PETE ROSE IS NO WORSE THAN THE OTHERS

Early last week, two of our terrific BYB writers wrote pieces about Pete Rose.  Ike Dimitriadis put together a piece titled MANFRED REACHES ONLY JUSTIFIABLE DECISION ON PETE ROSE – “NO” and Steve Skinner wrote ROSE TO THE HALL IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO. Read them both, they are great.

Ike is not a fan of having Rose in the Hall of Fame.  Skinner, like me, has a childhood hero in Rose, and believes he should be there... but understands Manfred's decision. Here's the quote that resonated with me in Steve's piece: "Baseball’s immortals are an incomplete group without him."

I'm about to go further...

I like Rob Manfred as Commissioner.  Then again, I like anyone that isn't Bud Selig as Commissioner.  But yes, I like Manfred.  He's willing to look at everything.  He's willing to make decisions and perhaps change things in a pretty stale sport right now. But I take issue with his decision to not lift Pete Rose's ban, even though Rose has admitted to still gambling on sports.  Take a seat for this one...

Look, I find it interesting how many folks out there will look at gambling, and immediately say, "Well, gambling is an addiction, like drugs or alcohol. Folks that gamble uncontrollably are sick."  And yes, I understand, and accept that assessment. There is truth to this you know. 

But then why, when someone like Pete Rose CLEARLY needs "help", are we turning our back on the guy?  We help drug addicts, alcoholics. Hell, there were cocaine users in the 80's on the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Remember Dave Parker?  That dude continued to play baseball after doing coke and weed. The Expos Tim Raines? 

He used to slide head first into bases so he wouldn't bust vials of cocaine in his back pocket. Admitted and documented. The late Tommy Hanson just died of cocaine and alcohol ingestion this year. Who knows if he was an addict, but he was a user, this is a fact.  

The plain fact is, if gambling is so bad, then why do we look at Pete Rose and just say, "Well, the guy needs to just stay away from baseball. He's a cancer, he's not getting help, he's bad news. He tarnished the game."  Yet, drug addicts, or folks like Yovani Gallardo can drive drunk, yet, he's about to sign a contract with the Astros or Orioles to continue his career, (read DRUNK DRIVING DOESN'T MATTER TO MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL for my perspective on that). Life goes on for every other addict, but Pete Rose is blackballed.

And PED users, yes, PED USERS can continue to use, disappear for their suspension, and come back with a clean slate like nothing happened.  All of that is OK, but an addicted gambler is banned for life, regardless of the incredible play he demonstrated on the field. Regardless of him being the all-time hits leader.

Sure, you can sit on your high horse like you're the moral authority and tell me that PEDs users and addicted gamblers are not the same, and I'm here to tell you that you're dead wrong.   Don't debate me on this, it's my opinion, I won't be swayed, and I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm tired of hearing your  side on this.

Oh yeah, and how's this to bring your blood to a boil. If you're going to lump Shoeless Joe Jackson and 7 other men together with Pete Rose for 2 different types of gambling situations, then you sure as hell better crack down on drug use, public drunkenness, and PEDs use as well.  Sorry to be the tight ass of all tight asses... but I'm sick and tired of Rose being lumped in with the Black Sox scandal, all because "gambling" is the word that's used for both. I kind of find it silly. Here's why...

In the 1919 World Series, the Chicago White Sox lost to the Cincinnati Reds, and eight White Sox players, Shoeless Joe Jackson being one of them, were accused of losing the Series intentionally.  That's because it was suggested that the games were lost in exchange for gambling money. They were later banned from baseball because of it. Clearly it was a group decision, an idea conspired and executed by all, and so, it was strategic and with that, even though they were acquitted in court, they were still banned from the game for life.  Jackson had an amazing career average before that, and so, he tarnished his career because he and 7 others work together to "throw" the series.

