Pete Rose should not be admitted into the Hall of Fame because he betrayed baseball’s integrity.
“Pete Rose belongs in the baseball Hall of Fame,” was the reaction to the letter from Thomas Urban. One issue that isn’t mentioned in that letter for the current class of Hall of Fame inductees is wagering on baseball games in which the gambler actively participated in the game or managed the club. Pete Rose says he only wagered on his team to win, but when he didn’t place a wager, what did that inform his gambling contacts? They decided to wager that Pete’s squad would probably lose that particular game as a result of it.
Did manager Pete withhold specific starting pitchers and bullpen pitchers from games he expected to lose and then use them in games he wagered on to win? More crucially, Pete was jeopardizing the integrity of the game, leaving it open for games to appear manipulated if the betting was found by the media. Pete acknowledged the prohibition and signed a confession, but he said it had to remain confidential. Before the prohibition is lifted, let Pete reveal the confession’s secrecy so that all fans and Hall of Fame voters can know the real story.
