Pete Rose on Trial

Anybody see that on ESPN the other night? (My apologies if this has already been discussed...).

WILL PITT: Did you see it? Wanna start a flame war over it? :-)

So here's Alan Dershowitz for the prosecution, complete with blowup of the betting slip with Pete's bet on the Reds, arguing that Pete belongs in the Hall of Shame. Here's Johnnie Cochran for the defense, complete with blowup of the agreement between Giamatti and Rose, arguing that Pete ought to be in the Hall of Fame. In Boston, no less, in a mock courtroom at Harvard Law School, with a BOSTON jury (how 'bout them apples, Pitt??).

So the jury votes 11-1 that Pete bet on baseball and/or the Reds, but votes 8-4 to put him in the Hall of Fame!! A BOSTON JURY!!

Agree or disagree, but regardless, this was great TV!! I loved it!! And I predict that Pete will be on the ballot within 2 years. And I just may make lthe trip to Cooperstown for it!!

Bake

But he still gets to play. Doesn't that affect "the integrity of the game???" Doesn't that make EVERY SINGLE HOME RUN Sosa's hit suspect?? Doesn't that make the magnificent McGwire/Sosa race almost farcical??? But Sammy gets only an 8-game suspension!! He's back, probably still corking his damn bat!! But Pete, who only bet on his team TO WIN (assuming he bet on the Reds), gets banned for life. Baseball's rules sure make a whole lotta sense, huh!!

Bake

My understanding, about the corking of a bat, is that a corked bat, in fact, doesn't give a batter any advantage in hitting a home run. The corked bat rule may be a stupid one.
Also, 70 or so of his bats were checked out for the possibility of being corked and nothing was found in them and the bats Sammy Sosa set his records with are in museums and I would think can be checked out if desired.