I gotta tell you something, that's not what Pete Rose did.  It's just not.   Plus, if you go through the Dowd Report, it was revealed that he gambled on his own team, and it wasn't to lose. It was to win.  As Pete Rose admitted in 2007:

"I bet on my team every night... I bet on my team to win every night because I love my team, I believe in my team... I did everything in my power every night to win that game."

And so, I ask you, isn't that the basis for playing the game? To win? And furthermore, sure, he admitted it, he's a liar, but he's also an addict and that goes back to my original point. The man's sick, but he's banned... Coke heads? They can get help and come back.  PEDs users are in the clear after a suspension.  Pete Rose is a sick man, but played amazing baseball and is the All-Time hits leader. He bet for his team to win, not LOSE, win... but he gets lumped in with a group of players that intentionally threw a series in 1919.  I'm sorry, I don't get it.

More over, whatever happened to that lunatic John Dowd, who recently falsely accused Rose of having "under age girls" in the clubhouse, IN THE 80'S. Really? Nothing happened with that story Mr. Dowd, and that's because I think the real person we should ban from any baseball type activities is Dowd who clearly has an axe to grind against Rose. The dude's old by now, and biased by the way. Sure, Rose may not be a saint, but false accusations and piling on doesn't exactly offer Dowd as a respected investigator anymore... it's over pal.

Pete Rose is not someone who conspired to sabotage his baseball team.  He loves the Reds. He loved Marge Schott and sure, while siding with a woman like Schott isn't exactly great for a man's reputation knowing the woman she was, he to this day wears his Reds hat proud.  Dowd and Major League baseball have this "thing" about gambling and Rose and have been riding this guy for years based on an old rule.  

The irony is, things are changing. You know how I know? Because MLB is a major investor with Draft Kings and Fan Duel, you know, Internet gambling.  Think about that for a second.  There's no double standard here? Are you joking?  

Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame for his amazing play, as well as he being the All-time hit leader. Does Rose still gamble? He's admitted it, and I remember reading and hearing he was years after.  Has Rose tried to get help? Probably. Why wouldn't he? If people who love him want to help him and he wants to help himself, why the hell wouldn't he?  More importantly, how about MLB do what they do for all their "addicts" and offenders... baby them.  Let the rich player pay the fine for their addiction or bad behavior... and make sure they're suspended, but then... coddle them, and bring them back to the game like so many of the past.  

And the most important question... Has Rose fell off the wagon and continued to gamble? Most definitely. But after everything I told you reading this old rule in the MLB manual needs to somehow be updated. It should be about a player's ability to play the game, not betting after he played, EVEN AS A MANAGER, WHO BET FOR HIS TEAM TO WIN.

MLB Rule 21. Misconduct.
(d) BETTING ON BALL GAMES. Any player, umpire, or club official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has no duty to perform shall be declared ineligible for one year.

Any player, umpire, or club or league official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform shall be declared permanently ineligible.

I'm not sure what any of this has to do with his playing days. Pete Rose is the all time hits leader.  They need to do the right thing.

Pete Rose did not conspire with the likes of Eric Davis, Barry Larkin, Tracy Jones, Tom Browning, John Franco and Buddy Bell. He's NOT Shoeless Joe Jackson.  He's also sick with a bad, bad addiction for gambling.  Not cocaine, or alcohol... gambling, and while Major League Baseball doesn't seem to chalk this up as a sickness... it should.  Oh, and it should also cut investment opportunities with Internet gambling sites.  Sites where folks GAMBLE to make money... and MLB collects on that.  What a load of crap. What a contradiction.

Pete Rose belongs in the Hall. It's my opinion.  I will not debate anyone on this issue.  I will not return comments after this op-ed posts... that's because you'll never change my mind and I won't change yours.  Pete Rose is my childhood idol and introduced me to the game of baseball.

Think about how strange it is, that the All-Time Hits leader with one of the most important records in baseball is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Something stinks in baseball, and trust me, it ain't Pete Rose.

