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Pete Rose Endorses Mark McGwire for Hall of Fame

Pete Rose endorses Mark McGwire for the Baseball Hall of Fame. The kiss of death?

CINCINNATI – Pete Rose thinks Mark McGwire should be in baseball’s Hall of Fame, and hasn’t given up hope that he’ll get there someday, too.

Baseball’s banished hits king said Tuesday that McGwire, who is on the ballot for the first time, ought to be voted in despite his refusal to discuss steroids. Rose isn’t eligible for the ballot because of his lifetime ban for gambling.

Rose made the case for McGwire by noting that baseball didn’t crack down on steroids until after the 2002 season, by which time McGwire had retired.

McGwire hit a then-record 70 homers in 1998, when his race with Sammy Sosa to top Roger Maris’ record drew huge crowds and helped the game reshape its image after labor strife.

“Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, I think they kind of saved the game in (1998) with the home run contest,” Rose said. “That home run derby kind of brought baseball back.”

True but if McGwire used drugs to assist him to get that record, why should the Hall of Fame award him for his cheating? Does integrity and playing by the rales mean anything to Rose or McGwire?

As for the HOF and Pete Rose.

Rose said he hasn’t lost hope.

“Sure I’d like to go into the Hall of Fame,” he said. “More important to me, I’d like to be back in the game. I’m a teacher of the game.”

Rose thinks that if baseball ever reinstated him, some owner would hire him as manager.

“I’m sure there are always going to be things about what I did in the past, but I’m not concerned about that,” Rose said.

What drugs is Rose taking? No one will ever hire him to hire in the Majors again. Besides the gambling baggage Rose posesses, there is the fact that few ML teams hire managers who are in their sixties. Pete will turn 66 next April.

Keep dreaming Pete.

 
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