The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball
Allan H. (Bud) Selig, Commissioner
245 Park Avenue, 31st Floor
New York, NY 10167
(212) 931-3800
Dear Mr. Commissioner:
I write to you today in the form of interrogation. The Kansas City Star published a little blip in today’s edition saying that Pete Rose made his usual appearance in Cooperstown this weekend to sign autographs. The paper reported that Rose and former Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt share the same autograph “shop.”
While that tidbit is interesting, I found it even more peculiar that Rose’s “menu” states that he won’t sign anything “Charlie Hustle” or “I’m sorry I bet on baseball.” That, to say the least, is bizarre.
The reason that I’ve been such a Pete Rose fan all of my life was for the very reason he was tagged with that moniker. I loved it as a kid, and love it now. It embodies how he played the game, how coaches wanted their kids and fathers wanted their sons to play the game. It reflects how I did play the game. I hustled. Every time I made contact, I tore out of the batter’s box. Each occasion in which I was given the steal signal, I lit out like it was 90 feet for safety or else. For every sharply hit ball to me in left or center, I sprinted, and sometimes dove to make the out.
And you just don’t see that in players anymore. Rose shouldn’t be embarrassed to sign autographs with those words. He shouldn’t be castigated for them either. In fact, he shouldn’t have to set up shop; he should be sitting there with all of the other Hall-of-Famers, applauding the new inductees. How long must we wait for this to become a reality? The punishment has been served. It’s time Rose visited Cooperstown annually the same way the rest of the former athletes and journalists do: as a member.
The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball
Allan H. (Bud) Selig, Commissioner
245 Park Avenue, 31st Floor
New York, NY 10167
(212) 931-3800
Dear Mr. Commissioner:
Tomorrow night at Kauffman Stadium, Royals play-by-play announcer Denny Matthews will be recognized as this year’s Ford C. Frick hall-of-fame inductee. In addition to the George Brett Pine Tar Anniversary t-shirts, the Royals will be giving out pins to honor Matthews and his continued excellence that began with the Royals’ inception in 1969. When I was a kid, you almost assumed that everyone always played for/worked for the same club their entire career; it was always weird to see guys acquired via trade or free agency. Brett and Matthews both fall into the no-longer-existent category of being employed by the same club for your entire career.
There’s another guy that’s touched baseball in a great way, and played 75% of his career with the same club. His name’s Pete Rose. Of his 24 years on the majors, Rose logged 18 of those with the Cincinnati Reds. The other six, of course, came in the form of five with the Philadelphia Phillies and one with the Montreal Expos. That’s pretty impressive in my book, and Rose is probably a hero in the minds of most Phillies and Reds fans. He should be recognized as a hero to the game, and have a spot in baseball’s hall of fame.
Word on the Internets and in the newspapers today is that you will not be attending any games throughout the duration of the current San Francisco Giants’ homes stand. I’m curious how you will be utilizing your official time, then, and am optimistic that some of that time will be spent re-assessing the Rose situation as his place in Cooperstown is imperative. With all due respect to the ongoings in the commissioner’s office, I would like to suggest that the removal of Pete Rose’s ban from baseball be added to the pile of things to be done.
The Office of the Commissioner of BaseballAllan H. (Bud) Selig, Commissioner245 Park Avenue, 31st FloorNew York, NY 10167(212) 931-3800Dear Mr. Commissioner:Last night's Royals victory over the Red Sox marked their 40th victory of the season, a feat that took them 'til the second week of August last year. I attribute this success to the vision and efforts of Royals General Manager Dayton Moore. His philosophy centers on putting good baseball people in position to do their jobs well.
Gambling on baseball, and the ensuing lying about said gambling, might not constitute Pete Rose as a good baseball person in the minds of some of your colleagues. Rose has, for a large part of his post-retirement life, been a jerk. This is not, however, to discount what he did for the Cincinnati Reds and the Philadelphia Phillies. Rose was a major piece of the infamous Big Red Machine where he won two of his three championships and was named World Series MVP.
That's good stuff for Cincinnati/Philadelphia fans. Fans of the Brew Crew may very well be experiencing similar feelings with Milwaukee's success this year. There are key figures on that club to whom you attribute their good play. Perhaps there is even a future hall-of-famer on the team. I assume that you've been excited by the Brewers' play this season, and I ask you to consider what Rose meant for the clubs he played for, the fans for whom he provided so much elation. It's time, Mr. Commissioner, to begin the process of un-banning Pete Rose from baseball. If Ben Sheets or Prince Fielder lead the Brewers on a pennant run, they'll be fan favorites for eternity. Don't the Reds fans of the 60s and 70s and the Phillies fans of the early 80s deserve to see their former hero in Cooperstown?I for one, imagine that they do. Let's lift it.
