Kuzul

I want you to ask yourself this, what Major League Baseball players deserve to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame? Does Pete Rose deserve to be in the Hall of Fame? How about Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, or Roger Clemens? Maybe even one day New York Yankess third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who is on the eve of hitting home run No. 600?

While watching Hall of Fame outfielder Andre Dawson give his speech after his induction into Cooperstown on Sunday, he said some things that struck a chord with me and became the inspiration for this article.

“Do not be lured by the dark side. It’s a stain on the game. A stain gradually being removed. But that’s the people, not the game. Nothing wrong with the game. There never has been,” Dawson said.

He then continued with, “Baseball will, from time to time like anything else in life, fall victim to the mistakes that people make. It’s not pleasant and it’s not right.”

However, the quote that made the most impact in my mind was, “Individuals have chosen the wrong road, and they’re choosing that as their legacy. Those mistakes have hurt the game and taken a toll on all of us.” 

Dawson was clearly taking a shot at all players who have been accused or have openly admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs while playing baseball.

Ironically, those comments were coming from a man who endured 12 knee surgeries over an impressive 21-year major league career; a man who was an eight-time All-Star, with 438 career home runs, 2,774 hits, 1,591 RBI, and 314 stolen bases.

Dawson also spoke highly of Pete Rose, but didn’t lobby for his induction to the Hall of Fame.

Rose has been permanently banned from baseball since 1989 and thus keeps him from being enshrined in the one place he deserves.

That’s right sports fans, Pete Rose deserves to be in the Hall of Fame!

Pete Rose, aka Charlie Hustle, was the definition of a baseball player. Over his 23-year career, Rose was a three-time World Champion, 17-time All-Star (at five different positions: 2B, LF, RF, 3B, and 1B), two-time Golden Glove Award winner, 1963 NL Rookie of the Year, and 1973 NL MVP. He also holds a record that in my mind may never be broken—4,256 career hits.

Rose, however, was deemed permanently ineligible by then-Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti for allegedly betting on baseball games. He would later admit in his 2004 autobiography My Prison Without Bars that he did bet on baseball and other sports while he played for and managed the Cincinnati Reds. He also admitted that he bet on the Reds, but never bet against them.

Though Pete Rose may have bet on baseball games, including games he managed, he never cheated, something many of the great baseball players over the last decade have done.

Players such as Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens all have been linked to using performance-enhancing drugs. Among those players, only Alex Rodriguez and Mark McGwire have come forward and admitted that used medications that improved their play.

Last time I checked, anytime you use a substance that helps you enhance your performance would be considered…CHEATING!

Pete Rose isn’t a cheater. He never did anything to enhance his physical performance. 

This article isn’t solely about who has cheated and who hasn’t.

A professional baseball player’s induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame shouldn’t be determined solely on what records a player has broken, or what feats that player has accomplished, but what that player has given to the game of baseball itself. It needs to be about what that player has given to the fans of baseball as well.

Below are three outstanding baseball players, who have done wonderful things for the game of baseball, but because of their poor lack of judgement (i.e. Pete Rose) they too may never see the Hall of Fame. 

Mark McGwire

Mark McGwire was first eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2007. He can be remembered as one of the famous Bash Brothers (along with Jose Canseco) of the Oakland Athletics, McGwire broke the single season home run record for rookies in 1987 with 48 home runs. He was a 12-time All-Star, 1990 Gold Glove Award winner, three-time Silver Slugger Award winner, and the 1987 AL Rookie of the Year.

Eleven years later, in 1998, McGwire would gain national notoriety along with Sammy Sosa as they pursued the single season home run record the same way that Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris did in the summer of 1961.

Mark McGwire would finish the 1998 season with 70 home runs, nine more than Roger Maris hit in 1961.

However, McGwire’s amazing feat, toppling a record that stood for 37 years, would be tarnished by revelations that he used androstenedione, an over-the-counter muscle enhancement supplement, in order to shorten the time needed to recover from the physical wear on his body.

Although he never admitted to using steroids during the 1998 season, McGwire would admit in 2010 that he had used steroids during his playing career.

Barry Bonds

Do Barry Bonds’s stats alone give him enough credibility to be voted in for the Hall of Fame? Yes. Will the BALCO scandal and steroids be his downfall? Absolutely!

