HALL, NO! ROSE ABSOLUTELY DOESN'T BELONG

This is for all the apologists. For everybody who wants “the best” to get their due. It’s for those who have spent the past two-plus decades ignoring the lies, hubris and belligerence. For those who can’t discern self-absorbed defiance from true contrition. And it’s for those who think that second chances don’t have to be earned, rather just given away like participation trophies to Little Leaguers.

Most of all, it’s for those who just can’t see that no matter how many times Pete Rose says he’s sorry, he really isn’t. That he will do anything to get into the Hall of Fame.

Except tell the whole story.

El Hombre is astounded that despite this week’s revelations by espn’s “Outside the Lines” program that Rose bet on baseball while he was a player, a large number of people still believes he should be granted a full return to the sport he played so well. That includes admission to the Hall of Fame.

Before the report, which links Rose further to organized crime, there was a growing sentiment among fans and media to reinstate Rose. He was given a role in this summer’s All-Star Game in Cincinnati. And many believed that the retirement of Bud Sellout from the commissioner’s post would lead to a thaw in relations between Majoke League Baseball and Rose. Thanks to the new information, the Midsummer Classic will be tainted by Rose’s presence – even more so than it might by having eight Kansas City players in the starting lineup. Instead of talking about the game, we will be wondering whether Rose has a couple bucks on whether the National Anthem will take longer than two minutes to sing and if Moose and Rocco will have to help him find his checkbook should he fail to cash.

This isn’t just about the fact that Rose threw down money on games in which he played – always to win, of course. It’s about the cascade of lies he has told over the past 26 years in an attempt to convince people he hadn’t done that. It was bad enough that Rose asserted for years that he didn’t wager while managing the Reds. Once it became obvious to everybody but the most blindly ardent Charlie Hustleheads that he wasn’t telling the truth, Rose crafted a narrative of a man who so believed in his abilities that he couldn’t help but back himself. He put down bets on Cincinnati every night, expecting that he could lead the team to victory. What’s wrong with that, anyway?

Many people believed that wasn’t so bad. Forget that he wasn’t exactly going to the OTB to make his plays. No, Rose was dealing with the Big Boys, the kneebreakers. But he wasn’t trying to throw games or hurt baseball’s competitive balance. Or at least that’s what he thought. His consorting with gamblers and bookies and other sundry descendants of Bruno Tattaglia exposed the sport to the thing it feared the most: tainted outcomes. Once he was caught and proven to have gambled while managing, Rose fought back. He denied. And denied again. When he was finally out of ammunition, he tried another tack. Suddenly, he was a contrite man who was sorry for his sins against baseball.

Except he wasn’t.

With each passing year, the avalanche of lies grew. And the saps who believed that Rose hadn’t bet on baseball as a player became louder in their calls for reinstatement. Each time Rose asserted that he was clean while on the field, he pushed himself further from any chance that he should be welcomed back. He made baseball look bad, because its ruling class began to soften about his case. First would be the All-Star Game participation. Then there might be a World Series how-do-you-do. Finally, Rose would get the invitation he coveted since his career ended, when he promised to hunt down anyone who didn’t include him on their Hall of Fame ballot.

Had Rose admitted everything from the start, he would have most certainly been banned. But had he sought treatment for his gambling addiction, spent time speaking to MLB players about the dangers of placing even one bet and adopted a conciliatory tone toward those who proved he was guilty, he would be in the Hall by now. America loves giving second chances, and though Rose’s play caused many to dislike him, a showing of real remorse would have made him a sympathetic figure and would have allowed him to get everything he wanted.

Instead, Rose was bellicose from the start. He refused to give ground, and even when he did concede, he did so only partially. He refused to admit what he had done, so it was impossible to forgive him. Now that we know he bet while he was a player, Rose moves further into baseball’s jailhouse. His original sin was bad enough. His repeated lying after it re-started the clock after every new denial. The debate here is not whether players who scuffed balls, stole signs, corked bats, or took greenies belong in the Hall. It’s that 26 years after his ban, Rose is still trying to get back into the game on his terms. He has given ground grudgingly, refusing to tell his whole story. Until he sits down with a media member who has true gravitas, not some sympathetic simp, and tells the truth, the idea of reinstatement is preposterous.

For some, Rose is a tragic figure, a top-flight athlete whose inner fire led him in directions that were not good for him or the game. That may be true, but Rose’s time to prove that has passed. Now laid bare, he has no choice but to ask for mercy and hope that people will believe he is truly remorseful and therefore worthy of forgiveness. That won’t be easy for Rose. Humility hasn’t been one of his strong suits over the past 50-plus years, so it will be hard to believe if he is telling the truth or merely working another con.

