sport news Pete Rose's lifetime ban for wagering on MLB games is 'HYPOCRTICAL,' argues Rod ... trends now
The Cincinnati Reds have a new sportsbook at Great American Ballpark, while franchise legend Pete Rose remains banned from Major League Baseball – and that strikes Hall of Famer Rod Carew as 'hypocritical.'
'It has gone too far and it's hypocritical,' Carew responded on Twitter when asked for his thoughts on sports gambling. 'How can you keep Pete Rose out [of the Hall of Fame] and have a sportsbook at the Reds stadium??'
The Reds recently opened a new sportsbook, BetMGM, at their ballpark on the banks of the Ohio River after the state legalized sports betting in December.
Rose, who retired in 1986 as baseball's all-time leader in hits, was banned permanently by late commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti after an investigation found that he had illegally placed bets with bookmakers on MLB games while working as manager of the Reds in the late 1980s. Further complicating Rose's path are 2017 allegations that he had a sexual relationship with a 14- or 15-year-old girl in 1973.
Carew wasn't tweeting about the statutory rape allegations, but rather, strictly discussing Rose's lifetime ban for gambling: 'If they can embrace gambling to the level of putting it in the stadium they can forgive Pete and recognize him for the Great he is. That's the point.'
The Cincinnati Reds have a new sportsbook at Great American Ballpark, while franchise legend Pete Rose (right) remains banned from Major League Baseball – and that strikes Hall of Famer Rod Carew (left) as 'hypocritical.' Rose, who retired in 1986 as baseball's all-time leader in hits, was banned permanently by late commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti after an investigation found that he had illegally placed bets with bookmakers on MLB games while working as manager of the Reds in the late 1980s
Rose certainly isn't the only baseball legend passed over for enshrinement in Cooperstown for various controversies. Former MVPs Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens have been denied induction into the Hall of Fame after facing allegations of performance-enhancing drug use.
One fan went so far as to argue that such players have a better argument for the Hall of Fame than Rose: 'Because [Rose] bet on games in which participated and has never shown contrition. To me, p[layers that used steroids at a time when EVERYONE was using steroids have a better argument.'
But Carew had a