During Barry Bonds’s 21-year career he was a 14-time All Star, eight-time Gold Glove Award winner, 12-time Silver Slugger Award winner, and seven-time Most Valuable Player. He is also the single-season home run leader with 73 home runs, and is the career home run leader with 763 round trippers.

Bonds also had 2,935 career hits, 1,996 RBI, and 514 stolen bases.

His accomplishments alone should make him worthy of a first ballot induction to the Hall of Fame in 2013, however his involvement in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO) may have tainted that.

Bonds was accused and indicted by a grand jury about his involvement with BALCO around the time he was chasing the single season and career home run records. Reports had been leaked on Bonds’s grand jury testimony contend that he admitted to unknowingly using “the cream” and “the clear” both being anabolic steroid supplements.

Roger Clemens

Roger Clemens will also be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2013 and his accolades and feats match that of Barry Bonds and then some. In his 23-year career, Clemens was a 11-time All-Star selection, seven-time Cy Young Award winner (having won the award in both American and National leagues), and the 1986 AL MVP.

Clemens is a member of the 300 win club, 3,000 strikeout club, 4,000 strikeout club, 300 wins-3,000 strikeout club, and in 1997 and ’98 won the pitching Triple Crown (wins, ERA, and strikeouts).

But, Clemens’s accomplishments will be marred by his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs. Clemens’s former personal strength coach, Brian McNamee, came forward an admitted that he had injected Clemens with steroids during the 1998, 2000, and 2001 seasons.

Clemens was also mentioned in former US Senator George Mitchell’s report on steroid use in baseball 82 times; however Clemens still denies that he had ever used steroids or performance-enhancing drugs.

In conclusion, I believe that if any one of these players, including Alex Rodriguez (who will probably hit 770 home runs, and openly admitted to use performance-enhancing drugs) should be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, that Pete Rose also be given a fair chance for reinstatement.

We all need to remember that baseball is a game a majority of us loved while growing up, and that all these youngsters who have dreams of one day making it to the Majors and maybe even the Hall of Fame will get there, with hard work and determination.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Within the last 20 years, hundreds of articles have been written about Pete Rose’s ban from baseball, so I will spare you what has all ready been said. Instead, I’d like to touch more on the effects of his punishment as opposed to the actions that warranted it.

The court of public opinion maintains that the time has come to reinstate him—and I agree, as far as the Hall of Fame goes.

Banning Rose from baseball not only penalizes the man himself, it hurts the sport and denies fans the opportunity to see one of the game’s greatest heroes.

On Wednesday, July 21, the Cincinnati Reds played host to Stephen Strasburg and the Washington Nationals at Great American Ball Park. While most fans were there to see Strasburg, they received a memorable moment with an appearance from the all-time hit king.

What a thrill for the fans, especially the younger ones, to attend a ball game and see one of the greatest players in Major League history.

Rose is undoubtedly a national hero and the sport of baseball can only benefit from lifting the ban.

As the great Cincinnati Reds broadcaster Marty Brennaman said in 2003 when interviewed by NPR, “This is the most forgiving country on earth.” “I think he paid his dues and should be allowed to be reinstated so far as the Hall of Fame is concerned.”

Mr. Selig, let’s puts this issue to rest and do the right thing. Reinstate Pete Rose!

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

2010 is the first year since 1959 that Pete Rose or Pete Rose Jr. hasn’t either played or managed in a baseball game.

That is impressive that a father and son have worn a professional baseball uniform for 50 years. Pete Rose Sr. may have played the game better, but they both had a burning desire to play baseball.

Pete Rose Jr. is not playing organized baseball for the first time since 1989. He made his only appearance in the major leagues for the Cincinnati Reds in 1997, playing in 11 games and making 16 plate appearances while hitting .143.

He made two errors in his 11 chances with the Reds, so he did nothing to impress the Reds offensively or defensively.

Rose Jr. doggedly pursued his dream of returning to the majors until he was released by the York Revolution of the independent Atlantic League last fall.

When typing his name into the search box for his photo, most of the photos were of his dad, including some with his dad’s girlfriend, but very few of himself. Then I did a search for him being in the news, and an article about his dad watching Stephen Strasburg pitch was at top of the search list, which of course included a photo of Rose and his girlfriend again.

So he continues to live in the shadow of his dad and even spent time in prison in 2006 like his dad, serving a month for distributing performance enhancers to his minor league teammates. He claimed he distributed the performance enhancers so his teammates could relax after games.

