The Cincinnati Reds have a new sportsbook at Great American Ballpark while franchise legend Pete Rose remains banned from Major League Baseball — and it seems “hypocritical” to Hall of Famer Rod Carew.
“It’s 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 you have a sportsbook at the Reds stadium??’
The Reds recently opened a new sportsbook, BetMGM, at their Ohio Riverfront stadium after the state legalized sports betting in December.
Rose, who retired in 1986 as baseball’s all-time leader in hits, was banned for life by the late Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti after an investigation found he illegally bet on MLB bookies while on the job as manager of the Reds in the late 1980s. Further complicating Rose’s path to Cooperstown are allegations in 2017 that he had a sexual relationship with a 14- or 15-year-old girl in 1973.
Carew wasn’t tweeting about the statutory rape charges, but rather strictly discussing Rose’s lifetime gambling ban: “If they can embrace gambling to the point of letting it in the ballpark, they can forgive Pete and recognize him as the Great One who f. 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 it strikes Hall of Famer Rod Carew (left) as “hypocritical.” Rose, who retired in 1986 as baseball’s all-time leader in hits, was banned for life by the late Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti after an investigation found he illegally bet on MLB bookies while on the job as manager of the Reds in the late 1980s
Rose certainly isn’t the only baseball legend to be shrined in Cooperstown over various controversies. Former MVPs Barry Bonds and Roger Clemons were denied induction into the Hall of Fame after facing accusations of using performance-enhancing drugs.
One fan went so far as to argue that such players have a better case for the Hall of Fame than Rose: “Because [Rose] bet on games he participated in and never showed remorse. For me, p[layers that used steroids at a time when EVERYONE was using steroids have a better argument.’
But Carew had a quick response: ‘Let’s talk when they put steroid clinics in the stadium.’
Although Rose previously denied gambling, in 2004 he confessed to betting on Cincinnati games while managing the team, insisting that he never wagered against the Reds.
His critics have argued that is irrelevant, because he could conceivably rest his best relief pitchers when he wasn’t gambling on the team, leaving the Reds less competitive on those nights.
Meanwhile, the sexual misconduct allegations against Rose cost him enshrinement on the Philadelphia Phillies Wall of Fame in 2017 despite his contributions to the team’s first World Series title in 1980. He had been slated to be honored by the club, but the event was canceled after a Cincinnati woman said in federal court that she had a sexual relationship with the married Rose that began during his first stint with the Reds in 1973, when she was 14 or 15.
Rose, 81, has never been charged with statutory rape and the statute of limitations has expired. Although he has reportedly admitted to the relationship, he has insisted that he believed she was 16 at the time of the affair, making her old enough in the state of Ohio to consent to sexual activity.
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
Carew articulated the argument on Twitter for inducting Rose into the Hall of Fame
Former Cincinnati Reds great Pete Rose stands alongside a statue outside Great American Ball Park during a dedication ceremony prior to a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 17, 2017 in Cincinnati. Later that year, the Philadelphia Phillies canceled plans to induct Rose into their Wall of Fame after a Cincinnati woman claimed she had a sexual relationship with the All-Star in the early 1970s, when she was 14 or 15
‘In 1973, when I was 14 or 15 years old, I received a phone call from Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds,’ the woman, identified as Jane Doe, told a federal court in 2017.
‘Sometime after that, Pete Rose and I began meeting at a house in Cincinnati. It was at that house where, before my sixteenth birthday, Pete Rose began a sexual relationship with me.’
The testimony was given in a 2017 defamation lawsuit filed by Rose against lawyer John Dowd, who investigated his gambling in the 1980s.
Rose’s arguments for enshrinement are fairly obvious: Baseball’s all-time leader in hits (4,256), singles (3,215), games played (3,562), and at-bats (14,053), the Cincinnati native won a pair of World Series with the Reds, another with the Phillies, while hitting .303 for his career.
A 17-time All-Star, Rose was also the 1973 National League MVP, the 1963 NL Rookie of the Year, and the 1975 World Series MVP.
American League’s Rod Carew slides into his second triple of the day as Cincinnati Reds’ Pete Rose waits for the throw during an early 1970s All-Star Game