After yesterday's decision was announced that Pete Rose would continue to be banned from Major League Baseball, many fans expressed anger and disappointment. However, the disappointment and anger may be better appropriated toward Rose himself. Reviewing the facts surrounding the case, it appears that Rose never learned his lesson and never actually straight up admitted his faults, or cleaned up his life in the manner that could have earned him reinstatement.
Commissioner Rob Manfred followed up his promise: he gave Rose another chance. Manfred met with Rose, gathered the evidence, and gave Rose every opportunity to come clean. However, in Manfred's own words, Rose was still not telling the whole truth. In a report written by Manfred on the investigation, Rose at times "forgot" facts in the case and is still gambling:
He made assertions concerning his betting habits that were directly contradicted by documentary evidence (the Bertolini Notebook) secured by my office following the publication of the ESPN story on June 23, 2015. And, significantly, he told me that currently he bets recreationally and legally on horses and sports, including Baseball.
One would think that if Rose wanted to clean up his image and prove himself ready for reinstatement, he would stop gambling altogether.
Mike Schmidt, a long-time advocate for Rose, spoke out on MLB Network Radio (via NJ.com and Randy Miller)
I think the day will come when Pete will look back on this … Throughout this whole thing, I think he always kind of senses or feels like he's bigger than it all, and at some point in his life he'll sit back in a rocking chair and realize he wasn't or isn't bigger than baseball.
In other words, Rose just does not get it yet.
Over on ESPN.com, former Philadelphia baseball writer Jayson Stark wrote that it was very difficult to get past the investigation in the manner in which it went, because Pete Rose fails to see reality:
This Pete Rose, Manfred wrote, left baseball with no faith that he now has a "mature understanding" of what he did wrong. Or that he had "accepted responsibility for it." Or that he had any grasp of "the damage he has caused.
How could this commissioner — or any commissioner — reinstate this man? Manfred couldn't. Bud Selig couldn't. And if Rose believes Bart Giamatti would have seen this any differently, the alternate universe the Hit King is living in is farther from Earth than we ever imagined.
Read Stark's full piece here.
The one thing that will keep this story going outside of Major League Baseball is that Commissioner Manfred stated that the Hall of Fame has the ability to make its own decision. At 74, Rose probably would not have managed again. He would not have joined a front office. At best, he could take a "special instructor" role at Spring Training. Rose probably can make the occasional appearance has he was allowed to in recent times, but the Hall of Fame talk will continue.
Manfred wrote regarding the Hall of Fame:
"It is not part of my authority or responsibility here to make any determination concerning Mr. Rose's eligibility as a candidate for election to the National baseball Hall of Fame ("Hall of Fame"). In fact, in my view, the considerations that should drive a decision on whether an individual should be allowed to work in Baseball are not the same as those that should drive a decision on Hall of Fame eligibility.
That talk will likely continue, but the Hall of Fame is usually rather quiet.
As for Rose, he had an opportunity to come clean, but decided not to, or that his case would be better if he had not. As Commissioner Manfred write, "Mr. Rose has not presented credible evidence of a reconfigured life either by an honest acceptance by him of his wrongdoing….or by a rigorous, self aware and sustained program of avoidance by him of all the circumstances that led to his permanent ineligibility in 1989. Unless Rose had made a commitment to face reality and right his life, baseball cannot commit to him. And that is a shame.
