Major League Baseball has a new commissioner. Rob Manfred has taken over for Bud
Selig. Manfred faces a host of
issues. Baseball is popular but in today’s
economy, it is thrive or die, as NASCAR is discovering. Manfred must continue to grow the game while
facing issues such as maintain competitive balance with free agency, the potential
influx of Cuban talent into MLB, enforcing the pace of play rules, redefining
the strike zone, his rather ominous reference to eliminating defensive shifts
and the economics of youth baseball (more on this later). Of course, the squeaky wheel gets the oil and
no wheel squeaks more avidly than Pete Rose.
We
are all familiar with Charlie Hustle’s tale of woe. After a distinguished career as a player, he
retired as the all-time hits leader in MLB history, Rose became the manager for
the Cincinnati Reds. In August of 1989
Rose was accused of betting on baseball, including his own team, while he was
playing and managing. Then Commissioner Bart
Giamatti banned Rose from baseball for life with no contention for future
reinstatement. There is conflicting
evidence as to if Rose ever bet against his team. He vehemently denies this but he also spent
15 years denying that he gambled on baseball.
Then in 2004, in an effort to facilitate reinstatement and to move merchandise,
Rose came clean in his book My Prison without
Bars.
Now
Rose has announced that he would like to speak with Manfred about reinstatement
and the possibility that Rose would be eligible for the Hall of Fame. Selig steadfastly denied Rose reentry into
the game for 25 years, which makes this immediate end-run appeal by Rose feel
particularly childish. Just as a child
asks his dad for permission after his mom has denied it, Rose is immediately asking
the new guardian of baseball to cut him some slack.
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