There has to be a time limit on how long you can go without debating if Pete Rose should be in the National Baseball Hall-of-Fame. And with the 2021 MLB regular season looming, Rose was presented a unique spin on the question by WDAE’s The Pat And Aaron Show.
As the Philadelphia Phillies are set to celebrate the 41st anniversary of their 1980 World Series team later this month near their Clearwater Spring Training facility, Pete Rose joined Tampa Bay’s WDAE Radio to promote the event. Predictably, the topic of his ineligibility for the Hall was broached during his midday show appearance hosted by Pat Donovan and Aaron Jacobson.
But Rose was asked a question that according to him, he never heard before. Who gets into Cooperstown first, Rose or a known steroid user? Rose said the known steroid user with a chuckle.
He didn’t have an issue with steroid users making the Hall-of-Fame, claiming Roger Clemens and Alex Rodriguez both deserve the honor. But what bothers Rose is the fact that his mistakes in baseball came after he was done playing. He bet on baseball as a manager, but it’s the hits he compiled during his career before betting that makes him a hall-of-famer.
It might not be Clemens or Rodriguez, but Rose is right, a known steroid user will make the Hall-of-Fame before he does, because rules allow for it and they have for more than 100 years. Even though his betting on baseball happened after his playing days were over, Rose broke a rule that held a punishment of banishment since 1919. Steroids, although banned from baseball, will not get a player banned from baseball unless it’s a third offense.
But Rose told The Pat and Aaron Show that he does believe he’ll be inducted into Cooperstown eventually, he just won’t be alive to see it.
Brandon Contes is a former reporter for BSM, now working for Awful Announcing. You can find him on Twitter @BrandonContes or reach him by email at Brandon.Contes@gmail.com.
