Pete Rose in the HOF? Yes or no?

I think he should be in the HOF, but still banned from baseball. His banishment from the game should be on his plaque, but he should still be in.

 

If Rose was a 2B or SS who played good defense -- a poor man's Ozzie Smith -- then his numbers would be reasonable. But you can't be getting 374 AB at 1B and LF and have a .337 slugging percentage. That is hurting the team.

If Rose had just been a pinch hitter, getting 100 ABs by being the guy who hits when the pitcher comes to bat in the 7th, then it wouldn't be a big deal. He'd be getting on base, helping the team, allowing them to have a 1B with some power and would be popular with Reds fans. And that is how a manager who is acting in the best interest of the Reds would have used him. But Pete Rose was managing in the best interest of Pete Rose.

 

But aren't all players out there for themselves? And what exactly does a single season have to do with his Hall of Fame worthiness? By the early 1980s, he was well over the 3,000-hit mark.

 

This side debate was not about Rose's HOF worthiness. I think we would all stipulate that without the gambling scandal, Rose is a first ballot stone cold lock for the Hall. This side debate was about whether Rose went into managing because he loved the game so dearly that he could not stand to be away (the Junkie position) or was out of a desire to ensure that he stayed in the lineup and got the necessary ABs to break the record and would get a steady paycheck that he could gamble away (the Starman/PDB position).

 

I think the answer is probably somewhere between both extremes. He earned the job based on his track record, and that makes it somewhat deserving. But there is that question of his intentions. Surely, part of it was his desire to be competitive and his love of the game. Short guys don't get more than 4,000 hits if they don't have some desire to play and, ultimately, to win.

The rest of it is simply guesswork, but I think you might be on the right track in terms of his run for the record. He probably saw an opportunity and took advantage of the situation because he knew it would help him get the record. As for his gambling thing, I don't know whether that fueled his desire to continue playing.