THE SIDELINES : Cuomo Backs Rose on Hall of Fame
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ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. Mario M. Cuomo says Cincinnati Reds Manager Pete Rose should make baseball’s Hall of Fame regardless of whether he bet on baseball games.
“What if he had six wives who said he was a boor and he died an alcoholic?” asked Cuomo, a former minor league baseball player and avid fan. “Character becomes a very elusive criteria. How do you measure it? When do you choose to use that criteria?”
Rose, baseball’s all-time hit leader, would be banned from baseball if he is found to have bet on his own teams. Even if he is banned, Rose could still be elected to the Hall of Fame. As the Rose case proceeds through the courts, the debate continues over whether he should be allowed into the hall if the allegations are true.
“I think you have to define what the Hall of Fame is,” said Cuomo, who played briefly in the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system. “If the Hall of Fame is for baseball players who were great baseball players, I’d put him in the Hall of Fame.
“Whose face is up on the mountain, Jefferson?” added Cuomo, referring to Mt. Rushmore. “He had a mistress.”
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