The HyperTexts
Should Pete Rose be in the Baseball Hall of Fame?
Should Pete Rose be in the Baseball Hall of Fame, even though he broke the rules and gambled on baseball by betting on his own team?
Yes, and here's why ...
PETE ROSE'S CASE FOR THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME
by Michael R. Burch
First, persecuting an elderly man to the grave and beyond makes absolutely no sense. Whatever happened to the punishment fitting the crime? Is that American? Is that Christian, for
those who consider the United States a Christian nation? Is that the best we can do?
Today Rose is an elder statesman. Why continue the persecution when he poses no danger to anyone?
As for Pete Rose's gambling: the New York Times investigated the
matter, as did the baseball commissioner's office. Those investigations
confirmed that all known bets placed by Rose were on his team, to win. The NYT
also revealed that on his largest bets of $2,500, Rose only won an abysmal 7.2%,
so he was obviously NOT rigging games. Rather, he was losing
his ass 92.8% of the time on his biggest bets! All the talk about what Rose "must have done" or
"might have done" is vastly unfair, because we know what really happened.
Rose had
a gambling addiction, he was betting on his team to win, and he was losing so
much money that no one in their right mind would have used his bets as "tips."
Yes, he broke the rules, but in reality the only person he hurt was
himself. Rose's bookies were laughing all the way to the bank, and there was no way
they were going to use his disastrous losing bets as "tips." And there has been
vast hypocrisy, because as I explain below, some of the biggest
names in the Baseball Hall of Fame did far worse than Rose betting on his
team to win. Those names include megastars Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker and Rogers Hornsby.
But first let's quickly consider Pete Rose's credentials for the Hall of Fame:
• Rose is the all-time leader in hits, times-on-base, games played, winning games played, plate appearances and at-bats.
• Rose is the only major league baseball player to have appeared in 500 or more games at five different positions (1B, 2B, 3B, RF, LF) and he was an all-star 17 times at those
positions. It was Rose's versatility and unselfishness that allowed the Cincinnati Reds' "Great Eight" to play together, when he shifted to third base to make room in the outfield for George
"The Destroyer" Foster.
• Rose had won two Gold Gloves in the outfield and may have sacrificed up to 20 career WAR by playing out of position (more on this later).
• And while he is not usually considered a slugger, Rose has the most extra-base hits and total bases by a switch hitter, and he also holds the NL record for doubles.
Rose
has more total bases than immortal sluggers like Lou Gehrig, Mel Ott, Mickey Mantle and Jimmy Foxx.
• There's a tendency these days for alleged "baseball experts" to dismiss Rose
as "just a singles hitter" and "not dynamic." But nothing could be further from
the truth. In his prime, from 1965 to 1976, Rose was a top three MLB player,
trailing only Hall-of-Famers Joe Morgan and Carl Yastrzemski in fWAR (and Rose
was in a near-tie with Yaz). During that period Rose had more fWAR than Hank
Aaron, Johnny Bench, Willie Stargell, Ron Santo, Brooks Robinson, Reggie
Jackson, Willie McCovey, Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, Billy Williams and
Harmon Killebrew. They were all dynamic players, so obviously Rose was also.
• Rose is the #29 player of all time according to bWARP. If he had played his
best defensive position, left field, for the first 14-15 years of his MLB
career, I estimate that Rose would have been a top 30 player according to bWAR
and fWAR also.
• Rose was also highly durable, holding the MLB record of 17 seasons appearing in 150 or more games.
• And he was remarkably consistent, holding the MLB record with ten seasons with 200 or more hits.
• Rose was the NL rookie of the year in 1963, the NL MVP in 1973, and the World Series MVP in 1975.
• Rose finished in the NL's top 25 in batting 17 times, and in the top 25 in OBP a remarkable 20 times. Hell, at age 44, he was on base nearly 200 times, with 86 walks, a .395 OBP and eight steals
while only being caught once. That year, his walks and OBP both ranked fourth in the NL. That's insane!
