Don’t Bet On It
The death of Pete Rose last week at the age of 83 revived the long-running debate about whether he has been unjustly excluded from consideration for the Baseball Hall of Fame for committing the cardinal sin of betting on baseball games. There is no doubt that Rose’s on field credentials, not least shattering Ty Cobb’s career hits record, once thought unbeatable, easily qualifies him for Cooperstown, but then-Commissioner Bart Giamatti’s lifetime ban on Rose continues to exclude him from consideration for the honor.
Rose denied the allegations until late in life, but finally admitted that he bet on his own team, the Cincinnati Reds, while he was the manager, but insisted that he never bet on them to lose. Nevertheless, Rose’s behavior was at best considered reckless, and Giamatti relied on the one outstanding precedent, Judge Kennesaw “Mountain” Landis’ lifetime ban of the 1919 Black Sox who threw that year’s World Series to, yes, the Reds, that has kept .356 lifetime hitter “Shoeless” Joe Jackson out of Cooperstown even though doubts about his guilt have always existed.
Baseball has continued to informally exclude players suspected of using steroids to enhance their otherwise noteworthy feats on the field (see” Bonds, Barry; Clemens, Roger; and Rodriguez, Alex). But there has always been a bit of inconsistency in selectively defining the sins that warrant exclusion from the Hall as it has never pretended to be a moral arbiter of off-field behavior. Babe Ruth was as well known for his voracious appetites for gluttony, drinking and womanizing as for his prowess with the bat, but those traits have mostly been regarded as fortifying his image as a larger than life figure. Cobb was a blatant, unapologetic racist but no one has ever argued that he should be left out of Cooperstown because of that (although Cobb was not likely to be singled out since the Major Leagues excluded all Blacks until Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947).
It is somewhat ironic that Rose’s death coincided with the Oakland A’s playing their last game in the decrepit Oakland Colosseum and preparing to move to Las Vegas. The reason: surprise, money! Vegas was always considered a forbidden destination for professional sports because of the city’s raison d’etre, gambling, but now has welcomed three franchises: the NFL Raiders, the A’s long-time co-tenants, the NHL-expansion Golden Knights (winners of the Stanley Cup in its 6th year), and the A’s.
But the association between gambling and professional sports is no longer considered a danger to be avoided at all costs, as gambling is now considered just another revenue source essential to its business model. With the legalization of betting on sports and the rise of Draft Kings (which has had several prominent NFL owners as investors) and other online betting sites, Vegas perfectly symbolizes the modern economics of pro sports.
Legalized sports betting should not surprise anyone as it is a natural extension of the fascination with Fantasy Sports, which is really anti-sport since it separates the players from the archaic notion of fan loyalty. Fantasy undercuts the quaint concept of supporting your hometown team, as you end up prioritizing the squad of players you have “drafted.” Imagine you are a Mets fan and your team is leading by a run in the 9th. But your guy Bryce Harper is at bat with no one on. Do you root for a homer and hope the Mets win anyway. See what I mean?
In light of the normalization of sports betting, is it now time to reevaluate Rose’s exile? Rose made many enemies during his career because of his reputation as “Charlie Hustle,” a moniker that Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford stuck on him after seeing him sprint to first base after a walk, but that often irritated opponents. Not to mention his unnecessary takeout of A’s catcher Ray Fosse to score the winning run in the 12th inning of the 1970 All Star Game, a play that invariably shortened Fosse’s promising career.
Rose’s obsessive life style often caused him to exercise poor judgment as he allegedly had sex with an underage teenager (“I thought she was 16”) and was almost certainly addicted to gambling as he continued to bet heavily on the horses for the rest of his life. Like all of the players who have been banned from baseball, and, for that matter, all players, period, Pete Rose was a flawed human being. Though he insisted he always “played to win,” his betting habits made that subject to question. And, after all, even the steroid users were presumably trying harder to win. But Pete pushed the limits of playing within the rules by compromising the integrity of the game. For that, he will remain in the on-deck circle forever, a tragic Godot waiting for his final turn at bat.