Finally, let me say this... I do not gamble. I am not an addict.  I don't dabble in drugs or alcohol to get loaded in any way.  I do however understand what addiction is.  It's a brutal cycle and needs to be handled, not ignored.  

Pete Rose gave everything he had on the field to become one of the best, hardest working baseball players ever.  He gave it because he wanted to do the best he could for his employers, the Reds and MLB.  

Now the MLB just walks away from him?  Really?

-Robert Casey, CEO & Lead Writer for BleedingYankeeBlue.com
Follow me: @BleednYankeeBlu


 

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LET THE PETE ROSE SAGA COME TO AN END

I don't know if any of you remember, but Pete Rose was an incredible ballplayer.  Growing up, he was the guy you wanted to be.  Nicknamed "Charlie Hustle", you understood why.  He ran his ass off, he never gave up and wanted to be the best in his profession.  He loved baseball and wanted everyone to know it.  He once said: "I'd walk through hell in a gasoline suit to play baseball." If that doesn't tell you about just how much he loved the game, you just don't get it.

I grew up in Kentucky when I was very young. The Big Red Machine was a big deal back when I was a kid, and right before I was a Yankee and Guidry fan, I was a Pete Rose fanatic. I was also just about 6 years old.  I thought this guy was the greatest player on earth, and that's because it was clear he loved the game.  I wasn't a huge baseball fan, but at 7, I liked baseball and I liked him.

When Rose was banned for life from baseball, it was disturbing to me.  Now, we all know he bet on baseball, and most likely he bet while he managed the Reds.  Obviously that's a terrible thing. But now, years later Pete Rose has paid his dues.  He's banned... blackballed... just plain banished.

The PEDs situation is severe in baseball.We have players that are fined, suspended and disappear only to come back. Some ever do it again. The whole thing stinks, but over time, I'm numb.  Meanwhile, I look at Pete Rose, a guy that literally played his guts out and I'm saddened because still to this day, the guy is not recognized in baseball, yet, the irony is, he did so much for a fan like me... and talk me to love the game.

When Barry Larkin stood there at the Hall of Fame and credited Pete Rose for his love and passion of the game... it was then that I thought that maybe.... MAYBE people would open their eyes. I wrote ENOUGH'S ENOUGH. TIME FOR PETE ROSE TO GO TO COOPERSTOWN in July 2012. In it, I wrote:

"If Barry Larkin, one of the most respected ballplayers in the game, can give huge compliments to the all-time hit king Pete Rose, then we really need to think about how idiotic it is to shun Rose from the Hall of Fame any longer.  Time has passed, the once most imitated ballplayer of the 1970's needs to be put on the ballot...Pete's taken his lumps...it's time."

I'm right, it IS time.  Now, a few years later, Rob Manfred is doing something that Bug Selig didn't have the balls to do, probably because it's so controversial.  Manfred said the conversation about Rose being reinstated to baseball was something he knew was coming... and a discussion, at least, will be had about it.

As FOX Sports writes:

"Rob Manfred might be willing to open the the door for possible reinstatement of Rose, who was banned from baseball in 1989.

'I have heard from his lawyer, and I do anticipate having a conversation about that,' Manfred told ESPN Radio on Thursday. Rose agreed to be declared permanently ineligible from Major League Baseball in 1989 for gambling on games while managing the Cincinnati Reds. While he initially denied the gambling charges, Rose came clean in 2004 and has been very remorseful ever since.

The 73-year old Rose can appeal to the commissioner for reinstatement.

'I've been very careful not to say anything about the merits of it because ultimately I'll have to make a decision there,' said Manfred. 'It's conversation I'm expecting to have.'"

And so, the door may open and it's about time. Oh, and don't listen to Forbes guy David Lariviere, who is totally misguided and ridiculous.  In his column he simply writes:

"After all, Rose did agree to the lifetime ban. Why should it be reversed now? Because he’s remorseful and contrite about his sins? Maybe. But that doesn’t change the crime."

