The Sport of Clean Part II

[Silver Charm]

Yes. He let it carryover into the work place and it could have affected his judgement as a Manager. But there was never any evidence he actually threw a game or made decisions that were not in the best interest of the Team. Its Baseball Choice to not Vote him into the Hall. At the same time the Hall recognizes his achievements.There are a lot fans who still appreciate that and how hard he played.

[TGJB]

Public evidence.

[Silver Charm]

That\'s exactly what I said. There was evidence he bet on his own Team as a Manager, He later admitted it in 2004. But there was never any evidence he threw a game.

the charges of wrongdoing included claims that he bet on his own team.....After years of public denial, Rose admitted in 2004 that he bet on baseball and on the Reds.

Paul Hornung was banned from the NFL for a year for betting on Football. Along with Alex Karras. This was in 1963. So it\'s not a first. Hornung is in the Hall of Fame. Rose crossed the line when he bet his own Team.

[Strike]

Boy, I really opened a can of worms when I initially wanted to simply compare horse racing\'s path to Hall of Fame to MLB\'s more arduous path to their Hall of Fame.

But, since we are now discussing Pete Rose who I entirely agree was a magnificent baseball player -- he did bet on his own team as a manager and ESPN reported as a player as well. Normal bet was $2,000.

However, if Rose only bets on the Reds to win, maybe you have a point. But then there are the games he doesn’t bet on them. His betting showed he didn\'t bet when Bill Gullickson pitched. That’s a big problem. He was signaling with his “no bet” to some interested other bettors how he felt about the Reds chances. By the way, Bill wasn\'t terrible in 1987 when this occurred -- not good -- but, 10-11 with a ERA of 4.85 (maybe not so good after all).

[HP]

I always thought it was kind of lame the way he went out “chasing the record” batting .240 for a few years. It was sad to see that after he was so great but it sold tickets and lots of people seemed to go for it. Cobb went out hitting .323

[BB]

HP Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I always thought it was kind of lame the way he
> went out “chasing the record” batting .240 for
> a few years. It was sad to see that after he was
> so great but it sold tickets and lots of people
> seemed to go for it. Cobb went out hitting .323

I\'m totally with you on the lameness of chasing career records when you have ceased being the player you once were. But, for the record, in his last three full seasons (passing Cobb towards the end of his last full season) Rose hit .245, .286, and .264.

But I believe the gold standard for how to end a career belongs to Ted Williams, who, after being pissed off that he hit .254 at age 40, came back for one last season and hit .316 with 29 homers in 310 ABs (his slugging percentage of .645 exceeded his career percent of .634). He also homered in his final plate appearance, inspiring the greatest piece of highbrow sports journalism ever written.

Nice to see you commenting, Scott.

[HP]

Thanks. His last full year was 1983 - .245. He played less the next three years and his last year was .219. I was averaging a bit with .240. Point is I didn’t see it as a riveting chase of Cobb. That last year was sad.

[Roman]

In the early 1980s, my wife was 8 or 9 years old at the time. She was at Sportsmans Park sitting with the Bidwell\'s, and one of them said look  there is Pete Rose, why don\'t you ask him for an autograph.  She did. His response, \"Get the @#$$ away from me you brat\"
Funny that he is selling them now .

[kencbs]

Roman - she wasn\'t quite old enough for Pete to invite to his hotel room

[Roman]

That\'s funny.