Wednesday, August 24, 2005

This Rose stinks...

On this date in 1989 it was "three strikes and you're out" for Pete Rose. Baseball Commissioner Bart Garmatti banned permanently, the player who owns the career record for most hits (4,256) in baseball history, 16 years ago today...

Although the 5-page document signed by both parties included no formal findings, Giamatti considered Rose's acceptance of the ban to be a no-contest plea to charges of gambling on major league games. Indeed there was evidence of Pete Rose's signature on betting slips found during the extensive investigation of the alleged charges...

For years Pete Rose never admitted betting on baseball but all that changed with the publishing of his book, "My Prison Without Bars". In the book Rose describes a 2002 meeting with the current Commisoner of Baseball Bud Selig in which Rose was asked if he had bet on baseball. This was his answer, "Yes sir, I did bet on baseball but I never bet against my own team and I never made any bets from the clubhouse."...

While Rose continues to seek reinstatement because he admitted wrong doing, he is still ineligilble for either reinstatement into baseball or gaining entrance to the Hall of Fame, and he should continue to be denied both in my opinion...

The exhaustive investigation took its toll on Bart Giamatti, who at 51 would die of a sudden heart attack just 8 days after banning Rose...

More August 24 Memories...

1961) Joe Dowell takes an Elvis song from "G.I. Blues" to the top of the charts as "Wooden Heart" goes to #1...

1964) The Beatles release "Matchbox/Slow Down."...

1967) Beatles' manager Brian Epstein dies of an overdose at 32...

1968) The Who's Keith Moon drives a Lincoln into a Holiday Inn swimming pool (what's wrong with that ?)...

1973) John Adams starts beating his drum in the rightfield stands at Cleveland Stadium. He's still doing it at Jacobs Field between sections 182 & 183 in the last row according to Indians fan, Bob Kwest...

1973) "Brother Louie" by Stories is #1...

1978) On the cover of Rolling Stone: Bruce Springsteen...

1979) The Cars play before half a million in Central Park...

1979) Over 60,000 NFL fans choose the old Patriots logo over the new one (why didn't the Patriots do a poll before changing it ?)...

1981) Mark David Chapman is sentenced to 20 years to life for the murder of John Lennon...

1989) Pete Rose is banned from baseball (feature story)...

1990) A Nevada judge rules that Judas Priest was not responsible for the suicides of 2 teens...

1995) Windows 95 goes on sale...

Happy Birthday to...

1934) Kenny (R2D2) Baker...

1938) Mason Williams...

1942) Chi-Lites' Marshall Thompson...

1949) Joe ("Murphy Brown") Regalbuto...

1952) Denver coach Mike Shanahan...

1956) Long Island's Gerry Cooney...

1960) Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr...

1962) Craig ("The Late Late Show") Kilborn...

1965) Knick nemesis Reggie Miller...

1973) "Retired" comedian Dave Chappelle...

Commentary...

Two things come to mind about Pete Rose. Jeff Mazzei of WCBS-FM can verify the first one which happened at Yankee Stadium shortly after Paul Giamatti's unexpected heart attack. There was a moment of silence announced by public address announcer Bob Shepard just prior to the singing of the national anthem. You could hear a pin drop for several seconds before a booming voice from section one in the upper deck proclaimed "Pete Rose is a murderer." While this stretch was so wildly amusing the crowd stood in a stunned silence...

The second thing that comes to mind is nephew Jim Gray's aggressive questioning of Rose during a live interview in 1999 in which he asked the banned superstar if he would ever admit betting on baseball. Jim was insistent on getting an answer from Rose and he was raked over the coals for it. Although he didn't ask for any defense from me, he got it anyway in those conversations I had with those that took Jim to task for "badgering" Rose. In time we've learned that Jim was right on the money with his line of questioning...

While we'll probably never know for sure whether or not Rose bet against the Reds as manager, the doubt will always remain that there was a possibility that he did. He should never be considered for reinstatement or admittance to the Hall of Fame in my view...