Pete Rose vs. Mark McGwire
In the romantic and to some religious world of baseball, there is no sin like cheating.
Yet, cheaters are all over the map in the sport that used to be and is still called America's Pastime.
I am a sportswriter without the privledge of voting for the Hall of Fame. I hope this only to be a temporary restriction, but who knows? It's possible, some might argue probable, that I never cast a ballot for Cooperstown.
Long time readers know that being angry about steroid use in the game I love so much is not just a passing fancy, but rather a cause.
Like a spurned husband to be who was left at the alter, I want baseball to come clean about its past, and I want it to pay. I feel so strongly about this that I have abandoned my conservative "big government rarely solves anything" mantra, if only in this case.
About six weeks ago, Mark McGwire, baseball's tarnished homerun king, sounded like a Peter Cetera when he repeated the line "I'm not here to talk about the past."
Without the dramatics or directness, baseball said the same thing.
But here's what baseball doesn't understand. The toughest policy is not going to solve this issue for me.
Pete Rose is not in the Hall of Fame, and will likely never be. He's not in the Hall of Fame despite 4,256 hits, three World Series rings, and countless all-star appearances.
He is not in the Hall because of gambling.
Now, I will not argue that Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame, but I will argue that as long as he is not, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds and others should not.
Never. Pete Rose shamed his city, his game and his records. But his problems are no different, and perhaps less troubling, than the sluggers of the 1990s.
Barry Bonds made himself a more feared slugger with a rapidly increasing body mass and head. He hit homeruns and was walked, based on his reputation, which was (alledgedly) enhanced by the juice.
If true, his cheating influenced the outcomes of games. McGwire and others face the same indictment. Their cheating illegally enhanced their teams' chances of winning.
Pete Rose bet on baseball games, as a manager. You could argue that every time Rose didn't bet on his team, he bet against them.
I will not make a case for his irresponsibility.
But I fail to see the distinction between a gambling manager and a player illigally enhancing his abilities.
You can fix the future, you can't the past.
But you can't erase it either.