THE PETE ROSE DECISION : Other Views : Nation’s Press Shows Little Empathy for Rose : <i> (The reaction to the lifetime suspension of Pete Rose is strong. Here is how some of the country’s top sports columnists saw the decision.)</i>
Pete Rose is banned for life from baseball for gambling, and everyone except Pete Rose knows it.
In the psychiatric world, a piece of real estate in which Rose might do well to invest what wealth he has remaining, they call this a form of behavior denial. Rose is to denial what he used to be to hitting. It’s what he does best, and it’s all he has left. For Rose, this is a different kind of hustle--and the bluest note yet played in this hauntingly sad story.
This man who came to represent baseball to a generation is an exile, apparently forever, with only the slightest chance for reprieve.
He is exiled--this makes it worse--at his own hand, having pulled his world down on top of him.
And yet, Rose won’t admit it. For all we know, he may not even believe it.
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