Pete Rose’s Affliction

There is authentic tragedy in the Pete Rose affair, a story of heroism brought to nothing by a flawed character.

Hubris is a hard word for us moderns to get our minds around. We are accustomed to speak of heroes when, in fact, we mean celebrities. We say that pride goeth before the fall, but what we believe is that social pressure, emotional illness or circumstances did the trick. There’s nothing wrong with that. It reflects an understanding of reality that has helped make us more compassionate than those who went before. But it puts us at a disadvantage in situations where compassion is not enough.

Rose’s case is one of those. The illegal gambling that led Baseball Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti to suspend the sport’s greatest hitter for life may, of course, be the consequence of an irresistible compulsion. But Rose’s exploits on the field have won him the esteem of millions; he has traded on that regard for years, and it has made him a rich man.

Listening to the arrogant, evasive comments with which he responded to his suspension, however, it also is clear that Rose does not understand that such public admiration imposes a reciprocal public duty.

Americans love baseball not so much for what it is as for what they choose to believe it is. Like the theoretical duration of each individual game, the sport’s metaphorical possibilities are limitless. Whatever he may believe, people loved Pete Rose not for his 4,256 hits, but for what they think those hits represent--things like effort, loyalty and a simple willingness to play by the rules.

Thousands cheered when Charlie Hustle flung himself head-long through the air toward second base. There will be very few left to applaud as Charlie the hustler slides safely into the Fifth Amendment.