It's been 20 years since Pete Rose was banned from baseball. He was suppose to serve 1 year and then ask to be reinstated but then comissioner Bart Giomani died. His successors since then have not given Rose a second chance at reinstatement. So for 20 years Rose has seen the game he loved so much passed him by, but his demons did that to him. Pete is far from perfect, he has battled a gambling addiction for most of his life. And it cost him his true love, game of baseball. Gambling is the one rule you cannot break in the game and others have suffered the same punishment. Yet Pete's accomplishments on the field have never been duplicated. He has won batting titles, gold gloves and championships. He was known far and wide as "Charlie Hustle" due to his hard playing style. He was so tough that he collided with the catcher at home plate at the 1970 All Star game, which was the winning run and that catcher was never the same again. And his hit record may stand for another 100 years or never be broken. Yet all this was wiped away when the gambling scandal broke and now he is one of the most polarizing characters in the world of sports. But recent history has shown that an even bigger scandal about the use of steroids has rocked baseball. Now every great player is questioned as if he is guilty for the same crime. When their time has come, will we hold them to such high standards? What Rose has done is wrong but the question now is will baseball ever shed its demons or will it suffer for it? And will the Hall of Fame ever be hallowed again? I know this, if the steroid users are allowed in, then Rose should have his plaque placed in Cooperstown. For all his faults, you cannot deny that he was one of the greatest of all time and should be enshrined in baseball's hall of fame.