I write the following simply, probably because there's no thought involved...  Hey David, here's the reasoning Sunshine... it's not that he's remorseful as much as it makes sense years later.  Here's why; You have a guy like Alex Rodriguez, a guy who was pushed to a season ban because he lied and used PEDs.

Now he's coming back in 2015, where, as many already know, he lied twice... used many times and was tangled in whatever legal mess possible because of the wicked web of Biogenesis.  And he, Alex Rodriguez, is allowed to come back to baseball... play and get paid doing it. All is forgiven apparently.  But Pete Rose, a guy that literally bled baseball for years in the 1970s suddenly is irrelevant in the sport, all because he bet on baseball after his playing days, his golden years.  Are you missing something?  I'm not. My mind's made up! There needs to be a reinstatement, and Pete Rose is the guy.  Thank God people aren't familiar with David Lariviere, because he's not very good.

Oh, and P.S... get a new picture. You look like pretty arrogance and your work doesn't reflect that arrogance. It's stale, obviously not researched and in my book, considered "filler."

Anyway... when all is said and done, Rob Manfred is doing the right thing. As I stated in  THESE DAYS GIAMATTI WOULD PICK ROSE OVER BRAUN in August 2013, times have changed.  It's a new era and if you accept PEDs users in baseball, you sure as hell could accept a guy that bet on a handful of games AFTER he played his heart out for years, becoming the all time hitting champion..

"...years later, with Bart Giamatti dead and PEDs rampant in baseball… the idea of gambling on your own club as a manager… forgive me… it doesn’t seem that bad.  Now, don’t misunderstand me, betting on your own team is dishonest, but as Pete Rose said recently, read HERE:  'I picked the wrong vice... I should have picked alcohol. I should have picked drugs or I should have picked beating up my wife or girlfriend because if you do those three, you get a second chance. They haven’t given too many gamblers a second chance in the world of baseball... I made mistakes. I can’t whine about it. I’m the one that messed up and I’m paying the consequences... However, if I am given a second chance, I won’t need a third chance.'

You know what? Pete Rose is right.  We don’t shame players who cheat in baseball… we temporarily remove them and then they come back."

I've stated this for a few years now and it's important to think about that if you're a baseball fan.  Well, finally, maybe Rob Manfred is thinking about it.  Pete Rose needs to be reinstated into baseball, but there's more to that.  Pete Rose, a guy I grew up with, needs to be placed on the Hall of Fame ballot.

• 4256 Hits 
• .303 BA  
• 1314 RBIs  
• Rookie of the Year  
• 17 time All-Star 
• 3 time World Series Champion.

All I have to say is... Thank God for Rob Manfred.  He's got more spine than Bud Selig ever did. 




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WRITERS WRITE & PLAYERS PLAY. JETER'S BACK IN 2014

Sports writers write.  Players play. There is a major difference.  Sports Writers sit behind a computer and criticize or praise things that happen on the field and make a determination of whether or not it was a good play, or smart move and then offer backhanded compliments. They attach catchy headlines to it and then people buy their rag.  Players bust their ass on the field for hours... and have done it since they were kids in little league.  Some get hurt, some never do, but they compile stats throughout their career.  Then, once again, the sports writers will critique whether or not the player is "good enough" to be a Hall of Famer.  Meanwhile... 80% of those writers have never done anything that made them sweat in their life.

I have played baseball.  Not professionally, but I understand the way things go and the way athletes think. I also understand the hard work. I love the game and when I played, I played hard, because that's what you are supposed  to do. Many writers have never picked up a bat.

I'm also a writer.  I also think that it's absolutely ridiculous to act like we writers can get into the heads of players and know what they are thinking or how they should feel.  After all, it's the player that's busting ass for years and knows his limitations of whether or not they can play longer.

