Long Live Pete Rose

Recently, Rob Manfred, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, announced that he would not remove Pete Rose's lifetime ban from baseball. This means, that Rose will not be elected into the baseball Hall of Fame. That's a bunch of bullshit of course.

In a typical "fuck you" moment, in the life of this angry writer, I decided that someone should write a blog column defending Pete Rose. I guess that someone is me.

It's fucking Pete Rose. A man nicknamed Charlie Hustle. He wasn't the greatest athlete to ever play sports. He wasn't the best looking man. Hell, he isn't the smartest man to ever play. You know what he was? He was the most hustling man to ever play the game. You needed someone to play second base? Put Pete out there. Left Field? No problem. No one would out hustle him, no matter where you needed him to play.

And the dude played the game forever. A professional career that started in the early 60s and didn't end until the late 80s. He won three World Series rings. He was a 17 time all-star, two time gold glover, three time batting champion. He collected 4,256 hits, more than any other baseball player.

Then, in the 80s, they discovered that Pete Rose had a gambling problem. He committed the ultimate sin in sports; he bet on his own team, while he played and managed.

Manfred, the current Pope of baseball, said that he would not reinstate Rose, because there was no evidence that he had stopped gambling. And to that, I say "fuck you" Rob Manfred.

In a world where everyone is labeled and placed in a box, Pete Rose has sinned publicly, and voraciously for all of his adult life. He's obviously a very flawed human being. He hasn't seemed very apologetic for his flaws. He hasn't checked into any rehabilitation centers, or sought the help of any famous clergy members. He has not been willing to play the game of life by the rules that the stuffy, starched collar, white guys that run the sporting world, have made.

I say Pete Rose is a real American. A man that didn't have the most talent in the world, he worked harder than anyone, and became a sports legend. So what if he didn't always pay his taxes? He served his short stint in federal prison to pay for that crime. Who amongst us is perfect? Not one of us goddammit. The ones that give the appearance of being perfect, are usually some of the most evil fuckers around.

So I say fuck the rules. Fuck Major League Baseball. Fuck anyone that can't accept people for being the crazy, fucked up and flawed human beings that they are. Fuck all that bullshit, and long live Pete Rose, the hit king of baseball.