Two big — and very different — stories struck me this week: Pope Leo XIV and Pete Rose.
Could these two men be any more different? Pope Leo XIV, a humble man from Chicago who loved baseball, rooting for the Second City’s second team. And the Hit King, who was anything but humble, and soiled the game I love with scandal.
I spent 30 years in Chicago, married my high school sweetheart from the Western suburbs, raised my children there, and worked in local news at WLS and WBBM, then was a National Correspondent for NBC News, based in the beautiful NBC tower overlooking the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. I rooted for the Cubs, but do not hate the White Sox. Plus, I witnessed Pete Rose tie the hit record in Wrigley Field, before his betting ruined the accomplishment.
It was tragic to see baseball’s best hitter, Charlie Hustle, turn into an embarrassing gambling addict, who could not stop himself from betting on the game. He claimed he only bet on the Reds to win. But he was the manager and could easily have turned wins into losses by leaving a pitcher in too long or pinch-hitting for a star.
And now, baseball has hurt its own image by jumping into bed with gambling companies. Seeing Draft King ads on the backstop and pitcher’s mound today makes Pete Rose’s sins no easier to take.
He made a mess — and despite President Trump’s Truth Social posts urging baseball writers to induct him posthumously into the Hall of Fame — he doesn’t deserve to be in the hallowed halls of Cooperstown, with the likes of Sandy Koufax or Babe Ruth.
Not only did he break the rules, he flaunted them, and when he was kicked out of eligibility, he made things worse by being a despicable human. Selling his name and likeness wherever he could, sleeping with a 16-year-old girl (she says she was even younger), and of course going to prison for tax evasion.
The best article I read this week about Rose’s “legacy” was written by Ken Rosenthal, who understood that baseball commissioner Rob Manfred decided not to stand up to Donald Trump, someone who has little regard for the rules or even the law. Manfred allowed baseball to be compromised by the first convicted President. So Pete Rose, the disgraced hitter who swung and missed at the rules — a convicted criminal — is now eligible for the Hall, which, if the baseball writers let him, he will disgrace Cooperstown.
On the other side of the news ledger is the uplifting story of a priest from Chicago’s south suburbs. Pope Leo or, as he was known in Chicago Heights, Father Bob. I am not Catholic, but I do respect integrity, humility, and good works. Leo demonstrated his love for the disadvantaged in Peru and by standing up to Donald Trump on the issue of immigration. Unlike the President, who claims to be a Christian but handles the bible like it is kryptonite, Pope Leo lives it. And he shut down the newly converted Catholic, J.D. Vance, saying he is “wrong” about immigrants.
He is a strong counterpoint to hate and division, and his presence promises to be a strong one.
While I was in Chicago at the same time as “Father Bob,” I lived in the humble suburb south of the city. I never met him, but one of the thrills of my career was meeting one of his predecessors, Pope John Paul II. Chicago is very Catholic and very Polish, so when John Paul teamed up with Lech Wałęsa to bring down the Iron Curtain, WBBM sent me to the Vatican and to Gdansk to cover the story.
My colleagues at CBS in Rome arranged an audience for me and my crew. He was gentle, and yes, Holy. He also had a sense of humor and was media savvy. I was not granted an interview, but I did sneak in a request. I asked him to say hello to Chicago. He looked into the camera and smiled. Saying in his Polish-accented English, “Hello, Chicago”. We ran that 3-second clip until the images fell off the tape and Chicago loved it.
So this week caused me to reflect on two very different men. One who had it all and threw it away, and the other who remains humble. I have to say, I like baseball more than religion, but this Pope may change that.
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