Enter Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com and, the Cap, Derek Jeter.  How often are those 2 names in the same sentence? Hopefully never. Anyway, one thing is clear...  Jon Heyman needs to shut his hole.

This is the headline of Heyman's piece from September 11th, titled, Jeter's had perfect career, doesn't need to hang on one more year. The headline alone annoys me, but this is what he wrote:

"Jeter will turn 40 next year, an age at which 99 percent of shortstops are retired. Only Luke Appling and Barry Larkin had seasons at 40 that come close to Jeter's standard, and really only Appling. Larkin hit .289 in 346 at-bats at age 40 in 2004 for the Reds. Appling hit .300-plus at age 40 and again at age 42... There's no indication at all that Jeter is seriously thinking about retiring, and you just know he's not going to want to go out like this. He saw his friend Andy Pettitte return from retirement, and even a year off, and he saw him generally perform well this year at age 40, well enough to go 10-9 and help keep the Yankees afloat in a wild-card race still open. And Jeter saw Rivera return after a serious knee injury to perform very well -- and become the All-Star Game MVP -- at age 43. 

But Jeter had an even worse injury, and he plays shortstop. This is a whole different story, a whole different ballgame. It would make a nice story to see Jeter find any shortstop success at 40, and maybe join Larkin and Appling as the third to do it. But it would be a pretty nice story, too, if he went out with his good friend Rivera rather than try to hang on another year in an attempt to prove something that isn't necessary."

Look, I hate that last statement..."something that isn't necessary." To whom, Jon... to you? Please. Players know their limitations, this is true. Writers think about what others should do.  I find that ridiculous. Sure, you hear stories about Willie Mays hanging around the game too long, but you hear more about all the great things he did when he was in his prime.  If Derek Jeter wants to play until he's 52 years old and the Yankees want to sign him, what the hell does it matter to Jon Heyman?  It's Derek's occupation, not Jon's.  How would Heyman like it if Jeter kept asking when Heyman was going to go away? (He'd probably be excited because someone famous noticed him.)

Derek Jeter is the Captain. He's one of the best damn Yankees we have seen in this generation.  There are plenty of opinions out there, but this is what I know;  As a Yankee... as a champion... and much like Mariano Rivera.... Jeter will not go out like this.  He will be back in 2014 and he will try and win yet another championship.  Why? I'll tell you. Because Derek Jeter is a competitor.  He's a winner. He's a Yankee... he's not a writer.  You feel me?

Writing about how others should handle their own career and lives is ridiculous. Thanks anyway mom... Jeet's got this.

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HALL OF FAME BLAH: NO ONE ELECTED IN

The frame grab above is from the film History of the World Part I.  It's a Mel Brooks flick that was way ahead of it's time in the world of comedy.  But I sit here today starring at the "Nothing" sign in the guy's cart and I think about the writers, the voting and the Baseball Hall of Fame and how this is the first time since 1996 that no player was voted in.  Shocking? Not really. If you really think about it, the PEDs situation has really mucked things up.  It's clear these writers are struggling with how to vote for these guys. It's become an issue.  Don't believe me? You should have seen Bob Costas and the gang on the MLB Network today.  Alot of head scratching.  Very interesting.

(In Photo: Jacob Ruppert)
Now, that being said, the Hall of Fame will induct 3 new members in this summer, Umpire Hank O'Day, catch Deacon White and owner Jacob Ruppert.  As the New York Times (HERE) puts it, "All three died in the 1930s and were voted in by the veterans committee in December. As a result, baseball will hold its annual Hall of Fame ceremony next July in an awkward context — without a single living honoree on stage."

Craig Biggio received 388 votes today and he was on top, but it wasn't enough. When it came to guys like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, Bonds was on 36.2% of the ballots and Clemens has 37.6%.

It's a weird day.  I always get psyched watching the guys who we watched as kids get voted in.  I, of course have been preaching about how much I'd love to see Pete Rose get inducted. 

