I must admit, begrudgingly, that Pete Rose was one of the best ball players ever was. About the only part of baseball that he didn’t set records in was in pitching.

The problem was he played for Cincinnati. My team was the Dodgers. There was someone I had more than one “discussion” with, some rather heated. Sorry to say, he was usually right.

The fact is that the only reason he didn’t have more stolen bases was cause he had so many home runs.

Nonetheless, he, as many others, did have a weakness, gambling. Some quickly say it should be ignored and he should be permitted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Some who are reading this probably agree.

Perhaps one day it will happen. I hope not. The game has rules, both on and off the field and these rules have reasons. If the rules have no penalties, then why have the rules.

I shouldn’t have to explain the reason for this rule. It should be self-evident as to why the rule. Gambling by those in the game will ruin it for everyone. Indeed, it almost did a long time ago. I can’t remember the details but you are welcome to look it up.

So it is you make an exception for Rose. Who will be the next exception? After a while, the exception becomes the rule. Then no one will have a reason to follow the rule.

Then too, what if others get caught gambling? Do we toss him out or just slap his hand? If we toss him, does he have a cause to take it to court? It looks to me like he would have a valid argument, legal and ethical.

Sometimes, we make life long decisions as Rose did. More than that, it was a decision he was well aware that it might follow him to and beyond the grave. Despite this, after he was caught, he spent the rest of his life looking for his own personal exception. This makes me doubt his true repentance.

He was saying that he knew he did wrong, but because he was a really great player, he should have an exception.

On the other hand, because even his being an exceptional player, all other players, especially exceptional players will make sure to avoid gambling if they hope to make it into the Hall of Fame. Hopefully, it will do as the rule intended. It will keep baseball clean.

Hopefully, most will agree that this is good and important for baseball, as well as other sports.

As an aside, we all make mistakes that we must pay for. Sometimes for a while; sometimes for the rest of our lives; sometimes even longer, as with Rose. It should encourage us to do that which is right, as well as avoid what is wrong.