Pete Rose 2023

The Nosferatu of Baseball

By Cory Franklin

April 11, 2025 

Pete Rose never seems to go away – he is the Nosferatu of Major League Baseball (MLB). He retired nearly 40 years ago as the all-time hit leader, but shortly afterward was accused of what baseball considers a capital crime: betting on games.

For 15 years, he was banned from baseball and denied Hall of Fame induction but refused to admit gambling on games despite the incriminating results of an extensive investigation and jail time for tax evasion. For another two decades, Rose petitioned MLB for reinstatement and Hall of Fame eligibility.

The Rose affair appeared over when he died in 2024. Now President Trump says he will posthumously pardon Rose, and in typical Trumpian fashion on his Truth Social called for Rose to be in the Hall of Fame, “Over the next few weeks I will be signing a complete PARDON of Pete Rose, who shouldn’t have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on HIS TEAM WINNING…baseball, which is dying all over the place, should get off its fat, lazy ass, and elect Pete Rose, even though far too late, into the Baseball Hall of Fame!”

The president is within his right to pardon Rose’s tax evasion. Certainly, he and his predecessors have pardoned more serious transgressions.

But contra Trump, who is not always on board with the quality of virtue, Pete Rose should not be in the Hall of Fame.

Rose supporters will race to their keyboards to file objections with two arguments: The first is that there are many worse reprobates in the Hall – racists, alcoholics, drug users, tax cheats and philanderers. Frequently cited is Babe Ruth, a notorious carouser and womanizer. Except that Ruth never did anything to violate the integrity of the game. Quite the opposite: Ruth was baseball’s greatest-ever ambassador: visiting sick children, supporting and playing exhibition games to raise money for the Negro Leagues and barnstorming to promote baseball internationally.

The second argument is that because Pete Rose has the most hits in MLB history, he should be in the Hall regardless of his gambling, i.e., the Hall of Fame is only for performance on the field – essentially a statistical argument. This is not strictly true – the Hall of Fame cites criteria for selection based on the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and team contributions.

Both arguments, as well as President Trump’s opinion, ignore that gambling on baseball is an exceptional crime that undermines the foundation of the sport, and in that context deserves exceptional treatment. It is not unique in that respect – players who used performance enhancing drugs have been excluded from the Hall. Outside the baselines, there are clearly more serious crimes, but gambling is the only thing that is explicitly prohibited with a sign in every MLB clubhouse. Every day that Rose made a bet from the clubhouse he was in full view of that sign.

Once players and managers (Rose managed for two years) start betting, everything about the game becomes called into question. Betting to win is not mitigation. Every gambler loses at some point; Rose was not particularly good and lost huge sums. Thus, the incentive to affect the outcome or throw games becomes an option, albeit a subtle one.

In 1985, Rose, as a manager, was betting aggressively and used his best pitcher excessively. The pitcher developed arm trouble, and his career was never the same after that. Rose avoided betting on the team after the pitcher’s injury. By itself, that is not evidence that Rose’s gambling influenced his managerial decisions and affected the team – managers have been burning out pitchers since baseball’s earliest days. But gambling creates an element of doubt, as that pitcher must wonder as he looks back on his career.

Rampant gambling infected baseball and threatened the sport in the 1910s. The culmination was the 1919 Black Sox scandal. Shoeless Joe Jackson, Rose’s equivalent in talent and the best player on the 1919 Chicago White Sox, was banned from baseball and subsequent Hall of Fame consideration for throwing the World Series. Claims that Jackson was innocent, because he hit .375 and the only home run of the Series, are deceiving.

He hit poorly in games the Sox lost and fantastically in games they won. His “only home run of the Series” came late in the final game when the Sox were behind 9-1 and the Series outcome no longer in doubt.

In a granular analysis of Jackson’s performance, baseball blogger Dan Holmes concluded, “Joe Jackson may have been so good that he could “turn it on” in the final three games… he played two games honestly (Games Six and Seven)… one does not need to be tanking for an entire game to be throwing baseball games. Jackson made lackluster efforts in the field, critically in both Games One and Two… the indisputable fact that Jackson received and kept $5,000 from the gamblers should be enough to convince anyone that Shoeless Joe was crooked in the Series.”

