Pete Rose has advocated for the induction of Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Alex Rodriguez into the Hall of Fame, but someone who he seems certain will stay out for a while is just as deserving: himself.
"I'll probably make the Hall of Fame, but I'll be dead," Rose said in a recent radio interview (h/t Brandon Contes of Barrett Sports Media). "I don't go to bed at night worrying about going to the Hall of Fame. If I'm ever bestowed that honor, I'll be the happiest guy in the world."
For Rose, it appears not to be a matter of if, but a matter of when. When compared with other known rule-breakers of the game, more specifically "known, admitted" steroid users, who does he think will get their plaque in Cooperstown first?
"That's a good question... that's one question I've never heard before. Probably the steroid user."
Who that steroid user is will be tough to say, though it doesn't seem likely that it will be Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens — at least not next year. They picked up 61.8 and 61.6 percent of the vote, respectively, well short of the 75 percent requirement. Both players are entering their final year of eligibility, too, and it doesn't look there has been enough positive momentum to get them over the hump, though the final year of eligibility is often accompanied by a boost in votes.
Joining them in their final year of eligibility on the 2022 ballot are two interesting names, Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz, both of whom had run-ins with PEDs during their playing days.
Rose thinks all of them should be there regardless of their steroid use, specifically citing the cases of Clemens and Rodriguez. However, he sees his case as substantially different.
"Roger Clemens has got to be in the Hall of Fame. The guy won seven Cy Youngs," Rose said. "Alex Rodriguez has got to be in the Hall of Fame. The guy had over 2,000 RBIs, 2000 runs scored and 695 home runs. Those two guys, if you don't have them, you should have a Hall of Fame if you don't have those guys in it.
"They made mistakes, just like I made mistakes, okay, but I didn't make any mistakes when I was getting all those hits. I made the mistakes after I was getting all those hits. So I'm not going into the Hall of Fame as a manager. I would be on the ballot as a hitter, as a guy that played the game of baseball..."
And, to this point, he's absolutely right. Finishing as MLB's hit king is obviously reason enough to earn yourself a first-ballot ticket into the Hall, but, as Contes notes, betting on baseball has held a punishment of banishment that, so far, has been irreversible. The same isn't the case for using steroids.
Like the GOAT debate in the NBA universe, the Hall of Fame debate surrounding players like Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson will never have a consensus answer, whether or not they eventually get inducted into the Hall. But, as with most debates of this nature, that's what makes it so intriguing.
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