Does Baseball Owe Pete Rose an Apology?

It is known as Rule 21, and it is posted – in both English and Spanish – in the clubhouse of every Major League Baseball team. The Commissioner’s Office also sends a representative to every MLB team during Spring Training to cover Rule 21 and answer any questions the players and management may have.

In addition to forbidding players, managers, and other club officials to purposely lose or “throw” a game or to receive financial incentives from other teams or outside entities for doing so, Rule 21 also outlaws giving gifts to umpires in an attempt to influence their calls or reward them for showing favoritism.

Then there is section “d”, which is simply titled “Gambling”. It contains three subsections that read as follows…

(1) Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has no duty to perform, shall be declared ineligible for one year.

(2) Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform, shall be declared permanently ineligible.

(3) Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee who places bets with illegal book makers, or agents for illegal book makers, shall be subject to such penalty as the Commissioner deems appropriate in light of the facts and circumstances of the conduct. Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee who operates or works for an illegal bookmaking business shall be subject to a minimum of a one-year suspension by the Commissioner. For purposes of this provision, an illegal bookmaker is an individual who accepts, places or handles wagers on sporting events from members of the public as part of a gaming operation that is unlawful in the jurisdiction in which the bets are accepted.

Pretty cut and dried, right?

On August 24, 1989, Peter Edward Rose, baseball’s all-time hit king with 4,256 hits during his 24-year playing career, signed an agreement to be placed on baseball's permanently ineligible list. The reason? After an exhaustive investigation by Commissioner Bart Giamatti and lawyer John Dowd, it was discovered that Rose had bet on baseball games in which he played and/or managed. Although the agreement did not include an admission of guilt by Rose, there is no other conceivable reason for him to have signed it.

Supposedly, Rose’s agreement with Giamatti permitted him to apply for reinstatement after one year, but every time he did, Rose was turned down. First, by Faye Vincent, who replaced Giamatti after Bart died of a heart attack just eight days after Rose signed the agreement, and then by two subsequent commissioners.

To make matters worse for “Charlie Hustle”, in 1989 the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s board of directors ruled that individuals on the permanently ineligible list cannot be considered by baseball writers for election to Cooperstown. In 2017, the board voted again to keep the ban in place.

On September 30, 2024, Pete Rose died of cardiovascular disease at his home in Las Vegas. His mea culpa autobiography, which was published in 2004 and titled “My Prison Without Bars”, pretty much says it all.

As a lifelong baseball fan and a true purist, I have no problem with Pete Rose being banned from baseball for breaking its cardinal rule. Ever since the Chicago “Black Sox” threw the 1919 World Series – resulting in the permanent disqualification of “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, Eddie Cicotte, and six other players – every player and every manager who has ever donned a uniform knew that to gamble on a game was to jeopardize (actually forfeit) their baseball career.

HOWEVER…

You cannot watch a baseball game these days… or any TV show for that matter… and not see an ad for FanDuel, DraftKings, PrizePicks, BetMGM, or Hard Rock Bet. They are “legal” sports betting sites where you can place a bet on virtually any baseball, basketball, football, or hockey game at the professional or collegiate level. The same goes for prize fights, horse races, and anything else that passes for sports these days.

To compound the hypocrisy, in 2019 FanDuel was named the ‘Official Sports Betting Partner’ of Major League Baseball (MLB). How is that even possible?

Kenny Gersh, MLB Executive Vice President, Media & Business Development, had this to say about MLB’s deal with the devil…

“As one of the top sportsbooks in America, FanDuel has been an industry leader in innovative fan engagement opportunities while also reminding them of the importance of doing it responsibly. These key priorities of unique fan engagement and responsible gambling align with our focus from the league level and make FanDuel a natural partner to collaborate with as an Official Sports Betting Partner.”

And so, a sport that banned its career leader in hits, at bats, and plate appearances because he gambled on games now profits handsomely from the same “industry”. That doesn’t seem right to me… or to Hall of Famer Rod Carew.

“How can you keep Rose out” of baseball, Carew said earlier this year, “and have a sportsbook at the Reds stadium?”

Carew, 77, said the booming business of sports wagering, and MLB’s partnerships with sportsbooks like BetMGM, “has gone too far and it’s hypocritical.”

“If they can embrace gambling to the level of putting it in the stadium, they can forgive Pete and recognize him for the Great he is”, Carew tweeted. “That’s the point.”

“I’ve been suspended over 30 years,” Rose said shortly before his death. “That’s a long time to be suspended for betting on your own team to win.”

“And I was wrong,” Rose added.

It seems like it is time for Major League Baseball to stop the hypocrisy and admit the same thing.