Pete Rose had 4,256 hits in his MLB career. An all-time leader in that category for the MLB. Pete also played a total of 24 seasons, which helps for his case as the leader of the games, all-time record as well. His average of 194 hits in 162 games in a season is incredible. With someone on the field and that dominant for how long, he is just now looking at an opening to get into the Hall of Fame, not even a year after his passing.
The President of the United States said late this week he was going to propose a pardon for Pete Rose, also speaking about his involvement with a sports gambling incident which is the reason he is not in the hall today. This pardon has made MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred openly say they would be looking at Pete Rose’s case further and seeing if they can reinstate his eligibility on the Hall of Fame list. While this is not a guarantee he gets in, because who knows what the voters will do, it is at least a chance he deserves to have.
If I were a voter, and he were to be able to get back on the list, I think I would vote for him to get in. When you are that vital to a sports league’s history, even though Pete Rose was not the best human by any stretch of the imagination, he was without a doubt one of the best baseball players of his time and all-time.
- 3x World Series Champion
- 1x MVP
- 1x World Series MVP
- Rookie of the Year
- 2x Gold Glove
- 3x Silver Slugger
- 17x All-Star
- All-Time Hits Leader
- All-Time Runs Leader
If he was betting on himself and his team to lose, I would understand that is bad and decide the other way, but he was betting on his team to win. While that is arrogant and probably not the most ethical thing to do, he was not purposefully losing games for his team or putting his team in a bad position in order to win money. He was just playing damn good baseball trying to win games.
With 2 virtually unbreakable records under his belt, I think there is a decent chance the voters may see that and decide it is his time. No player will ever play as many games in a team professional sport, based in the United States, than Pete Rose has. With also being a guy that always seemed to hit, what he did in his career just cannot be done again.
The most interesting thing about Pete Rose to me is his coaching career. While the manager of the Reds from 1984-1986, he hit a .222 average, driving in 82 RBI’s and scored 84 runs himself. In that span, his managerial record was 194-170. After his combined coaching and playing career, he coached for 3 more seasons while never making the postseason in that same 6 year span. I think it is somewhat badass for a coach to put himself in a game because he has that much confidence in himself as the all-time hits leader. While he was definitely still on the old side, he still did not perform as badly as some may think a low-40 year-old manager would play.
So, the question is now if Rob Manfred is able to look into the Pete Rose case and see if he can release him from the ineligible list. If that is done, it will then be up to the Hall of Fame voters to determine if Pete Rose should be cemented in baseball history forever. Only time will tell and as more happens on this, I will write more.