Thus it is absolutely ridiculous to keep Rose out of the Baseball Hall of Fame, especially considering some of the people currently enshrined (explained in detail below). For people with short attention
spans or little time to spare, I will begin with a quick list of reasons Rose belongs in the HOF:
• Based on his performance on the field and his impact on baseball history, Rose clearly belongs in the HOF.
• Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker, two of the HOF's biggest names, rigged a game, then bet on it.
• Rogers Hornsby, another of the HOF's biggest stars, was sued for nearly $100,000 by his bookie.
• Dizzy Dean, another heavy gambler, was an unindicted co-conspirator in a Detroit mob gambling case.
• Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays were banned by MLB for gambling associations, yet remain in the HOF.
• John McGraw was arrested for public gambling; his bookie was Arnold Rothstein of Black Sox infamy.
• Rube Waddell, a star pitcher beset by money problems, was accused of taking a $17,000 bribe (more than his salary) to sit out the 1905 World Series.
• Leo Durocher was suspended for a year due to gambling debts and associations with known gamblers.
• Thus some of the HOF's biggest names—Cobb, Speaker, Hornsby, Dean, Mantle and Mays—were linked to gambling.
The HOF has never been a hall of angels. It is hypocritical and unfair to single out Rose, considering the list above. And there are more to follow, with supporting evidence.
I have heard the excuse voiced that Cobb and Speaker are different from Rose because the rules were changed after they fixed a game, but that flies in the face of reason.
First, gambling was illegal back then, and everyone knew it was
illegal. The 1919 Black Sox scandal occurred before the rule
change, and yet it was still a shocking scandal and the players involved were
all banned for life. So that excuse makes no sense. Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker,
Rogers Hornsby and Dizzy Dean were breaking the law. MLB doesn't need rules that
prohibit murder because we have laws that prohibit murder. Everyone knows murder
is against the law. Back then, everyone knew gambling was against the law, and
players were regularly banned if they were caught gambling or associating with
known gamblers. At least 16 individuals were banned from the majors prior to the
1920 rule changes: Thomas Devyr, Ed Duffy and William Wansley in 1865 for
associating with known gamblers; John Radcliff in 1874 for attempting to bribe
umpire Billy McLean; George Bechtel in 1876 (never reinstated); Jim Devlin,
George Hall, Al Nichols and Bill Craver in 1877 for conspiring to throw games
(never reinstated); Lip Pike in 1881; umpire Dick Higham in 1882 for association
with a known gambler and game-rigging (never reinstated); Joseph Marie Creamer
III in 1908 for attempting to bribe umpire Bill Klem; Jack O'Connor and Harry
Howell in 1910 for attempting to fix the outcome of the AL batting title for Nap
Lajoie over Ty Cobb; Hal Chase in 1918 for fixing games, just a year before the
Black Sox scandal; Heine Zimmerman in 1919 was sent home by his manager and
"informally banned," then formally banned in 1921.
The fact that players were being banned for fixing games in 1918 and 1919 and
that Heine Zimmerman was formally banned retroactively after the 1920 rule
changes completely destroys the argument that Cobb and Speaker should get a free
pass.
Second, if the date of the rule changes made a difference, Shoeless Joe Jackson
should obviously be in the Hall of Fame, since he did what he did prior to 1920.
Third, the punishment should fit the crime. There is no evidence that Pete Rose
hurt anyone other than himself. Persecuting him to the grave and beyond makes no
sense because "two wrongs don't make a right." He didn't throw games. He didn't
fix games. He was a lousy better no one in their right mind would use as a
reference.
Also, the hypocrisy is palpable because MLB itself has gambling ties. In 2018, MLB Commissioner Rob
Manfred announced that MGM Resorts would become the first "Official Gaming
Partner of Major League Baseball." MGM began advertising its casinos and resorts
on MLB Network, MLB.com and the MLB At Bat app. In return for the advertising
loot, MGM was given access to MLB’s official statistics for its oddsmakers. The
data included "enhanced statistics" provided to MGM on an exclusive basis by
MLB. It was like a prostitute getting in bed with a rich john and reserving
special tricks for him alone.
