As a lifelong fan of the Cincinnati Reds I suppose I'm supposed to be upset that Red legend Pete Rose has once again (and likely for all time) been denied reentry into the official baseball community and therefore eventual access into the hallowed Hall of Fame.
But I'm not.
Rose deserves his lifetime ban and any attempt to reconcile him and baseball has always been frustrated by the undeniable fact that Pete Rose, greatest living baseball hitter, is a degenerate gambler and has lied about his activities as such for decades.
There's no one who can deny his accomplishments, nor deny his tremendous grit and competitive nature which consumed his playing days. No one in my opinion can claim convincingly that he did anything as a player to undermine his team's efforts to win each and every game.
But as a manager the record is always going to be more murky. I cannot fathom that his desire to win ever caused him to actually decide to undermine the efforts of his teams in any capacity, but the clear and finally revealed confessions that he did indeed bet on the game in which he took part will always create a cloud of uncertainty and that's the same.
Pete Rose will not be a part of the Hall of Fame, though he will in all likelihood be remembered as a part of the game for a very very long time.
And that's as it should be. Many rush to point out that gambling is becoming much more normalized in society and within major sports as well. Football has all but given up being anything other much more than a vehicle for gambling in various modes and venues. Baseball still lags behind since its games number so many and the outcomes day to day are really such question marks.
It's shame and pity that Pete Rose will not be a part of the game's official history as he ought to be. But the pity is that we are all cheated and the shame is all on the shoulders of Peter Edward Rose Sr.
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Over the years I've often heard criticism of "American cultural imperialism" - Hollywood, McDonalds etc stuffed down our throats but the one big flaw in this argument is sport (or sports as you say) - American sport is mostly ignored outside the U.S. so I've never heard of Pete Rose or the Cincinatti Reds either. If American cultural imperialism was real then surely the whole world would be fascinated by baseball, basketball or American football ? I think we just take those bits of U.S. culture that we like and want - I can't imagine my childhood without Hollywood films, American TV shows or Marvel comics but you can keep your sports :D
ReplyDeleteI'd be flabbergasted if it weren't for my almost complete lack of football (soccer) knowledge. I cannot really name a single player (not an American) save for Beckham (for other reasons). I am a bit surprised you haven't heard of the Reds though, but not startled.
DeleteThe Reds are the oldest American professional team, dating from 1882 and have been at times dominant in the sport. I am not much of a sports fan really, but if I had to pick a sport it would be baseball.
I thought basketball had gone universal, I sure see a lot of players in the NBA from all over Europe and elsewhere.
You guys are getting the NFL now, and for that I personally apologize.
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Oh I'm going to be all smug here as I have heard of both Pete Rose and the “Reds” via a programme on cable TV called “Pawn Stars” when a guy came in with a few Pete Rose baseball cards (like one shown here) I was amazed to hear that they would have been worth a small fortune if they were real but it turned out they were fakes. Most interest in US sport in the UK is based on clothing (t shirts, baseball boots etc) but there is interest at all levels. But Football (it’s not “soccer” lol) is beyond massive here particularly in England and Scotland with Rugby almost a religion in Wales (and popular in the other UK constituent countries as well) ‘ Of course we (well England and Wales) have Cricket!!.. to quote Mr Stan Lee “nuff said!” on that one!
ReplyDeleteUS sport, particularly American Football was quite big in the UK in around 1991 – 2005ish when there were 2 teams from the UK competing in the World League of American Football : The “London England Monarchs” and “ The Scottish Claymores”. It was particularly popular in Scotland for a time as the Claymores were pretty good and won the “World Bowl” in 1996 and were runners up in 2000 and 3rd a few times as well - London England Monarchs won it in 1991 (anything is popular in Scotland if you get one up on the “auld enemy” England even if it’s just a runners up place lol) . The best thing about that league was haring the (few) NFL pros that played for the UK teams talking about the UK, these guys have college diplomas!! seriously!!! . I think US sport is bigger in places like Germany, Slovenia, Spain, Russia etc particularly Basketball – Baseball isn’t taken that seriously in the UK but is played in a lot of places (there are 3 teams within 10 miles of where I live near Glasgow ).