It took Babe Ruth to save baseball after the 1919 Black Sox. With legalized gambling and internet wagering currently ubiquitous, MLB is threatened today as it was in 1919. Rewarding Pete Rose, even posthumously, sends a terrible message to Major Leaguers and, more important, to our children.

President Trump: However, you plan to make America great again, advocating Pete Rose for the Hall of Fame should not be in the cards.

-30-

Dr. Cory Franklin

Cory Franklin, physician and writer, is a frequent contributor to johnkassnews.com. Director of Medical Intensive Care at Cook County (Illinois) Hospital for 25 years, before retiring he wrote over 80 medical articles, chapters, abstracts, and correspondences in books and professional journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA. In 1999, he was awarded the Shubin-Weil Award, one of only fifty people ever honored as a national role model for the practice and teaching of intensive care medicine. 

Since retirement, Dr. Franklin has been a contributor to the Chicago Tribune op-ed page. His work has been published in the New York Times, New York Post, Washington Post, Chicago Sun-Times and excerpted in the New York Review of Books. Internationally, his work has appeared internationally in Spiked, The Guardian and The Jerusalem Post. For nine years he hosted a weekly audio podcast, Rememberingthepassed, which discusses the obituaries of notable people who have died recently. His 2015 book “Cook County ICU: 30 Years Of Unforgettable Patients and Odd Cases” was a medical history best-seller. In 2024, he co-authored The COVID Diaries: Anatomy of a Contagion As it Happened.

In 1993, he worked as a technical advisor to Harrison Ford and was a role model for the physician character Ford played in the film, The Fugitive.  

 

Comments 41

    1. Unfortunately Giamatti passed away. As the Commissioner he had all the information on Rose. He chose to punish Rose with the lifetime ban. My guess is besides betting there were additional issues.
      Trump should BUTT OUT.
      Trump has my vote as President.
      He doesn’t have my vote in this matter.

      2. I agree. It would be a huge mistake to induct him into the HOF. Next would be the steroid years and induct the likes of McGuire,who was so juiced his last few years he didn’t even look human.

    2. Great piece. Am sick to death of honorable people defending what amounted to an arrogant, rather unintelligent clown who thought (all his life) that he was above the rules. Agree, admitting Rose would cheapen those who actually belong there.

  3. I have to laugh about references to the integrity of the game considering the recently past baseball era of juiced balls and juiced players. I almost threw up when the Cubs trotted out their Pepto Bismol pink-faced cheater Sammy Sosa this spring for fan adulation as though we fans’ memories went down the rabbit hole. I witnessed “Charlie Hustle” play and race to first base on his walks, a real baseball phenomenon, not a pumped up juiced fake home run hero. Sosa and McGuire pleased the owners and baseball masters by greatly increasing attendance that had previously tanked in the years before the home run competition by the home run derby frauds. Integrity indeed, Pete was and is my hero.

    1. Sorry to tell you this, but the only reason Pete Rose could hustle to first base was because he did amphetamines every single day. I heard this from another professional baseball player.

      1. “I heard this from another professional baseball player,” who, Sammy Sosa or Mark Mc Guire, another classic hearsay smear, name the alleged player, bring the receipts you coward.

  4. Regardless of the merits of either position, (I’m still good with the ban from the Hall Of fame), I think the President of the United States has better things to worry about than the status of Pete Rose.

  5. Perhaps the President of the Inited States of America should be more concerned with how his policies and changes are affecting everyday Americans i.e. the stock market swings vs the status of a deceased ball player and his hall of fame ticket.

  6. Very well said in this article.

    And I 100% agree with comments that I want the leader of my country to maintain high focus on the top, most important things facing our nation to deliver meaningful results to us citizens, and not get sidetracked to the trivial & populist such as Pete Rose. Smells like what we called “jazz hands”: look over here! don’t look at the stock market…

  7. Cory, a few extraneous sentences somehow got pasted into your short bio at the bottom. Although it sounds intriguing, you might want to fix! (And another great piece, btw!)

