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 Monday, August 24, 2009
Not So Deep Thoughts: Pete Rose, lifetime ban means forever
Posted by Tuff Stuff
Today is the 20th anniversary of the Pete Rose being banned from
baseball. By now, we all no the drill with Rose's story. He broke MLB's
Cardinal Rule and bet on baseball, then lied for years about doing it,
then, when all the facts were presented in front of him and then
commissioner Bart Giammati afforded him one last opportunity to come
clean, admit that he did in fact bet on baseball and work out a
plea-bargin type deal to save what was left of his battered reputation,
he decided to stick to his original story and continue to deny, deny,
deny.
Apparently after lying to others for so many years, Rose had convinced
nobody but himself that he was innocent of the charges and to prove his
point, he signed a lifetime ban from baseball that would ultimately
shred his reputation further and forever keep him out of baseball's
hallowed ground in Cooperstown. Rose, always came across as a cocky,
me-first individual and perhaps the game's all-time hit king should be
afforded some leniency considering his amazing contributions to the
game. But as any player will attest to, MLB's policy on gambling and in
particular betting on baseball is crystal clear and the sign describing
its taboo status is clearly marked inside every clubhouse doorway from
Seattle to Boston and all points in between.
Apparently Rose's enormous ego coupled with his enormous contributions
to the game clouded his judgement and he and his
misguided legal team felt his legendary status were enough to make MLB
officials look the way and forgive his many sins. But that's where Rose
backers get mistakingly caught up in the forgive-and-forget policy that
our country has made fashionable across the board, and in the sports
world in paricular. Rose had every chance to admit his wrongdoings,
save face, accept a reduced penalty and ultimately claim his spot in the
Hall of Fame, but he and his legendary status did what so many athletes
before him and so many more since have done since, they got carried away
thinking they were bigger than the game itself and it became his fatal
flaw. Because of his legendary status and the fact that countless
other indiscretions were washed away prior to the gambling charges,
Rose felt he could simply beat on his chest and remind his accusers
that he was Pete Rose, the game's all-time hit king and as was the policy,
the slate was supposed to be magically be wiped clean yet again.
The part of that stance that Rose forget was that although he was a
legend, he was still just one single legend that didn't come close to
measuring up with the game itself. He got caught up in the George
Costanza-belief of how to successful trick yourself into believing all
the BS you spew which is: It's not a lie if you believe it.
That policy works great to reduce insomnia and help you live yourself,
but in can also be a Catch 22 when you're given the opportunity to
admit your mistakes, show remorse for those actions, and accept the consequences and move
on with your life with your sins left in the rearview. If you end up
brainwashing yourself into believing all of the lies you've been racking up never happened, it becomes hard to ever separate right from wrong as you move forward in the murky world you've created.
Now two decades later, the cries for Rose's ban to be lifted can be
heard from Cincinnati to Cooperstown. True
legends such as Hank Aaron and countless others have sided with Rose
and believe he's paid enough of a price. I too would have forgiven
Rose long ago if only he would have accepted the deal that was put in
front of him. But unfortunately for Rose and unfortunately for the game
of baseball, he didn't. And last time I checked, lifetime ban still
means for the duration of one's life. Sorry Pete.
Monday, August 24, 2009 3:24:13 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00) 
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