Opinion – Keith Taylor: Pete Rose still deserves to be in the National Baseball Hall of Fame

I caught the tail end of the Big Red Machine.

Growing up, my dad shared stories about the Cincinnati Reds, especially the back-to-back World Series championship teams in 1975-76. The team’s top players — Johnny Bench, Tony Perez and Pete Rose — became household names and I followed Rose while he played for the Phillies and Expos before he returned to the Cincinnati Reds as a player-manager in 1984.

It was an exciting time to watch Rose return to his hometown and help revive an organization that had fallen on hard times following the successful sensational seventies. I was excited to see Rose play for the Reds and also manage our “hometown team,” since I was a lad when he played for Cincinnati in his prime.

It was in Cincinnati where he became baseball’s all-time hits leader in 1985. He collected his 4,192nd, which broke Ty Cobb’s mark on Sept. 11, 1985 against the San Diego Padres. I remember recording the game on our VCR that night because it was on a “church night.” I saved the video tape for many, many years. I no longer have the video tape, but the milestone game remains a favorite memory.

My cousin Tony Kelley was in attendance at the record-breaking game and snapped a photo and had a print made for me, which I still have in my office. You can see the ball after Rose swung his bat, which makes the photo very unique. It’s my lone tie to Rose, although my wife Rhonda has a baseball Rose signed for her, which we still have at home. The signature has aged and has some wear and tear, but it’s very obvious Rose signed the baseball.

I grew up collecting baseball cards and Pete Rose was always among my favorites to collect, even during the 1980s when he wasn’t playing for the Reds. My dad later owned a baseball card shop in Richmond and he had baseball cards that I dreamed about collecting. He had a Pete Rose rookie card which was very valuable at the time, which I’m sure remains a hot commodity among baseball card collectors.

I attended more Cincinnati Reds games when Rose was player-manager and followed the Reds closely. When he was permanently banned from baseball for gambling in 1989, it was a sad day not only for the Cincinnati Reds, but Major League Baseball. At the time, I believed Rose would eventually return, but sadly it never happened and Rose and MLB executives and the Hall of Fame slammed the door on a player who deserved to be recognized for his accomplishments as a player. At first Rose denied betting on baseball, but later admitted the fact in hopes that he would be reinstated by Major League Baseball.

It never happened, and Rose, 83, passed away on Monday without receiving the accolades he deserved while he was living. He deserved to be reinstated, and more than anything, Hall of Fame status. What he did on the diamond and his love for the game showed in his ambassadorship for many years after he was banned that made him a figure larger than life. The Reds inducted him in their Hall of Fame in 2016.

Rose should have been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame many years ago and he would have gotten his ticket to Cooperstown on the first ballot. It’s sad that MLB and its commissioners allowed Rose to live out the rest of his life not knowing whether or not he would get the recognition for his accomplishments on the baseball field. In his later years, Rose pressed the MLB, which now promotes gambling, for reinstatement, but was denied time and time again.

Maybe, just maybe, the National Baseball Hall of Fame will do the right thing and posthumously give Rose the highest honor reserved for the best of the best.

He was indeed one of the best to ever play the game.

Keith Taylor is sports editor of Kentucky Today.