  9. I’ll disagree with you for just one reason. The current obsession in sports, and that includes baseball, with gambling should throw this whole discussion out the window. Even ESPN pushes gambling on their websites as well as SportsCenter. Today, this makes the argument just a little bit hypocritical. It’s amazing that a player with the stats Rose has isn’t in the Hall.

    But I will say this, though – enough with the damn pardons already.

  10. Happening on the professional level is bad enough but look what is happening to college sports. The way it is set up right now the school with the most money gets all the talent. Sure takes all of the fun out of it.

  11. After his retirement, Willy Mays, arguably the greatest player ever, took a job as a greeter in a casino. Baseball players never made very much money then. Major League Baseball forced him to quit or be expelled from Baseball. Now Willy was not gambling just signing autographs and smiling. Today casino’s have partnered with baseball. Steve Stone gives over/under odds all during the telecasts. Let’s face it …it’s always been about the money. Hypocrites are all around us!

      2. Bruce:
        Check the record – for the peak decade of their careers, Mickey Mantle was clearly the superior player.
        Mantle obviously fell off precipitously as a result of injuries and high living, but in the 1950s and early 1960s he was the better offensive player (especially walks) and while not quite the defensive player was pretty close – the difference did not make up for offense.
        Mantle was also the better postseason player. Not that close.
        From a career evaluation, Mays was the better player but it is not clear he was better than a couple of others including Ruth and Aaron.

        1. Oh I agree. Prior to the Mick’s injuries – and life styles – taking affect he (the Mick) was unquestionable the most talented between Mays and Aaron. He was faster, and he was stronger. And, yes, his peak years were better. Aaron of course was the epitome of consistency. He never had the spectacular years that both Mickey and Willie had but his consistency was one of a kind. But you had to see Willie play in person to appreciate the “poetry in motion.” Willie elevated baseball from mere sport to art. So in this way I disagree with you. Mickey (and Aaron) could not hold Willie’s glove (or for that matter his arm). Maybe statistically, they were not off by much – if at all – but my “lyin’ eyes” told me otherwise. I guess you just had to be there (and as a former New Yorker, I was fortunately there). And yes, when it came to the WS – the post season- Mickey was unmatched. But remember in those days the All-Star game (as opposed to what it is now) was nearly as important, and highly competitive (it really meant a lot to the players then which league was better). The All-Star game was far from a mere exhibition (like it is now; recall Pete Rose taking out the career of one Ray Fosse in an All Star game for God’s sake) and as Ted Williams said: “they invented the All-Star game for Willie Mays”. And Willie did indeed excel during the mid summer classic. As far as the Babe. Yes, he was statistically the “Wilt Chamberlain” of baseball – “light years” ahead of any of his peers.

          But ultimately, Willie was my first sports hero. Those were the glory days when NYC was the capital of baseball. You know, “Willie, Mickey and the Duke”? So yeah, I am biased. But I did get to see him play. And he was really something.

    1. Wow. This is a first for me. I agree with the doctor. And I rarely agree with him outside of medicine. And I agree with the comments. ALL GAMBLING IS WRONG AND NEEDS TO BE BANNED. Rose was a drug addicted ahole. And Sammy is the Hispanic version of Stepan Fetchit (sp?). The happy clown, fool, cheat: not only drugs but corked bats.
      The Black Sox reacted to cheap skate Chas. Comiskey. But at that time most owners were just like him. Baseball was better before the Curt Flood Supreme Court ruling. Better for the fans, that is. It was affordable for the average fan. Although I’m a Sox fan, I lived on Northwest side and wasn’t allowed by my parents to go south of Madison Street becuz of crime. Lived in Wrigley during summer. Was cheaper than day camp for my parents. Always cheered for opposition. 75 cent bleachers, $1.75 unreserved grandstand, $3.50 box seats. Now that players get long term multi zillion dollar contracts it’s no longer the average man game. In fact all sports. Take a look who attends local major sports franchise teams. The wealthy. And their kids. For most part the fans are well to do males. When I went to Wrigley it was mostly kids, and retirees. It was far better.

  13. Hate the sin. Love the sinner. Rose’s record speaks for itself. He deserves to be in the Hall of Fame on merit alone. Castigate Rose for his sin of gambling and not being a role model, but recognize his talent.

