A ROSEY RETURN?: According to a published report Tuesday morning, Pete Rose could be back in baseball in a matter of a few months. But all sides are denying it, and the details of the report don't quite seem to add up.
BaseballProspectus.com, which is the bible of the sabermetrics movement yet has never broken a story as far as anyone knows, reported that Rose will be reinstated after the World Series, will be allowed on the Hall of Fame ballot, will not be required to acknowledge that he bet on baseball, and will be allowed to take a managing job as early as 2005 as long as he has the commissioner's permission.
I don't doubt the integrity of the Prospectus reporters, but I find this story a bit hard to believe, for a few reasons: it's hard to imagine that even a cretin like Commissioner Bud would allow Rose back in baseball without admitting to wrongdoing. It's also hard to imagine that Rose would ever be allowed to manage again, when he has a history of betting on baseball, is a longtime compulsive gambler, and has never established that he doesn't remain one to this day. And finally, how did this story slip past Gammons, Stark, Verducci, and every other top national baseball reporter, and get caught by the Prospectus writers, who by their own admission aren't even really reporters?
I stick to my position that Rose, on condition of admitting that he bet on baseball, should be allowed in the Hall, but not allowed to manage again. Let's hope Beelzebud is smart enough to make the right choice- but I wouldn't count on that.