Whatever good will Rose may have accrued before the OTL report should vanish, and the standard for his reinstatement must grow tougher to meet. It’s not just a question of how much time he served. It’s a case of whether Rose has the character to admit his wrongdoings. Unfortunately, that will be much harder for him than hitting a 95-mph fastball ever was.

And the smart money won’t be on him to succeed.

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EL HOMBRE SEZ: So, the Big 12 is talking about expanding to 12 teams, in the hopes of staging a football championship game and of living up to its name. Thanks to the realignment binge that took place earlier this decade, the conference doesn’t exactly have a great list of candidates from which to choose. Try to imagine the excitement generated for that annual Oklahoma-Central Florida clash. Or how much member schools will love competing against BYU’s 25-year olds. Perhaps the Big 12 can force Houston, Cincinnati, South Florida and Memphis to combine to form Amalgamated State U. Or it could convince Connecticut that mid-February basketball road trips to Lubbock aren’t such a bad thing – if you’re used to competing in the Iditarod. Face it, Big 12: You blew it. Either dip into the minors (Hello, Boise State!) or stay with 10 schools and make the most of it. Expansion isn’t a good idea right now…What’s this? The NCAA is going to do something that actually benefits the athletes? Wow! Wednesday, the organization announced legislation that, if approved, would allow players who declared for the NBA Draft to return to school after being evaluated at the Combine, provided they hadn’t hired agents. Sounds like a great idea, and it’s amazing the college folks want it to happen. Not that member schools won’t benefit from having a few more top players on rosters for another year or two. But this is progress – and quite unexpected from a money-grubbing association that sticks it to athletes whenever possible…After watching the young Indians fan catch a foul ball with his hat earlier this week, the Phillies inquired about his availability. The kid considered the offer for a while before announcing that he would rather stick with his Little League squad because it played better ball…After hearing that the winner’s share at next month’s British Open has been boosted to $1.8 million, Greece began scouring the archipelago for anyone capable of hitting a golf ball straight. The hope his that the man chosen will get lucky enough to win the tournament and rescue the country’s flagging economy with the winnings –or at least hold off the accumulating debt for five minutes…Speaking of golf, last week’s U.S. Open was one for the everyman. The course’s generally unkempt (and often brown) conditions looked like so many U.S. families’ lawns, and Dustin Johnson’s three-putt on 18 with big money on the line no doubt cheered all of those country club hacks who have missed a six-footer with a two-dollar Nassau on the line…This just in: espn college basketball promoter Jay Bilious has released his “Best Duke players available” list for next year’s draft. At a network filled with people who have agendas, he stands out – and that’s saying something.

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YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT? The clock has officially started on Sixers GM Sam Hinkie, who somehow convinced the nation’s toughest fans that two years of stinking – although not enough to get the top pick in the draft either time – was the way to build a contender. There is to be no more tanking, no more rosters packed with D-league rejects and other bargain-basement bumblers. Hinkie is to stop accumulating meaningless “assets” (this year’s second-round “haul” was filled with Eurosuspects) and begin to build a winner. That, of course, will be hard to do, since he has alienated agents with his salary-cap shenanigans and his desire to sign minor leaguers over actual NBA players. No free agent worth a damn will want to come to this town to play for a franchise that has zero credibility when it comes to displaying any intent to win. That’s too bad for Hinkie, who can play secret agent all he wants, so long as the Sixers start to win games and prove they are a viable NBA franchise. The good news, at least for buy-and-flip owner Josh Harris, is that the franchise’s value has ballooned 150% since he purchased it. Sounds like it’s time to sell – or maybe Harris and Hinkie can pretend like they want to win some games.

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AND ANOTHER THING: Reports out of New York indicate that Patriots QB Tom Innocent put on quite a show during the 10-hour appeal hearing about his four-game suspension for ordering the deflating of game balls. He was charming. He was prepared. He flashed that winning smile. He even produced a letter of endorsement from New England owner Robert Kraft, sent from Israel and notarized by Moses. Behind the show was an assurance that if NFL commissioner Roger Goodfornothing doesn’t erase the sentence completely, the trouble will really start. There will be lawsuits and grievances filed. Innocent might even hold his breath until he turns blue, something that could inflate his cheeks to more pounds/square inch than those footballs he used against the Colts. Despite a significant amount of evidence against him, Innocent is denying everything. It will be interesting to see if Goodfornothing stands tall or relents in the face of Innocent’s P.R. blitz and Kraft’s displeasure, or if he shows some spine. Given Goodfornothing’s track record, bet on the latter. Innocent will have his sentence reduced by at least two games, if not eliminated all together. Usually, the Commissioner’s job is to protect the shield. In this instance, Goodfornothing could be just protecting his job.

-EH-