+1000

Leon, clean-up on aisle 2 needed.

I feel Rose was egregious in his behavior by betting while he was managing.

Joe played hard and really wasn't, apparently, totally aware of what he was doing.

Id put Joe in, and Pete no. But, again, its all about perception. if its only based on field performance, of course Pete is a lock

Send the asteroid

O damn, this looks like a disaster! I’m glad I kept my Memory Lane popcorn.

Weirdly anticipating reading to see what happened here. I haven’t seen that many quote boxes in a long time.

Me: Joe in, Pete no, but a hit leader plaque.

Happy Friday,
Bob

Just a normal ol' HOF discussion going on. Nothing controversial at all. Everyone is having a fun ol' time. Yup. ...sigh. Phew...baseball cards are fun.

Since every thread needs a card, and I believe this one is still missing one, here’s a good summary of what it’s like to read through this trainwreck

There's an Apple TV documentary series about Magic Johnson out right now. It is really well done, in my humble opinion.

Anyway, it brings back memories of what Magic did in the wake of his HIV diagnosis and how, also in my humble opinion, he was a hero when it came to de-stigmatizing the disease and focusing resources and attention on helping people live normal lives with the disease.

Magic clearly wasn't a saint, but he not only admitted it, but he made it a mission to have some good come out of the negative consequences of his lifestyle choices.

Imagine if Pete Rose used his platform in the wake of his being banned by baseball to educate people about problem gambling. Instead, he focused on excusing or underplaying the seriousness of his actions. Selling autographs mocking his gambling.

If Pete Rose were like Magic, perhaps we wouldn't have gambling so intertwined with professional sports today.

And maybe, like Magic, he would have been embraced by society at large, as opposed to being a polarizing figure up to and beyond his death.

I don't think you can blame Rose for the current level of sports gambling and how it's become intertwined with professional sports. Once the states (other than Nevada) were able to legally offer it, the amount of money to be made by the states and the leagues led to where we are today. Remember, all the leagues were against legalizing sports betting, but once it happened, they saw there was money to be made and decided to accept it.

I don't blame Rose for the current level of gambling in sports, but I do wonder whether a player of his stature would have made a difference if he educated people about the dangers of problem gambling. It might have become politically toxic to bring gambling out from the shadows of the sport if Pete Rose used his popularity to turn voters against gambling as a general matter.

I mean, I remember distinctly that people used to equate HIV with being gay, but after Magic came out and talked about it, if you walked around school making fun of AIDS and gay people, it all of a sudden wasn't cool or funny any more.

That was a controversial move Kuhn made.
They were not betting or accussed of gambling.
They were signed as spokesman for a casino and Kuhn was worried about perception vs reality.
IT was also very quickly changed

Considering how much gambling was happening before it was legalized in many states, I doubt there's anything Rose or anyone else could have done to keep us from where we are now. Too much money for the states and the leagues to ignore.

So should we assume that accepting those ads from liquor and beer companies can be seen as compromising your company's integrity? Because that's certainly the situation with MLB cozying up to the gambling industry.

:confused:

Hahaha this made me laugh !