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Brandon Liette
Dr. Stallard
ENG 3080J
03 April 2014
Let Pete In
They call him Charlie Hustle. You can witness his scrappy and emotional playing
style when viewing the iconic head-first slide, or seeing footage of his collision with
catcher Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star Game. His one-of-a-kind hustle and heart for the
game shined from his first at-bat in the major leagues: a four-pitch walk and a sprint to
first base. He never slowed down. Rose played from 1963 to 1986. In that amazingly
long time span, he had 14,053 at-bats, 2,165 runs scored, 1,314 RBIs, 160 home runs,
.303 life time batting average, .375 life time on base percentage, Two Gold Glove
Awards, three batting titles, Rookie of the Year Award, MVP Award, Three World Series
Championships, 17 All-Star appearances (5 different positions), and of course 4,256 hits.
Pete Rose holds major league records like most career hits, most career games played,
most career singles, and most career at-bats. Hes also the only player in major league
history to play more than 500 games at 5 different positions: First Base, Second Base,
Third Base, Left Field, and Right Field. The numbers are extraordinary and so was his
career. It is time for Pete Rose to be Hall of Famer.
In August 1989, three years after he retired as an active player, Rose agreed to
permanent ineligibility from baseball amidst accusations that he gambled on baseball
games while managing the Reds, including claims that he bet on his own team. This was

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a time before Major League Baseball players and coaches were making millions of
dollars a year. In 2004, after years of public denial, Rose admitted to betting on baseball
and on, but never against, the Cincinnati Reds. Even though the ban from baseball
creepily hangs over his head, he is still eligible for the Hall of Fame. Despite this
admittance, Pete Rose is renowned as one of the best to ever play the game of baseball.
His actions off the field never affected his playing ability such as steroids would. The
Baseball Hall of Fame should acknowledge the all-time hit king and vote him in as he
rightly deserves.
The national Baseball Hall of Fame has not banned Pete Rose. Indeed, the Halls
electors, specifically the eligible baseball writers of America, have never voted on Roses
candidacy. Major League Baseball (MLB), an enterprise separate from the Hall of Fame,
has never deemed Rose ineligible for the Hall, nor does the MLB have the authority to
do so. Rose is commonly termed banned from the Hall but actually could have been
voted in this past winter. The reason Rose has never stood for Hall election is because
the Hall of Fame disallows election of anyone whose name appears on MLBs
permanently ineligible list. Rose appears on that list because he voluntarily accepted
a permanent assignment to that list; in return, MLB promised to make no formal finding
in relation to Roses betting on the Cincinnati Reds when he was their manager in the
1980s.
Pete Rose is known to baseball fans around the world as the all-time hit king,
and controversially known as the greatest hitter of all time. He collected these hits by
hitting from both sides of the plate, being able to hit well off of left-handed pitchers and

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right-handed pitchers. Pete Rose played with durability and amazing effort. He played
in the major leagues for 24 years, a number that staggers over the MLBs average career
of 5.6 years. In those 24 years, he managed to obtain the most career at-bats by a
player, and for 17 of those years, he played in 150 or more games (the season is
composed of 162 games.) Pete Rose lived for baseball day in and day out, which
showed in his heart and effort that he illustrated on the field throughout his career.
Sparky Anderson, general manager of the Cincinnati Reds from 1970 to 1978 stated,
The man I marvel at is the one thats in there day after day, and night after night, and
still puts figures on the board. Im talking about Pete Rose. Believe me, especially the
way we travel today, flying all night with a game the next day and then the next
afternoon, if you can play 162 games, youre a man.
Roses absence from the Hall of Fame strips the legitimacy from the institution as
a whole. He is the best at most essential aspect of the game: hitting. He embodied
hustle and effort. One could easily make an argument that hes the greatest living
baseball player of all time, and hes not in the Hall of Fame. The Baseball Hall of Fame is
an institution to celebrate the games greatest players, and to not have baseballs
greatest hitter in the Hall of Fame denatures the value of the Hall as a whole.
From its inception in the 1930s, the Hall creators delegated the decision of who
got into the shrine to a large and independent body of baseball writersa process
devised as a way to represent the feelings of the public. The system has generally
worked. In the case of players like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, the argument is in
their favor. They may have done steroids, but they still had to hit and pitch. And there

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are arguments against them. They cheated the game and the fans. These arguments
have been instilled in the writers votes: They do not deserve to be in the Hall.
Although Rose did cheat on the game of baseball, the crime took place after he
accumulated his amazing statistics as a player. Pete Rose made a horrible mistake as a
coach, but this does not take away what he did as a player on the field.
Pete Rose made a mistake, a mistake that questioned his integrity as a person
and defaced his respect for the game of baseball. Although Pete Rose has made an
error and some baseball fans, players, and executives will say he does not deserve to be
in the Hall of Fame, his mistake does not erase his outstanding statistics. Those players
who admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs have skewed their statistics.
Players like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens had outstanding and very successful
careers, but they will be forever skewed by the publics opinion that steroids are
cheating. Pete never used performance-enhancing drugs. His sheer talent and
complete dedication to the game enhanced his performance. If there if any debate on
whether the all-time homerun leader, Barry Bonds, should be inducted into the Baseball
Hall of Fame, then Pete Roses case must also be in discussion. For his work ethic and
talent, Pete Rose, one of baseballs all-time greatest players, deserves to be in the
Baseball Hall of Fame.
Pete Rose will live on forever as being one of the greatest players to play the
game of baseball. It is a travesty that younger generations failed to have the
opportunity to see Pete Rose play the game day in and day out. His unique desire and
love for the game created a legendary icon for children to imitate and admire. His effort

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and work ethic earned him the base hits and extra-base hits he accumulated over his
long successful career. The controversy is apparent: Pete Rose gambled on baseball,
but as a coach. The debate is not whether Rose should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame
in Cooperstown for being a great Major league coach. This is about all the things Pete
Rose accomplished as a player, for the 24 years he committed his life to the game of
baseball. When discussing whether to forever Pete Roses baseball career in the Hall of
Fame, his actions as a coach should not be in debate. His actions as a player exceed and
stagger compared to some of the greats in the Hall of Fame and Pete Rose deserves to
be in Cooperstown among baseballs legends.