Chris “Mad Dog” Russo has several issues with the way that Major League Baseball removed Pete Rose from its ineligible list.
Following Rose’s death in September, there was speculation that he might once again be eligible for the Hall of Fame following his “lifetime ban” from Major League Baseball in 1989. On Tuesday, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred made that happen. Rose was one of 17 names removed from the sport’s “permanently ineligible” list. All 17 of the people removed are deceased. Along with Rose, the most notable name is “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, who was one of eight members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox, AKA, the Black Sox. Like Rose, Jackson’s résumé strictly as a player is easily Hall of Fame worthy.
One of Russo’s issues is Rose being lumped in with the Black Sox.
“If anyone thinks that what Rose did is equal to what the 1919 Black Sox did, you need your head examined,” Russo exclaimed.
Rose was banned from baseball in 1989 for betting on the sport. Eight members of the 1919 White Sox conspired with gamblers to throw that year’s World Series. They were later given lifetime bans by MLB’s first commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis.
Russo does not see those transgressions as equal.
To back his opinion, Russo then cited numerous conversations on the show with Jim Kaat and John Franco, who coached under and pitched for Rose, respectively, during Rose’s time managing the Cincinnati Reds. Neither man, Russo said, could ever recall a time when Rose made an unusual move that might have been for the sake of a bet.
“The White Sox lost the World Series on purpose. Rose tried too hard. Now, did he have a gambling problem? We all know that. Is he a bad guy? We all know that. Should he have gambled? Absolutely not. But 35 years? Really? And then baseball’s gonna, you know, hang on the fact, well, ‘He can’t hurt the legacy anymore because he’s dead?’ What do you mean you can’t hurt the legacy? Of course, you can hurt the legacy. What’s Lincoln’s legacy? He saved the country. He’s ali — he’s dead. My God, almighty. This is holier-than-thou nonsense.”
Russo continued to acknowledge some of Rose’s issues relating, and not relating to gambling and baseball. He even welcomed continued criticism of Rose.
That said, Russo also criticized MLB for continuing to financially benefit from Rose while not allowing him a chance to be alive for his potential Hall of Fame enshrinement.
“Say what you want about Rose,” he said. “You want to kill him until the cows come home? I’m all for it. Go ahead and kill him. And the times they’ve used to make money, oh, it’s disgraceful. Baseball should be embarrassed. They really should. They could have been done with this five years ago. Ten years ago, they could have been done with this. ‘You know what, guys, it’s 25-30 years. Let’s make him eligible. He’s not gonna be a manager. Let’s make him eligible so at least he could have a day in Cooperstown. Baseball couldn’t do that and let Pete be in Cooperstown and have a day? They couldn’t do that. All this other crap’s in Cooperstown. They couldn’t give Rose a chance to do that?”