It's time. He's paid his dues, he's taken his lumps and when he played the game, he played harder than anyone I ever saw.  Read ENOUGH'S ENOUGH. TIME FOR PETE ROSE TO GO TO COOPERSTOWN for my opinion on that.

(In Photo: Lou Brock 1985)
Last year I loved seeing Barry Larkin standing up there and years ago as a kid, I was lucky enough to be at the Hall of Fame when Lou Brock was inducted. I honestly thought Craig Biggio would have been voted in.  He wasn't. I was surprised. Again... seeing these players get voted in is always a thrill.  But not today.  Today, the Hall of Fame elected Nothing, no one and it's an odd day.

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ENOUGH'S ENOUGH. TIME FOR PETE ROSE TO GO TO COOPERSTOWN

If Barry Larkin, one of the most respected ballplayers in the game, can give huge compliments to the all-time hit king Pete Rose, then we really need to think about how idiotic it is to shun Rose from the Hall of Fame any longer.  Time has passed, the once most imitated ballplayer of the 1970's needs to be put on the ballot...Pete's taken his lumps...it's time.

Here's what Barry Larkin said of Rose during his Hall of Fame speech, a speech that was supposed to be all about Barry Larkin: "

"I wouldn't be in the big leagues without Pete Rose...Thank you Pete Rose. I love you man.”

Larkin also credited Rose for so much while they were with the Reds organization together. According to USA Today's piece: "Larkin credited Rose, who was in Cooperstown signing autographs, for talking with him in 1987 about "the pressures -- things that come along with being a (Cincinnati native) playing in Cincinnati."

This is a guy that played for and wanted to be like Pete Rose.  This is a guy that learned from Pete Rose, admired him and appreciated him.  Yes, Pete Rose gambled on baseball, and I'm not going to sit here and try to pinpoint when he did it and when he didn't.  I know it took place as a manager and that's pitiful, but it's also 2012 and let's face it...Pete Rose IS baseball, yet baseball turned it's back on him. 

He was nicknamed "Charlie Hustle" for a reason, he played hard. As I've told you before, I briefly lived near Cincinnati growing up and everyone, including 5 year old me, understood what the Big Red Machine meant to the game of baseball.  Rose was a huge part of that team and all his hard work and dedication to baseball was because he loved the game.  He broke records and played hard. He didn't bet on how many hits he would get, but he got them to become the all time hits leader in the whole game...4256.

The point is we are about to enter this "World of the Steroid era", and we are being ridiculous actually, trying to think about how the steroid era is going to affect future voting for the Hall of Fame. We are literally trying to do this logically, like it makes sense that all these guys that may or may not have "dabbled" in PEDs should be voted in or not. I don't get it. They actually cheated too, remember? They enhanced their bodies to hit more and better than others.  Yet, these guys are the ones being considered for the Hall of Fame, a special group of elite players in the whole game! What? Well, if you're going to do that, I have news for you, Pete Rose IS elite too, when he played the game.  Pete Rose didn't "juice", yet he's the one shunned.  I don't get it.

Think of it this way, the Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire's, the Sammy Sosa's and Rafael Palmeiro's are the guys under a cloud of suspicion for PEDs and we are actually going to figure out how to vote for these guys. Sadly, eventually all of them will go to the Hall of Fame, but Pete never will.  Yup, there have been op-ed's from people smarter than me saying, "How will the writer's vote in the steroid era?", yet God forbid someone says Pete Rose, you quickly hear a "He's banned," and they move on.  Well, let's not move on any longer.

Let me just say this, in my own humble opinion.... it's over. Pete Rose has done his time and sure, it's wasn't the smarting thing to do, cheating on baseball, but so did all these other guys, yet, they're being considered.  I believe it's time to bring Pete Rose back into the discussion, let's bring Pete Rose back to baseball.  It's time ladies and gentlemen... it's time Bud. No one knows that better than Barry Larkin. So, if baseball respects Larkin that much, than they need to also respect his words about one of the greatest hitters of all-time. Peter Rose...that's my take.

