Pete Rose

Here's the thing about Pete Rose:

It's time to just move on.

Everybody knows I'm a huge (YUUUGE! -- see what I did there?) Cincinnati Reds fan. My Reds memorabilia room is becoming the stuff of legend, and a big part of that room is dedicated to the Big Red Machine. And without Pete Rose, there simply is no Big Red Machine.

Some would say I'm biased. I, along with the many thousands of other Pete Rose fans out there, are accused frequently of simply being blinded to the realities of not only Rose's life, but his character.

And my answer to that is, "No. No we're not."

And it isn't that we don't care. It's more simply that at the end of the day, it doesn't matter anymore.

Let me explain.

First, we must all remember why Pete Rose is so loved by his fans. It is, quite simply, because he was one of the best baseball players to ever play the game. His records are endless, and his style of play was like no one else before or after. His nickname of "Charlie Hustle" is not only apropos, but it is one of the greatest nicknames ever given a player.

His countless MLB records, not the least of which is the All-Time Hits record, speak for themselves. He was a winner on the field, playing in more winning games than any other player in history, and he represented an attitude and toughness that was unique to the city of Cincinnati, and to the millions of Reds fans who grew up, like me, watching him play.

He was not loved because he was a great guy. And let's keep something in mind here -- very few professional athletes ever are. Hardly any, in fact. That's not to say there aren't great guys out there. Rather, it speaks to the reality that most athlete's level of fame is based on their abilities. The better they are, the more popular they become. The more they win, and the bigger numbers they put up, the more famous they become. It usually is only until after this fact that we as a fan base show any real interest in whether or not the person is a good guy, or a creep.

And even THEN, that perception we have of them is most often fashioned by the media's coverage of them. Generally speaking, in today's world, if the athlete has a contentious relationship with the media, they very much tend to be covered in a negative light, no matter how good the guy is in the community. And that often sways what the public thinks of him.

That was most recently seen in Redsland with Ken Griffey, Jr. His heralded arrival in Cincinnati was derailed by devastating injuries, and he was never really able to live up to the stardom he'd reached in Seattle. As such, the Reds floundered throughout the early 2000's and in the media, Junior came to be seen as the poster boy for the Reds' futility. He was also far more interested in talking about his family and others than he was in talking about himself and baseball, and could sometimes be surly when pressed to do the latter. Consequently, his relationship with the local media soured, and public opinion of him began to wane.

Meanwhile, he was a huge philanthropic force in the community, donating and helping raise hundreds of thousands of dollars per year for local charities, with countless acts of kindness behind the scenes going largely unreported, all the while playing hurt, when he could crawl his way on the field, sometimes with medical-defying injuries.

Public opinion of Junior swayed to the point that he actually wanted out of the city, a mere eight years after demanding a trade back to his home town.

What we know now, after the last 30 years or so, is that Pete Rose is a creep. Outside of the ballpark. Between the lines, he was a winner. He was accessible to the fans -- still is, in fact -- relishing their praise and returning it with hard-nosed hustle and a never-lose mentality. And in the clubhouse, he was a great interview, always cordial with the scribes, and an all-around likable guy. And that's why he was loved then, and is loved now.

Back in the day, fans didn't love Ty Cobb because he was a racist buttface. They loved him because he was a one of the greatest hitters of all time. Fans didn't love Babe Ruth because he was a fat party animal. They loved him because he was the greatest home run hitter of all time. Fans didn't love Mickey Mantle because he was a womanizing alcoholic. They loved him because he was a winner, and hit prodigious home runs. Fans didn't love Johnny Bench because he could be a surly jerk to fans out in public who tried to invade his privacy. Fans loved him because he was, hands down, the best catcher to ever play the game. Fans didn't love Mark McGuire because he was a steroid abuser, or Sammy Sosa because he corked his bats. They loved them because they captivated the world with the greatest home run race ever seen in baseball. Fans didn't love Barry Bonds... well, fans didn't love Barry Bonds.

Conversely, fans didn't love Lou Gehrig because he bravely battled ALS. That was after the fact. They loved him because he was one of the best ball players to ever play. They didn't love Hank Aaron because he was a nice guy. They loved him because he broke mythic-like records. Jackie Robinson certainly didn't make many fans because he was black.

I'm speaking in general terms, of course. Many fans will have some story about why some fringe, non-All Star player is their favorite because he was nice to their kid, or otherwise displayed some generosity or act of kindness that endeared them forever. And of course, some other fan will harbor ill feelings towards a particular player forever because that player refused an autograph, or in the heat of the moment otherwise was rude or unkind to the fan. Happens all the time.

