Finally, Pete Rose Is Not Getting Any More Chances

Finally, Pete Rose Is Not Getting Any More Chances

 

MLB’s top hitter gave false information for 25 years to support his reinstatement. That should all end with a devastating new ESPN story.

I recall sitting in Fay Vincent’s private study last fall, listening to the eighth commissioner of Major League Baseball tell me that Pete Rose was and still is one of the stupidest baseball players ever. Rose flatly denied for years that he ever placed a wager on the Cincinnati Reds while he was either a manager or a player. All of it was shown to be a fraud by the Dowd Report, which also revealed that Rose had wagered on baseball both as a manager and most likely as a player. This provided MLB the leverage it needed to convince Rose to accept a lifelong ban in 1989.

Vincent informed me that “the sad fact is that Pete Rose is not very smart.”

Oh my goodness, what a timeless statement that is. Over the years, Rose has gradually accepted his share of wrongdoing and now spends his days signing autographs in a Las Vegas mall. He continues to maintain that he has done his time and should be added back to baseball’s “permanently ineligible” list, saying he is the “best ambassador baseball has.” In 2004, fifteen years following his exile, he revealed in an autobiography that, while managing the Reds, he wagered on baseball games. Rose acknowledged in 2007 that he wagered on the Reds “every night” when managing the team, but not during his player-managership of 1984–86. Additionally, Rose reaffirmed last month when she appeared on ESPN Radio in New York.

However, that is untrue. While Rose was a player, he did wager on the Reds for a few months during the 1986 season. Rose was a 45-year-old first baseman who hit.219 over 72 games and was essentially a fuzzy replica of his peak playing days. The bets were made, though, and Rose always expected the Reds to win. The evidence was taken in October 1989 as part of a mail fraud investigation unconnected to Rose’s gaming, from the residence of a known acquaintance of Rose. The records of these transactions, which also reveal significant losses from wagering $2,000 or more on professional and collegiate basketball, have been hidden from the public for 26 years.