On a side note, Pete Rose was in Cooperstown yesterday, just a few blocks away from the Hall of Fame.  Like I said earlier he was signing autographs. 

 

Come on Baseball, bring Pete back!

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BARRY LARKIN & RON SANTO ENTER THE HALL

I just wanted to say Congratulations to both Barry Larkin and Ron Santo for being voted in the Baseball Hall of Fame today, a beautiful day.

I watched Barry Larkin play and before Derek Jeter, there was no shortstop that I admired more...Cal Ripken Jr is also included in my list of course.  They are all professionals, and all played like the game they were in was their last.  Love the passion and because of guys like these, so many others fell in love with the game.

I was alittle young to see Santo play, but Lord knows this Hall ceremony is long overdue. It's just a damn shame Ron wasn't here to see it.  I know he's looking down right now, seeing Lou Piniella, who is in attendance today (Read HERE) and seeing old teammates and the Hall of Fame itself and he's thinking, "I put on that Cubs cap everyday believing... and I never stopped."  I believe that.

Look, I'm not going to do what others are doing today, comparing these players with other players in the Hall of Fame. That's another debate for another day. Today is about Larkin and Santo.  It's a special day and I don't want to ruin it. 

Congrats to Mr. Larkin and the Santo family...today is a wonderful day for baseball.

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WHY BARRY LARKIN DESERVES THE HALL NOD

When I was a kid, I lived in Kentucky for a very brief time. While there, we'd travel to the King's Island Amusement Park in Ohio for family trips. To tell you the truth, I wasn't even sure it was still around until I just did a search... it is... how cool. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is one thing I remember most was there were a ton of Reds fans at the park. I grew up a Yankee fan in New York and yes, I was young, but I remember the pinstripes and the players. For those couple years in Kentucky, it was like culture shock because we were New Yorkers, clearly in another world. It was the mid-70's so the Big Red Machine was huge and it was before the Yankees won in 1977 and 1978.I remember falling in love with the way Pete Rose played the game and I loved the hustle. Even at that age, you knew what winning was all about and Rose did it the best. When we moved back to New York in 1978, the Yankees were winning again, winning back to back championships and clearly, I was home again, announcing to the world that Ron Guidry, a lefty like myself, was my idol. What can I say, the Yankees were in my blood, I was over the Big Red Machine.

Which brings me to today. Barry Larkin was a terrific ballplayer and leader for the Cincinnati Reds when he played with them from 1986-2004. We here at Bleeding Yankee Blue want to congratulate him for being voted into the Hall of Fame...it's an amazing achievement and we love it. Read about it HERE. I say this because for me personally, I will always have a fondness for Cincinnati and it's team, because of those fans I saw at King's Island and because I loved Rose's determination. I'm not a fan of the Reds, I'm a fan of the New York Yankees and baseball first, then the Reds. Cincinnati is a true baseball town, just ask Paul O'Neill, and Larkin played the game better than many. He was voted in by nearly 86% of the Baseball Writers' Association of America's ballots. He has terrific numbers, provided leadership on the field and he deserves it. Bravo.

Two other ballplayers, Yankees, Bernie Williams(who received 9.6%) and Don Mattingly (who received 17.6%) were also in the running. I am a believer that Bernie Williams will one day get into the Hall of Fame. I pray that one day Donnie Baseball makes it there too. It was totally unfortunate what happened to Donnie during his career and having it cut short nearly shattered the dreams of all of us who watched a true throwback breakdown before our eyes. Donnie deserves to get voted into the Hall of Fame for his heart and leadership alone and I hope one day it happens for him. Until then though, we here at BYB do the right thing... we congratulate the other baseball greats who made it there first... guys like Barry Larkin.

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