Forget Gambling, Scandal, Pete Rose Deserves to Be in Hall of Fame

Pete Rose is not a good guy. The Major League Baseball hit king has admitted to gambling on baseball, has been involved in an assortment of scandals for the better part of two decades and is the most noted Hall of Fame snub in the history of the game.

When the name Pete Rose is mentioned, it isn't his record of 4.256 hits or 3.562 games that people remember. Nor is it the all-out effort that earned Pete Rose the nickname Charlie Hustle - instead it's the gambling and scandal that is etched into our minds.

That's exactly the reason Pete Rose will never get into the Hall of Fame - at least not while he is alive. There is one very good reason he has a shot at the Hall of Fame when he's gone - he won't have the opportunity to open his mouth and tell us another lie. That's seems to be the only thing he does these days.

Pete Rose denied betting on baseball for 15 years. He was banned from Major League Baseball in 1989 amidst accusations that he gambled on, and possibly against, the Cincinnati Reds as manager of the team. After his ban, the Hall of Fame voted to exclude those on the "permanently ineligible" list from induction to Cooperstown. Most notably Pete Rose. Since then, Rose has gone public time after time, sticking his foot in his mouth and stepping into another scandal on each occasion.

He came out with his autobiography - My Prison Without Bars - in 2004. In the book, Pete Rose admitted to gambling on baseball games and other sports while playing for and managing the Cincinnati Reds. This after wholeheartedly denying gambling on baseball for 15 years. In the book he added that he hoped his admissions would help end his ban from baseball - thus negating any chance that Rose was truly sorry. Rose's admission came out just two days after the Baseball Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2004. It was a total publicity stunt - that backfired.