So the sad reality is that Pete Rose, on a personal basis, is just kind of a lousy guy. He's a gambler, was a tax-dodger, and, if current allegations are to be believed, perhaps a pedophile.

The apologist in me can say, well, the details in all those issues are murky, at best. Think what you want about his gambling problems and accusations. The truth is, MLB's handling of that entire situation is highly suspect, with Commissioner Bart Giamatti and MLB counsel, John Dowd, engaging in some pretty backhanded tactics throughout. And the Hall of Fame's subsequent rule change (after Pete's suspension) making permanently banned players completely ineligible for the HOF ballot, conveniently months before Pete would have been placed on said ballot, is absolutely laughable.

There are those who believe that Pete's conviction for tax evasion in the early 90's was little more than a witch hunt, given the amount of tax that was evaded, and the fact that despite the "mountain of evidence" MLB claimed to have regarding Rose's gambling allegations, they simply couldn't prosecute him on anything.

And now, information comes to light about an affair Rose had 40 years ago with a girl he "thought" was at least 16 years old (while he was 34, and married) and her acknowledgement that the affair started when she was "14 or 15" and that it went on for years. Interestingly, her allegations aren't accusatory at all. All in all, it seems to have been consensual, and there's no hint of assault or coercion, or any such thing that would indicate this girl was being taken advantage of against her will, and certainly doesn't rise to the level of the allegations by Dowd that Rose was routinely having 12-14 year old girls paraded to him for sex in the 1980's, allegations for which Rose is now suing Dowd for defamation.

None of that will make a difference to those who will see nothing in this but sick, illegal pedophilia. And I get that, I really do. There's something to be said for the question of how I would feel if it were my own 14, 15, or 16 year-old daughter with whom Rose was having sex. (I don't actually have a daughter, but you get the point.)

And none of any of that changes the fact the Rose was one heck of a baseball player inside the ballpark, and one heck of a bad dude outside of it.

Rose has been banished from MLB -- the only real thing he's ever known in his adult life -- for the last 28 years. That's longer than a lot of prison sentences for pedophiles. And last year's MLB ruling against Rose's application for reinstatement means that that banishment will remain in place for a good many more years, at least.

But what they DID do, is basically say to the Reds (and the Phillies), "Hey, we're not gonna reinstate him, but at the team level, feel free to honor him however you wish." Which was the right thing to do, because at the end of the day, it is the fans in Cincinnati (and Philadelphia) who really wanted to see him get his due, from a baseball perspective. His popularity outside of those cities, though better than average, is marginal at best.

And so, the Reds have spent the last two years honoring Rose and bestowing on him the accolades and awards he deserves as one of the best baseball players ever to play the game. They officially retired his number, named him to their team hall of fame, and erected a statue of him outside the ballpark. All befitting a player of his caliber, and ONLY because of his accomplishments as a baseball player.

And that's important to remember. All of those recognitions were done under the banner of his performance as a baseball player, and nothing else. Because the truth is, those of us who know anything about Pete Rose already know what kind of a guy he was -- and maybe, still is. You think I didn't know Pete Rose was a creep? Of course I did. These most recent allegations don't change a thing. You think the Cincinnati Reds organization didn't know what kind of guy Pete Rose was? Of course they do. And the reality is, it simply doesn't matter to us.

And that's why it's just time we all move on. Pete has gotten his awards with the Reds. Awards he richly deserves for the player he was, notwithstanding the person he was. Fans got the chance to properly honor him for that play, an exercise they were robbed of by MLB 28 years ago. Because, you see, it wasn't Pete Rose they were punishing when they banned him from the game. It was the fans. Every young boy, perhaps fatherless, like myself, whose life was given a little more meaning each night Rose laid it all out on the field, was robbed of the chance to say thanks in their own, personal way.

But, like me, those little boys grew up, and mostly learned along the way that being able to hit a baseball better than most people on the planet doesn't necessarily make one a man of great character.

I learned how to play hard, give it everything you got, always hustle and play to win from Pete Rose. I also learned that being a dad and a husband the way Pete Rose was wasn't going to get me all that far in life.

Going back now and yanking down those awards and statues isn't going to change any of that. All it's going to do is prolong the parts of the Pete Rose story that we all knew was there, but were more than willing to just move past and be done with. We're not sweeping it under the statue. We know the statue wasn't put there because of his character.

Pete Rose is an old man. And those of us who are is fans know just about all there is to know about him. There's not much new to learn. He was one of the greatest players to ever play the game, and outside of that, he's a pretty shady guy. We're more than happy to honor him for his achievements, and we're OK to let him just fade away for the parts of his life he chose to screw up.

Its time to just move on and be done with it.