The Philly Sports Journal

Pete Rose is all about morality.

Whether you’re for him or against him, no sports figure sparks more passion than Pete Rose does. That’s because he ignites our basic sense of moral values, the tenets we grew up with and by which we, at least partially, have defined ourselves since childhood.

On the field, Rose epitomized the morality of the fan: play to win, give it your all every day, no matter what.

In fact, one of his most famous quotes was, “I never got booed in a white uniform,” because he never mailed it in, never half-assed it, never jogged out a fly ball. If he was on your team, you loved him.

Integrity. Heart. Hustle. Those are the things that defined Pete Rose’s game, Charlie Hustle’s game.

On the field, Pete Rose was sports morality.

Hell, lots of people were willing to overlook his cheap shot on Ray Fosse as a biproduct of Rose’s drive to win.

Just like lots of people are willing to overlook his gambling on baseball. After all, the major leagues’ last player/manager never bet against his own club, never threw a game. Pete always bet on Pete.

So what if, off the field, Rose was a different kind of hustler — trying to hustle the system, trying to hustle you for sympathy, for Hall of Fame entry?

Off the field, Pete Rose was and is a total scumbag.

A degenerate gambler. An ignoramus. A liar.

That’s Pete Rose: Mr. Morality on the field, Mr. Amoral off of it.

I believe in forgiveness. What Pete Rose did was wrong. He broke baseball’s golden rule. It doesn’t compare to what steroid users have done. They truly compromised the game’s integrity. I believe that Rose, the All-Time Hits King, should be in the Hall of Fame.

Like in politics, my beliefs are largely based on my morality, and reasonable people can disagree. I support Rose’s Hall of Fame plea because of his accomplishments and morality on the diamond; you may oppose it because of his mistakes and absence of morality outside the white lines.

Let the debate rage on.

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