Pete Rose NEEDS to be in the baseball HOF

By: Louis Friedlander

This is a debate that has gone on for years now. As a die hard sports fan and baseball fan it sickens me that it’s even debatable. We let wife beaters, drug, alcohol, and PED abusers play in our sport, but we won’t let an all time great be recognized as exactly that? Shame on you MLB.

As a ball player, Pete was one of the best to ever play the game. He is the all-time hits leader (4,256) in MLB history, a 3 time World Series Champion, a 17 time all-star, an NL MVP, a World Series MVP, NL Rookie Of The Year, 2 time gold glove award winner and the list goes on.

Yes, Pete was caught gambling on baseball, and yes he should’ve been punished for it, but wouldn’t you agree that his life time ban from being a manager/coach is punishment enough? Hasn’t he suffered enough? His punishment has more than fit the crime. People who commit murder are punished for a less amount of time, and many of them are let out of prison eventually, and can go back to a semi regular life. Pete of course was not put behind bars for his minor crime, however, his entire life was baseball, and you can argue that stripping him of being a part of the game is his own personal version of prison.

Pete is 75 years old and likely doesn’t have a lot of time left on this planet. He deserves to see himself in the HOF before he passes away. Roger Maris, the man who broke “The Babes” HR record back in 1961 was not recognized in the record books for being the home run king at first. It wasn’t until he passed away that MLB gave him the HR King title. Let’s not let Pete have that same fate!

The baseball HOF is created for the fans of the sport, the game and the history of game. Why should fans (young and old) be deprived of one the the games greats? The answer is they shouldn’t be. They have a section in the HOF about the “Black Sox Scandal”. For those who don’t know, the Chicago White Sox players took money to purposely lose the 1919 World Series (is that not gambling?). Why is it okay for them to be recognized (good or bad) but not Pete?

Do you think Pete should be in the HOF?

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