No Bloom On This Rose

Rose obviously wants to be reinstated both to manage again and to join his peers in Cooperstown, N.Y. Since he last managed, the salaries of top managers like Joe Torre and Dusty Baker have risen to levels Rose could only have dreamed about when he was in the dugout. Money is what makes Rose hustle, and he would dearly love to command the big money now available to managers. But how can Commissioner Selig ever trust Rose not to fall back into his old betting ways? I will be astonished if Pete ever puts on a manager's uniform again.

As things stand now, I see little reason to reinstate Rose. He has not made the slightest effort to redeem himself, and no tight-lipped confession can compensate for the damage he has done to the game and those around it. He surely has no case for being let back on the field as a manager. As for keeping him off the field but allowing him to be a candidate for the Hall of Fame, I would not, as commissioner, take the risk. By reinstating him, I would be watering down the antigambling deterrent that has been effective for more than 80 years. Such a decision would not be popular, perhaps, but there are times when a public-opinion poll does not produce a principled result. Rose alone has kept himself out of the Hall of Fame. That honor should go to honorable players, umpires, executives and managers. If it is not in Pete Rose to be sorry or sad or to feel guilty, then it should not be in Commissioner Selig to feel merciful. For most of us, the premise of forgiveness is contrition. So, as Rose put it himself, "Let's move on."