Inside Baseball

 Blueskyonians are upset about Pete Rose being allowed into the Hall of Fame. It's not about his gambling though. That was the sticking point with the HOF committee and MLB. You could look that up. It's been in all the papers for years now. Blueskyites  however, insist that his (alleged) non-adjudicated rapes should now be considered. A few million of them copy & pasted words that said "character" was part of the criteria for acceptance. Got it. I always thought that was about the gambling, the betting on baseball stuff, as that is what everybody has been talking about for years. MLB and the HOF changed their minds about that, as is their wont to do. Their league, their rules. I don't know why people can't get that. If they don't like that, take it up with MLB. 

Pete Rose was one of the greatest players of all time. 4192 hits. That's one of those records that will likely stand for forever. Quite the accomplishment amongst many others. If it wasn't for the gambling, he'd have been a certain, first ballot entrant into the Hall. 

MLB severely frowns on gambling. Ever since the sad spectacle of the 1919 Black Sox scandal they have made it clear to ALL players that gambling on baseball would NOT be tolerated. I totally get that. Nothing ruins competition like cheating. The fans deserve an honest game. If you can't trust that the guys on the field are playing to win, why watch the game? 

Pete Rose got caught gambling, denied it and then- after several years- admitted that he had, indeed, bet on baseball. He bet on his team too- but only to win. OK... 

I have known gamblers and they like sure things. I look askance at his assertion that he never bet on his team to lose and, as manager, never made a move to affect the outcome of any game in his monetary favor. I don't know about that, but that is what he said. 

MLB and the HOF changed their rules the other day, taking Rose and others off the banned list. Gambling is still a big no-no, but you WILL NOT get into the Hall of Fame while you are alive, and you still have to be good enough anyway. You can still be run out of baseball if you gamble. Baseball is a well-paying sport. Do you want to risk it for a small windfall? They are telling current and future players that if they gamble and expect to get a plaque in the Hall, it will be over their own dead body- like Pete Rose. 

Several denizens of Bluesky took umbrage at Rose's alleged statutory rape of a 14 year old girl, a crime I don't recall ever hearing about. Heard a lot about it today though! Don't I follow baseball? Yes- but not the rapey parts. I can read the snot out of a box score better than most, but that's between the lines, not outside of them. Yeah, I hear things about this guy or that guy, but I hadn't heard that about Rose. Know who likes that inside baseball shit? Fvcking gamblers. And social media types, I guess. My bottom line is it's MLB's game and they make the rules. If someone is upset about allegations of statutory rape from years ago, where were you when the rape allegedly happened? You had 20/30(?) years to put Pete Rose in jail, but you wait until many months after he's dead to punish him? And your punishment is that he shouldn't get to be in the Hall of Fame now, for an entirely different reason?? Get in the game. Keep your eye on the ball. Baseball is about anticipation, not gossip.