Pete Rose in Next Year’s HOF Class?

 

Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig finally shows us that he has a brain. Selig is considering reinstating Cincinnati Reds great Pete Rose nearly 20 years after Charlie Hustle was banned from the game for gambling on baseball. [NY Daily News]

The big change over the weekend was Hall of Fame slugger Hank Aaron telling Selig he wants Rose in the Hall of Fame. Selig trusts Aaron and has listened to him in the past when he needed advice on improving his league. Betting on your sport is one of the worst crimes an athlete or coach can do. What Rose did was wrong, but put him in as a player and not as coach. Rose has more hits than any player that has ever played the game and he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

Another thing that helps Rose’s case to get in the Hall of Fame is the fact that next year’s class is not that strong. Chicago Cubs left fielder Andre Dawson should finally be elected (why he isn’t already baffles me). Roberto Alomar and Barry Larkin are eligible for the Hall of Fame for the first time in their careers, but will either player get elected their first year? Dawson, closer Lee Smith and Alomar should all make it next year if the writers lose their agendas and vote based on stats. A Hall of Fame class of Dawson and Rose would be polar opposites: one player was clean his whole career and one player was the biggest villain baseball has ever seen. It is a crime that both of these Hall of Famers have waited this long, but the wait will be worth it if Selig and the Hall of Fame voters do the right thing next season.