Great, great article by Steve Treder on Pete Rose:
Mention the name "Pete Rose" these days and expect to be launched into a discussion (more likely a heated debate) that hurtles deep into the territory of boorish behavior, gambling, bookies, betting slips, John Dowd, Bart Giamatti, Bud Selig, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Shoeless Joe Jackson, the Hall of Fame's eligibility requirements, the Hall of Fame's mission and purpose, and the very nature of good and evil in the universe itself.And that's just in the first five minutes.
While all that's jolly good fun, and should continue along its merry way, there's something else that crucially needs to be said, loudly and clearly, at regular intervals: FORGET ALL THAT for just a moment. The full consideration of Pete Rose must never lose touch with the simple foundational issue of Pete Rose the Ballplayer.
I never really saw Rose play; he was done playing when I was five. So all I really know of Rose, from personal experience, is his managing, and of course the gambling scandal. It's nice to read things like this and remember that there was far more to the man than the sordidness of the last sixteen years or so.