Might we be short sighted...

[BengalszoneBilly]

Okay everyone,

First off, I'm not gonna talk about Pete Rose's induction into the Hall Of Fame. Well, at least not specifically. Let's look into the future. Not next year. Not ten years from now. Let's say it's the year 2025. I'm pretty sure the game will still be around. At least I hope we both will.

Now what happens when a young fan, who isn't even born as I type this out, goes to Cooperstown to learn of the history of our national pastime. They're going to see chapter after continuous chapter of the history of the game. Then he (or she) asks..."Well who had the most hits of all time? I see who had the second most. So who's the all time leader? Why is there suddenly a void in the games history?"

What are we going to say to that?

Sorry kid...if I told you, I'd have to kill you!

Well son...I can't. That player wasn't ethical because he bet on baseball.

I'd be politically incorrect if I divulged that information.

You ask too many questions. Shut up and just except what you see here!

Okay, enough with the dramatics.

The Hall Of Fame should record exactly as it's name implies...all things in the game of baseball that were worthy to be called "famous". That surely doesn't suggest that all those things were good, bad, or even ethical. I find the voting procedure to be no more than an absolute farce! There are human beings involved here, so you know you're going to get both the good and the bad. Sorry, but that's our nature.

The Hall Of Fame should be a complete and unmitigated history of everything that happened in baseball. Irregardless of our moralities! They should include Pete Rose's hit record. Right along with his criminal and betting on baseball record. White wash nothing. Just tell it like it was. Anything else is nothing short of censorship. That's un-American, and we're talking about America's National Pastime, are we not?

Like I said before, it's named the "Hall Of Fame". Not the "Hall Of Fame, Just As Long As It Was According To Our Ethics"! They should document all things famous in the game. Both good and bad. That's what give's baseball it's flavor. Babe Ruth's antics before and after games with beer and women. Ty Cobbs extremely short temper. Hell, even Steve Howes struggles with drugs.

And if you think drugs aren't the biggest detriment that this sport has ever faced, you're swimmin' upstream in the river of denial! Gambling can't hold a candle to the destructive propensity the abuse of steroids and other performance enhancement drugs pose today! Do you think it's a coincidence all the home run records are falling so fast all of the sudden? C'mon. Get real!

The ENTIRE HISTORY of the game should be enshrined there within those walls. To do anything else is a disservice to the fans of the game who come after us! Who knows...maybe after one young future professional player reads of what fate befell Peter Edward Rose because he broke the rules about gambling on baseball, and was banished for so long, he might not be so inclinded to do the same, don't you think?

But like I said before...I'm different. My agenda isn't to change your mind about Pete Rose's induction into the Hall Of Fame. I just think a different point of view is needed about now.