Tuesday, January 06, 2004
 pete rose is one of my all-time heroes, not just baseball heroes. he didnt let being a slowfooted whitetrash uneducated slackjawed yokel stop him from getting more hits than anyone who ever played pro baseball.
they say hitting a round ball with a round bat is the hardest thing to do in sports and pete rose did it more times than anyone.
he wrote a book that i bought when i was 12 called How To Hit Better Than Anybody.
most baseball players -- check that -- most Hall of Famers have a hitting milestone of 3,000 hits. get 3,000 and you're guaranteed entry into the Hall of Fame.
Pete Rose had over 4,000 hits but he is not in the Hall of Fame today because he was accused of betting on baseball.
Ever since the Chicago Black Sox scandal that John Cusack was involved in about 100 years ago baseball has been hypersensitive about gambling. sadly they should have paid more attention to betting AGAINST your team as opposed to betting ON your team.
The Black Sox took money to lose the world series. Huge difference between throwing a game and believing in your team so much that you'd put your money where your scorecard is.
Anyhow, when Pete was manager of the Reds he got involved with some criminals who ratted him out and exposed his troubles with gambling. It was never revealed that Pete bet AGAINST the Reds but Bart Giamatti, the commish of baseball didnt care. He banned the greatest hitter of all time from baseball and in doing so the IRS threw Pete in jail for tax evasion for not claiming his gambling winnings with his annual taxes.
Giamatti was struck down by GOD and his successor chose to be just as hardheaded and continued to ban Pete and keep him from his rightful place in the hallowed Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
Before Giamatti croaked he made a deal with Charlie Hustle. he said as long as he didnt fight the action being brought against him, that he would be eligible for reinstatement into baseball in 2-3 years. Hick-ass pete actually believed the commish and didnt fight the fist and got f'ed.
he never admitted to betting on baseball until now and they had never proved it. all they had was the testimony of guys who either were in prison or had spent some heavy time in prison. thats whos gonna keep out the all time hit king?
only reason pete rose is admitting that he bet on baseball is to sell a book and get in the hall of fame
which is an awfully pathetic place to put somebody in and baseball should be ashamed.
pete rose is everything great about the american dream. he wasnt fast or powerful or pretty or smart but he gave his all and became a winner and the best hitter of all time.
the front office of major league baseball should not be in the business of tearing a man down so they can then honor him for eternity.
the all time hit king deserves bettor.
aarons baseball blog + eric case + see thru skin + so lonesome
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