  14. Excellent Doc. Rose was probably the greatest player I ever got to witness at Wrigley.
    Pete Rose was the game, and the game was Pete Rose, Charlie Hustle.

    The game made him, and in return he failed the game, the integrity of the sport.

    Pete Rose has no one to blame but himself.

  15. I agree with Trump’s statement in its entirety, about both Rose deserving to be in the HOF, and about it being too late for baseball. Both the owners and players have ruined the game, which used to be the “most perfect game”, as sports columnist Bob Verdi used to called it. Now Andy Griffith Show reruns get better ratings than the World Series. The game is now boring, predictable and devoid of strategy thanks primarily to the DH rule. When the National League adopted it, I stopped watching entirely.
    Gone forever are things like the bunt and playing for one run when the pitcher is due up, the double switch, the agonizing decision of whether to leave a tiring starting pitcher in when he’s due up in the next inning, the importance of pinch hitting, etc. Now it’s just the starter goes 6 innings, and a designated reliever for the 7th, 8th, and 9th. BORING!

  16. Thanks doctor, ordinarily love your stuff, but PLEASE, there is nothing sacred about baseball, take a look at the Comissioner for feck’s sake, total dipshit. Pete Rose is dead, put him in the Hall of Fame, throw a big party and charge extra to the games that day and donate the extra dough to Gamblers Anonymous, but spare me the BS about how sacrosanct is the game of professional baseball. Look at the White Sox and Cubs for feck’s sake, crooked to the core. It’s not a religion, it’s just a GAME.

    1. Mike:
      I see your point.
      It’s a game – but it is also a competition.
      And the point is that gambling calls honest competition into question.
      Without honest competition it’s professional wrestling.
      Then it’s not a game. It’s a show.

  19. There are scoundrels aplenty in Cooperstown. But Charlie Hustle was my scoundrel and (though they not be of the gambling afflicted) he belongs beside Johnny, Tony, Joe, Sparky and the rest.

  20. I see that JKN has attracted some of what El Rushbo used to call “The ‘Stick To The Issues’ crowd”. As a reminder, they usually made themselves heard when Rush would talk football or some other non-political topic on the air. Now that he’s gone, apparently they’re left with chirping “Stick To The Issues” to Trump.
    Or, maybe that should read “Stick To *Our* Issues”, eh?

  21. I voted for the Baseball HOF for 25 years from 1991 through 2015, and 40 of the 41 inductees who made it via balloting by the Baseball Writers of America got my vote (I didn’t think Jim Rice belonged and still don’t). Naturally, I never had the chance to vote for Rose, because he was on baseball’s “ineligible list.” Fine, since I wouldn’t have voted for him anyway during what would have been his normal period of eligibility.

    But I have changed my position and now think he should be in. Two reasons: First, this society forgives serious felons (and is instructed to do so) — up to and including violent crimes against innocent victims — who serve far shorter sentences than Rose’s ban lasted.

    Second, sports’ wholesale embrace of gambling does make a mockery of the piety applied to Rose here in 2025. Point spreads and over/under lines are inescapable when watching games or otherwise following sports, and as far as I’m concerned, they’re all delusional if they think even a player being paid eight figures annually might not shave a point here or there to help bale out his degenerate gambler Uncle Frank or a buddy. Are we SURE Shohei Ohtani’s sidekick didn’t get any info or help from his Dodgers superstar pal?

    Permitting Rose’s posthumous enshrinement, with a brief explanation on his Hall plaque as cautionary tale, seems appropriate to me. Forgive, if not forget, same as with actual societal thugs.

    BTW, big difference between betting on games in violation of rules vs. throwing a World Series for bribes. Invoking the Black Sox and Joe Jackson when discussing Rose is a bogus argument.

      1. Thanks, and bravo. Changing one’s position is so freaking RARE in the culture these days. If folks would just make persuasive cases rather than shrilly attacking those who disagree, we might get more of that — and long-forsaken middle ground (or at least focus on the issues where we agree).

  23. Cory,

    You’re wrong on this one. The number of stone cold racists in the hall clearly cloud the integrity of the game, as does the number of raw cheaters (spit ball, anyone?).

    Let’s move on.

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