Pete Rose article...huh?

I normally don't post this kind of thing, but I nearly fell out of my chair laughing when I saw it. I mean, wow...in a casino...really?

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MIAMI (AP)—Hall of Famer Tony Perez says former teammate Pete Rose has changed and deserves induction.

An emotional Rose was contrite after being roasted Saturday at a casino near Cincinnati, said Perez, one of several former Reds in attendance. Perez said Rose cried as he spoke at the end of the event.

“He talked about he disrespected the game,” Perez said Tuesday. “He apologized to everybody, to us, to the fans, to baseball. He was very emotional. He got to me, too.”

The banished all-time hits king made a rare on-field appearance earlier Saturday while the Reds commemorated the 25th anniversary of his record-setting hit No. 4,192.

Rose agreed to a lifetime ban in 1989 for gambling on baseball. After long denying guilt, he acknowledged in a 2004 autobiography that he bet on Reds games.

Rose is barred from the Hall of Fame because of his ban, but Perez said his ex-teammate deserves to become a member.

“I would love to see it,” Perez said. “He’s a different guy now. He’s changed. I believe it. He knows he made a big mistake. He apologized late, but he’s doing it. He said he was wrong.”

(= common sense whacking Pete Rose over the head...)

too little too late. I was a huge Rose fan as a kid but now, he deserves to never be enshrined in the HOF. Sorry, but betting on games, especially your own is a huge no-no.

Imagine the scrutiny Cobb and Speaker would have been under if they played in this era. They probably would have ended up with lifetime bans too.

Players receiving a lifetime ban during the Cobb and Speaker era under commissioner Mountain Landis include; the Black Sox, Shufflin' Phil Douglas, and most sadly Dickie Kerr (who won three games in the infamous 1919 series, but recived a lifetime ban for playing in barnstorming leagues with former members of the Chicago Eight). Rose is not the first, just the most foolish. Shoeless Joe should get in before Rose.

landis didn't have the balls to ban cobb and speaker? not familiar with the background stuff back then. have always heard rumors about cobb and speaker throwing games as a manager? landis didn't pursue it?

I'm not sure, but I think both Cobb and Speaker were forced to resign (but were not banned) as managers in '26 or '27 after a gambling scandal in at least one Cleveland-Detroit matchup.