It is doubtful that any baseball player has spent more time in the minor leagues than Rose. In the minors, he spent 21 years with six different organizations and wore 24 different uniforms. He also spent two winters playing in Nicaragua.

He spent part of the 2003 season playing for Cordoba of the Mexican League and only played independent baseball the last six years of his career.

After 21 minor league seasons, he had hit 158 home runs and driven in 994 runs while hitting .271. He mostly played third base and first base during his career but only played shortstop once.

He was a 19-year-old kid who was drafted 295th by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1988 amateur draft. He was 19 when he made his professional baseball debut with the Erie Orioles in 1989 and was 39 when he played his last game in 2009 for the York Revolution.

Any other player without the last name of Rose may have been out of baseball in five or six years, but Rose loved the game of baseball enough to play it till he was 39. His dad instilled the love of baseball in him, and the older he got the more he looked like his dad and wasn’t the Petey Rose that was there for his dad’s record-breaking 4,192nd hit.

That day meant more to Pete Rose Jr. than just the record. It was the first time he had seen his dad, who had been a tough dad, cry and his dad told his son he loved him. All the baseball records in the world couldn’t have meant more to Pete Rose Jr.

If the coaching of Pete Rose Jr. is counted, the father and son have a combined 51 years in baseball, and with the love of the game by Pete Rose Jr., he may be in the game another 25 years, which would make 76 years in baseball for the Roses.

His baseball career may not have ended the way he wanted, but he can say he followed his dream to the end, and although the final destination wasn’t the major leagues, he did it his way.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Surprise! Pete Rose is back in the news.

Apparently, there is a collector who has x-rayed one of Rose’s old bats. He has discovered that the bat has something in it that may be cork or a similar substance. He even has some evidence that the bat was used in a game.

This is not really news, as a 2001 Vanity Fair article made the same allegations.

Here is why we should not care.

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Albert Pujols. Joe Mauer. Nomar Garciaparra. You probably think of them as tough outs. Grinders. And you don’t think of them as whiffers.

Same with the entire Yankee, Red Sox, and Ray lineups. The American League East certainly seems to work the count, and pitchers don’t exactly rack up strikeouts against them.

Yet, when it comes to striking out, these guys deserve nothing more than honorable mentions.

From T-ball to Little League and Single A to The Show, striking out is a hitter’s worst nightmare. Okay, T-ballers don’t fan much—one hopes—but at every other level, striking out remains the pits of batting.

Head hung in shame, muttering to himself, the whiffer mopes back to a dugout indifferent to his return. No fist knocks or masculine slaps on the rear. Other players keep their eyes fixed on the field.

Strikeouts are largely, justifiably treated with such disdain, for they produce nothing. Every 12-year-old travel leaguer knows that when the ball is put in play, good things can happen.

Aside from occasionally wearing down a pitcher on a 15-pitch punchout, a hitter who fans has exchanged his out for absolutely nothing. And according to Billy Beane, this game of baseball is governed by outs.

Consequently, not striking out is nearly as valuable as any other tangible contribution a player can make.

The average strikeout rate, even among strong Major-League hitters is in the neighborhood of 20 percent. One out of every five plate appearances, hitters like Matt Holliday and Ryan Braun return to the dugout cursing at themselves.

Adam Dunn and Mark Bellhorn curse themselves a lot.

As the game has progressed through the years, hitters have largely struck out more—or pitchers have done them in more depending on your perspective.

Boston’s Tris Speaker is probably the all-time greatest hitter with the lowest strikeout rate. Speaker hit a career .345/.428/.500 with an incredible 2.8 K%.

Nearly as impressive were old-time ballplayers like Ty Cobb, Ross Barnes, Cal McVey, Joe Jackson, and Willie Keeler, but these guys played about a century ago.

Who’s been good recently? Who has been the best recently?

Guys like Mauer (.327 AVG / 11.5 K%), Pujols (.332 AVG / 11.2 K%), and Garciaparra (.313 AVG / 9.9 K%) are good, but really these guys don’t come close to the best of the past 25 years.

Here are the top 10 most difficult hitters to punch out.

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Derek Jeter is a first ballot Hall Of Famer. There is no evidence that Jeter is even interested in the hit record. However, if he averages 188 hits per season for the next nine seasons (including this one), he can pull it off.

Jeter is ahead of Rose’s pace now. It would be fun to watch someone challenge a great record like this. It also would be nice if the hit king was eligible to be inducted into the Hall Of Fame.

Here is why it won’t happen.

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