The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball
Allan H. (Bud) Selig, Commissioner
245 Park Avenue, 31st Floor
New York, NY 10167
(212) 931-3800
Dear Mr. Commissioner:
Though we’re still 11 days away from the 24th anniversary of the George Brett pine tar incident (note: hint as to what I’ll be writing about that day), but there was an interesting article in today’s Business Section of The Kansas City Star. Dan Margolies wrote about a legal dispute between one Leo Stoller and Brett Brothers Sports International, Inc. What the dispute was regarding is of little interest. Early in the article, however, Margolies offers this fine paragraph:
"Fans all remember that Brett’s dramatic ninth-inning home run against the
Yankees, putting the Royals ahead, was nullified by home plate umpire Tim
McClelland after he determined that the pine tar on Brett’s bat exceeded 18
inches in length. What fans may not remember is that American League president
Lee MacPhail subsequently overruled McClelland, and the Royals wound up winning
the game."
I like that term: nullified. I also like the brass it takes for a president to overrule what one of his colleagues has done. A. Bartlett Giamatti and Fay Vincent, Jr. are both respectable men, I’m sure. I continue to insist that no disrespect would be done to either individual were the ban on Pete Rose to be lifted. Margolies closes his piece with the phrase, “it’s a good thing that our legal system, like baseball, has appellate review.”If baseball has appellate review, let’s review that August day in 1989 and re-consider the implications of Giamatti’s decision 18 years ago. Rose belongs in the Hall. I honorably request that you take the first step in putting him there. Tim McClelland made a mistake in that call, yet he continued an amazing career calling games. Why can’t the same oversight be attributed to Rose’s case? I suspect that it can, and hope that we will one day see eye to eye on this matter.
July 6, 2007The Office of the Commissioner of BaseballAllan H. (Bud) Selig245 Park Avenue, 31st FloorNew York, NY 10167(212) 931-7800Dear Mr. Commissioner:Two days from the date of this letter, my father, were he still around, would be turning 60. I, like many of my generation, owe my love for baseball, to my father. He taught me to hit, field and slide, but most important, he taught me to try hard in everything that I do.The value in trying hard, and on occasion, hustling, became so engrained in my mind, that, as I matured, I knew my dad, a man of many good qualities, would never be disappointed in me as long as he knew that I tried. That said, he, like the rest of us, had his share of faults. When he died though, those faults were not what people remembered, and the faults are far from what people are reminded of when they think of him today. His loved ones recognize that all people, no matter how good at heart, make mistakes.
I posit that Pete Rose is no different. He made mistakes. He furthered his mistakenness by trying to bury his errors. In life, as we all well know, you’re allowed second chances, sometimes more.
I am of the firm belief that holding a lifetime ban from baseball over Pete Rose is a poor message for the youth of today. We’re all certain of the magnitude Rose’s on-the-field accomplishments, but very few know of the good things he did off the field; his name is tarnished by his poor decisions. Is that how we want our young baseball fans of today and tomorrow to view their own lives?
Absolutely not. Pete Rose, when his time on Earth has ended, should not be remembered for his bad judgment, but for what he stood for as an athlete, a role model for American youth.
Hasn’t the man suffered enough? He deserves to be enshrined, and you wield the power to make that happen. It’s time we looked at the other side of the coin, Mr. Commissioner. Please. Lift the ban.
July 3, 2007
The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball
Allan H. (Bud) Selig, Commissioner
245 Park Avenue, 31st Floor
New York, NY 10167
(212) 931-7800
Dear Mr. Commissioner:
I’m writing to you as a lifelong fan of the game of baseball, Major League Baseball and the Kansas City Royals. Baseball is again on the rise in our country. I think many fans’ wounds are healing from the soured experience of the strike-shortened season of 1994. Folks are accepting the revenue sharing, and developing a small understanding of the astronomical financial situations within the game. These are but few of the issues your league deals with on a daily basis. Athlete behavior both on and off the field, manager personality quirks and slip-ups, speculations of performance-enhancement usage are all topics that swirl media outlets. None of these, however, are the reason for my letter.
I believe that, all hometown dreams and biases aside, there is one figure that set the bar for my appreciation of the game as a child, a measuring stick I still hold firm today. That figure is none other than Pete Rose.
Perhaps a tired topic for you and your colleagues, but most folks don’t care that he bet on baseball; most folks are aware that other former MLB athletes bet on baseball throughout their careers. Most folks know that Rose can be a jerk, that he spent far too much time lying when he could’ve simply told the truth.
I say, let the errors of this man be a thing of the past. Give baseball the push that could send it over the edge in this time of resurgence. Unban the man. At least make him eligible. No single figure -- not even George Brett -- has had a greater influence on my view of how the game should be played. I posit there are many others out there that feel the same. The things he is guilty of are small apples compared to some of the happenings in the National Football League and the National Basketball Association.
I beg you to consider at least taking the first step. Let today’s and tomorrow’s kids see Rose’s name in the record books, in Cooperstown.
