Rose crusade a big charade Selig should put game first, keep ban in place forever

Most days, this is a sophisticated sports nation. But in thepathetic case of Pete Rose, people are astonishingly stupid. Ishouldn't have to remind anyone that he bet on baseball gamesinvolving his team, violated the most sacred code of competition,consorted with dirtbags and drug dealers and ignored the no-gamblingsign bolted to the front door all 5,000 or so times he entered major-league clubhouses.

I know. I was in Cincinnati in the late 1980s, a pup columnistwatching closely as one of the proudest and most beloved images inthe game--Charlie Hustle--put on a reversible jacket and took on theantithetical meaning of slime.

And yet here we are, a grotesquely forgiving society, ready toreinstate Rose and vote him immediately into the Hall of Famebecause, after 13 years of denial, he finally might be ready to admithis guilt. In most walks of life, a confession serves only to upholdthe original punishment. But in his shiftiest hustle to date, Rosehas conned the masses into thinking he's the victim and commissionerBud Selig is the villain. So powerful is the groundswell to pardonPoor Pete that Selig is caving in to public pressure and turning intoa bigger Gumby doll than usual, apparently prepared to lift thepermanent ban if Rose satisfies him with the proper dose of b.s.

Shame on Selig for negotiating away the one impressive stand ofhis shaky tenure: the integrity of a sport. Rather than surrender toopinion polls that support Rose's reinstatement by a landslide,rather than listen to the fools who give Rose standing ovations whenhe appears at public functions, Selig should counteract this perversepopularity by announcing Rose's suspension will continue forevermore.That way, he will end this senseless pity party once and for allwhile continuing to defend the moral framework that Rose so grosslyviolated.

What bothers me about the Save Pete crusade is that people don'tgrasp what he did wrong. When special investigator John Dowduncovered evidence that left little doubt Rose was gambling onbaseball, even on his own team when he managed the Reds, it left thesport with an eternal stain. If a legendary competitor couldn't betrusted, who could? The stench of gambling always will be part ofsports, but once it infects the outcome of games, there's no usewatching or paying money for tickets. It becomes one big lie, not tobe believed, as real as pro wrestling. When an insider uses insideinformation to make money, sport is defrauded. You feel like you haveto go home and take three showers.

A night probably doesn't pass without a game in some league beingfixed on some level. Which is all the more reason why commissionersmust protect the sanctity of their leagues and make lasting examplesof wrongdoers, even those as famous and accomplished as Rose. UnlessI've contracted amnesia, it was Rose who agreed to the lifetime banin August 1989 after commissioner Bart Giamatti wrote a report thatdetailed 412 baseball bets between April 8 and July 5, 1987,including 52 on the Reds to win games. If Rose was as innocent as herepeatedly has claimed, why did he sign the document? I can't say Iever saw Rose bet, but in my three seasons covering his team--including the aforementioned gambling dates--I saw enough unsavorypeople in the clubhouse to know something was up. One night onDivision Street, some of the very sleazebags connected with Rose'sgambling were frolicking with Reds players, turning one famous taverninto a strip joint of sorts.

Since signing away his fate and serving prison time in DownstateIllinois, Rose has waged a comical campaign of deceit. Strangely,however, America didn't turn its back on him. It warmly embraced him,as though his transgressions never happened. This became a mindlesscrusade, with millions defending Rose even though they probablycouldn't explain why. They figured it was just a cool thing to do, aposition only strengthened when NBC's Jim Gray, who simply was doinghis job, asked Rose a necessary question after an emotional ceremonyhonoring the greatest players in baseball history during the 1999World Series: Would Rose ever own up to his gambling mistakes?

The public howled. And Rose grinned, knowing he was winning thepublic-relations war. Recently, ESPN.com asked Internet surfers tochoose the worst transgression in baseball. Almost 31 percent saidusing cocaine, 28.7 percent said using steroids and 21 percent saidfailing to hustle. Only 19.5 percent said betting on baseball games.

They just don't get it.

It's mind-boggling that Selig would allow two letters from themayor of Cincinnati to get the new ball rolling. Then came lobbyingfrom Rose's old friend, Mike Schmidt, and from former Reds teammatesJoe Morgan and Johnny Bench. It all starts with Pete," Morgan said.He's got to come clean. He's got to make it right. It's up to him."

Again, they want an acknowledgment of guilt, as though that willmake everything right, conveniently forgetting that Rose's informalbut obvious confession was signed in ink 13 years ago. The way he hascarried on, kicking and screaming and courting public favor, is allthe more reason to continue the ban. Doesn't he make a mockery of thegame by selling his autograph every summer in Cooperstown? And whatwas that he said about Selig and the powers-that-be--In 1999, when Imade the All-Century team, they needed me. They're hypocrites."--just last year?

I know it's the holiday season, but this is no time for shortmemories.

I'm tired of talking about it. I'm fed up. He's history," saidHall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller, one of Rose's big critics. It's apublicity stunt by him and his people."

I would be very careful before I put him back," Dowd said. I guessI come down on the side of history. To me, you can't have someoneback in baseball unless they've cleaned it all up and have it allstraightened out. If you don't, you have the game in jeopardy. Whatdo you do with the bookmakers he's ever dealt with? What do you dowith the people he owes money? Has he reconfigured his life?"

Great questions, all. This isn't about Rose standing before thenation and issuing some scripted apology. It's about him meaning it.And if he didn't come clean for more than a decade, why should webelieve the man now?

He deserves no mercy, no second chance, no Christmas present.Unfortunately, I am not the commissioner of baseball. Bud Light is.