Pete Rose’s case for reinstatement is not helped by cheating scandal

Pete Rose received a lifetime ban from baseball in 1989. The Houston Astros cheating scandal does not help Rose’s case for the Hall of Fame.

Pete Rose was one of the greatest players in the history of Major League Baseball. The Hit King spent the better-part of his 24-year career in his hometown, playing 19 seasons for the Cincinnati Reds. While an argument can be made for Rose’s reinstatement following a ban from baseball in 1989, the latest cheating scandal does not help his case.

Rose was banned from baseball in 1989 following accusations that he gambled on baseball games. In 1991, the Baseball Hall of Fame voted to ban those on the “permanently ineligible” list from induction in Cooperstown. In 2004, Rose finally admitted that he bet on baseball, claiming that he only ever bet on his team to win.

This past week, another scandal has rocked the baseball world. The Houston Astros were accused of signing stealing during the 2017 season, one that saw them win the World Series. After an investigation was conducted by MLB, Commissioner Rob Manfred handed down some pretty harsh punishments.

Though not stripped of their World Series title, the Astros organization was fined $5M. The commissioner took away the Astros first and second-round draft picks in both the 2020 and 2021 MLB Draft. Manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow were also suspended for one year. Hinch and Luhnow were fired the same day the announcement from MLB was handed down.

Some fans throughout baseball, especially those fond of Pete Rose, feel that the punishment doled out by Manfred was too light. It also raised questions about Pete’s eligibility. If the Astros were not stripped of their World Championship after being found guilty of cheating, then why can’t Rose be reinstated?

Not that I don’t think the question has merit. After all, we live in a day where folks want to see justice distributed evenly, and cheating is cheating, right? Unfortunately, two wrongs don’t make a right. Just because the Astros punishment doesn’t meet the level of Rose’s doesn’t mean the Hall of Fame should all of the sudden revisit Pete’s candidacy.

The bottomline is that both the Houston Astros and Pete Rose were wrong. Both parties knowingly broke the rules, and both are suffering the consequences. We see the same thing in regards to those players, now eligible for the Hall of Fame, who reportedly used performance enhancing drugs.

Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and Roger Clemens, players who were the best during their time in the major leagues, are unlikely to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Why? Because they cheated. We may not know it now, but that same fate may await players like Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman if they reach the heights of those previously mentioned.

This scandal has rocked the baseball world, and cost managers like Hinch, Alex Cora and now Carlos Beltran their jobs. Weighing the level of wrong committed by the Astros versus what Pete Rose did is like comparing apples to oranges.

If the conversation is Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame, I’m willing to entertain that thought. Pete was one of the greatest players in the game. However, if the the basis for the discussion is that Rose should be elected to Cooperstown is because someone else broke the rules but didn’t receive as harsh of a penalty, I’m sorry, but I’m not buying that.