Recently Pete Rose again asked for reinstatement to baseball. For those who may not be aware Rose was banned from baseball for betting on baseball games when he was a player and then as a manager.

Rose was born in Cincinnati Ohio on April 14, 1941. He made his Major League debut on April 8, 1963, with the Cincinnati Reds. He was a switch hitter who had a lifetime batting average of .303, 160 home runs, 1,314 runs batted in, and 4,256 total hits, a Major League record that he still holds. Pete Rose was the 1963 Rookie of the Year, he made 17 All-Star appearances, was National league Most Valuable Player in 1973 and the 1975 World Serie MVP.

Rose played for the Reds from 1963 to 1978. In 1978 he became the Philadelphia Phillies’ first ever free agent signing and led them to a World Series win in 1980. He was released at the end of the 1983 season and signed by the Montreal Expos in January 1984. He was traded to Cincinnati on August 16, 1984, where he became player/manager. He was released as a player in November 1986 and continued as the team’s manager until banned.

After stories began circulating about Rose’s possible betting on baseball, he was questioned by Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth and National League President Bart Giamatti in February 1989. He admitted to betting on football, basketball, and horse racing but denied ever betting on baseball. In its March 21, 1989, edition Sports Illustrated gave the first public report on the allegations of Rose’s betting on baseball and on April 4, 1989, Attorney John M. Dowd was retained by Major League Baseball to investigate the charges against Rose.

In May Dowd delivered his report to new Commissioner Giamatti. The report documented Rose’s gambling in 1986 and 1987 and provided a day-by-day account of his betting on baseball in 1987 including bets by Rose on 52 Reds games in that year alleging that he wagered a minimum of $10,000 a day.

Rose continued to deny the charges but on August 24, 1989, he accepted a permanent place on baseball’s ineligible list. In the ensuing years he has applied for reinstatement basing his application on several claims including that his betting never affect the outcome of games or that other players used steroids or electronic means to steal opposing catchers’ signs and yet had not been banned.

During baseball’s history over 40 individuals have been banned from the game. Some like Hal Chase of the New York Giants and Eugeen Paulette of the Phillies were banned for consorting with gamblers and in Chase’s case also betting on his own team. Others like Heinie Zimmerman of the 1921 NY Giants, Manager Jimmie O’Connell, and Coach Cozy Dolan of the 1924 Giants were banned for attempting to fix games. In 1943 William D. Cox, owner of the Philadelphia Phillies was also banned for betting on his own team.

Baseball’s greatest game fixing scandal occurred during the 1919 World Series when eight players were banned in 1921 for conspiring with gamblers to throw the World Series in what is now known as the “Black Socks” Scandal. These White Socks players were willing to engage in the conspiracy because they resented owner Charlie Comisky’s treatment of them and for reneging on bonuses as in the case of pitcher Eddie Cicotte who had been promised a bonus of $10,000 – equal to $169,000 today – if he won 30 games in 1919. However, he was denied five starts towards the end of the season after

Comisky told manager Kid Gleason to bench him to save his arm for the world series and did not get the bonus.

In the end all eight players were suspended for life. In a 1956 Sports Illustrated story ringleader Chick Gandil admitted his role in the scandal and expressed remorse for what he and the others had done, saying that they deserved being banned for even talking to the gamblers.

In every baseball clubhouse from the low minors to the major league levels there is a sign that says: “Any player, umpire, or club or league official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform shall be declared permanently ineligible.”

In point of fact Baseball Personnel may not bet on any professional or amateur baseball or softball games including major and minor league games, international, college, high school, and youth games.

As much as I admired Pete Rose’s style of play during his career when it came to gambling and betting on his own team he should have known better.

From its earliest days, and especially after the “Black Socks” scandal, professional baseball has been conscious of the danger gambling and those connected with it posed to the integrity of the game. That is the reason for the clubhouse signs and the harsh penalties doled out in the past.

Every time Pete Rose saw that no gambling sign in the clubhouse, he should reminded himself that its words applied to everyone connected to professional baseball without exception. He didn’t get that and now he is paying the price.

Thomas Kirkpatrick Sr. is a Silver Creek resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com