtedly be included…
Talking of books about baseball, a very Happy Birthday today to my friend Chris Lamb, author of several excellent volumes, including his first, Blackout, about Jackie Robinson’s first Spring Training, and his most recent, Stolen Dreams, about the 1955 Little League Championship.
You can read ‘Circus Peanuts’ my Q&A with Chris from a couple of seasons back, here.
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No Game Notes this week, since I’m in Ireland and won’t be at another live game for a little while. All being well, I’ll be at the Pirates-Marlins game at PNC Park on June 11.
Other recent midweek baseball-related posts are here:
Memories and Memorials – May 8.
Going Bananas – May 2.
The Impact On Other Lives – April 16.
And of course you can find the full States of Play archive here.
I’ll be back with the usual politics wrap at the weekend.
As always, thanks for reading.
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