A Rose Is a Rose Is a Rose Is a Rose ...

For the last 14 years, Pete Rose has told us he never bet on baseball. The reason was because he wanted to get into the Hall of Fame and get a job in baseball. Now he tells us he lied, because he wants to get reinstated in baseball and to get into the Hall. And he has shown no remorse and is trying to implicate others into his web of deceit.

You know, I think I kind of liked Pete better when he was a liar.

Ralph S. Brax

Lancaster

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When my father would play catch with me in the early ‘70s, he would tell me to play like Pete Rose. Though he was a Dodger fan and didn’t like the Big Red Machine, he admired Charlie Hustle for getting the most out of his abilities, and giving it his all, all the time. I took my dad’s advice to heart, and also enjoyed watching Rose play.

I felt completely betrayed by one of my childhood heroes when the allegations of Rose’s gambling were made.

For committing the cardinal sin of betting on baseball and messing with the game’s integrity, Rose should not be inducted as a Hall of Fame member, nor should he ever be allowed to be officially affiliated with the game again. The status quo should remain.

Ken Feldman

Granada Hills

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Roger Kahn admits he made approximately $300,000 co-writing a false biography of Pete Rose that wrongly claimed Rose never bet on baseball. Kahn’s defense to perpetrating this falsehood is that he never had adequate access to Rose and never received truthful responses from him, which is either a shocking admission of journalistic incompetence or a disingenuous claim of naivete.

The truth was clearly out there. Kahn admits having watched Rose in the Cincinnati Red clubhouse placing bets and using bookies, yet even after John Dowd’s devastating report proved Rose’s guilt, Kahn continued to flack for Rose and deny Rose’s guilt.

Kahn now says he is embarrassed, as well he should be. But is he embarrassed enough to give the money back? A contribution to a journalism scholarship, preferably one dealing with ethics, would go a long way to buying back the reputation of a once-great writer.

Jonathan Shapiro

Beverly Hills

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The issue was never about Pete Rose admitting he bet on baseball while he was managing a team. A better question is whether there’s anything a player can do that will bar him from the Hall of Fame as long as he admits what he did later on.

Major League Baseball seems to be comfortable with players slowly killing themselves with steroids to improve statistics, obliterating the records of past players. If a player today doesn’t have to admit steroid use or undergo real testing, why should anyone get upset about Pete? At least his performance on the field was Hall of Fame quality. I wonder if the Baseball Writers of America will be carried away with any of these irrelevant integrity issues when they vote on Pete.

John Vasi

Santa Barbara

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Should the lifetime ban be lifted and Pete Rose become eligible for Hall of Fame induction, a fitting salute to both Rose and his hometown would be to have Marge Schott reintroduce him on “The Jerry Springer Show.”

Warren Williams

Glendale

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Isn’t Pete Rose’s sudden truthful revelation on his gambling solely to gain admittance to the Baseball Hall of Fame akin to O.J. suddenly coming clean on those murders to land a “Monday Night Football” gig?

Chris Johnson

Hawthorne

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If Pete Rose is not reinstated in the near future, will anyone be surprised if he comes out with another book in which he again denies betting on baseball and describes how he was misled by Bud Selig and others into falsely admitting he bet on baseball?

Charles G. Carluccio

Glendale

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Many years ago, I attended a game at Dodger Stadium. The Reds were in town, and Pete Rose was playing left field when a ball was hit foul up along the stands. Rose glided over, scooped up the ball and tossed it to a young fan in the front row.

As he turned to go back to the field, the young fan wound up and proceeded to plunk Pete right on the rump with his new souvenir. I said it then and I’ll say it now: Nice throw.

Todd Hemphill

Seal Beach

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What part of “lifetime” don’t people get? If baseball lets him back in, they might as well get rid of the rule, because it will be meaningless.

Zelda McKay

Idyllwild

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Now that Pete Rose has come clean, he is entitled to enter the Hall of Fame ... just as soon as he passes away.

Bruce N. Miller

Marina del Rey