MLB began
abetting betting, pardon the pun.
The one thing MLB abhorred the most, it now shamelessly whored. Prostitutes
are honest about what they do. They have sex to make money and don't pretend to
be virgins. But MLB is a shameless whore pretending to be a virgin. MLB now
rakes in millions from gambling while
hypocritically singling out an elderly man who is no danger to anyone, as if
he's the "bad guy."
MLB is now addicted to gambling, the one thing it claimed to abhor above all
other sins and crimes. Who did the worse thing: Pete Rose by betting on his team
and losing, or MLB by getting in bed with the bookies and offering them special
services?
How deep and shameful is MLB's hypocrisy? Very deep and very shameful. MLB
banned two of its greatest players for merely
greeting and shaking hands with people at casinos. Willie Mays was banned after
he signed a contract to be a part-time "goodwill ambassador" for an Atlantic
City casino. MLB Commissioner Bowie Kuhn forced Mays out of his hitting
instructor job with the Mets and banned him from working in the majors, saying,
"A casino is no place for a baseball hero and Hall of Famer." Four years later
Mickey Mantle was approached by another Atlantic
City casino for a similar "goodwill ambassador" position and was inclined to
take it. Mantle described the job: "People have this picture of me standing
outside the casino yelling, ‘Come on in and gamble,’ but in my job I do things
for the March of Dimes and the Special Olympics. You know, what I do is not
really bad." Kuhn nonetheless warned Mantle that he too would be banned if he
took the job. Mantle called Kuhn's position "stupid" and took the job anyway.
Kuhn banned him too.
A casino is no place for baseball players to shake hands, but oddly a casino is
a place for billionaire owners to vastly increase their wealth!
The MLB position is that of a madam who makes millions from prostitution while
pretending to be a paragon of virtue and lashing out at anyone who violates her
pristine "morals."
REVENGE OF BASEBALL'S MORALITY BEAN COUNTERS
Baseball's "morality" bean counters would
have us believe that of all the men who ever played in the majors and excelled,
Pete Rose is the absolute worst. But the Cooperstown Hall of Fame is no hall of
angels!
Robert W. Cohen, the author of
Baseball Hall of Fame—or Hall of Shame? asked rhetorically:
"Baseball has always had some form of hypocrisy when it comes to its exalted
heroes. In theory, when it comes to these kinds of votes, it’s true that
character should matter, but once you’ve already let in Ty Cobb, how can you
exclude anyone else?"
For those who claim Stump was inaccurate, it really doesn't matter because there
are many independent sources, including newspaper articles, Cobb's arrest
records and convictions, the statements of other players, and Cobb's own words.
If we ignore everything Stump wrote, we still have a picture of a misanthrope
and possible sociopath. In 1908, Cobb attacked a black laborer who complained
when Cobb stepped into freshly poured asphalt; Cobb was found guilty of battery,
but the sentence was suspended. In 1909, Cobb was arrested for pulling out a
penknife and slashing a night watchman. Cobb pleaded guilty to assault but
apparently got off by paying a fine, probably because he was a baseball star.
The rest of us would have ended up behind bars. In 1912, Cobb climbed into the
stands to assaulted a heckler, Claude Lucker, who had lost his hands in an
accident. Fans admonished Cobb for beating up a defenseless man, but he said he
didn't care if he had no feet as well. Cobb was suspended for attacking Lucker.
In 1914, Cobb was arrested for pulling a revolver during an argument at a
Detroit butcher shop. Once again Cobb got off with a fine. In 1917, Cobb spiked
Buck Herzog, started a brawl, and had to be removed from a spring training game
by the police. Cobb then invited Herzog to his hotel room to finish the fight,
poured water on the floor, then wore shoes with leather soles to give him the
footing advantage. The fight lasted 30 minutes with Herzog getting the worst of
it. After retirement, Cobb beat his son with a whip for flunking out of
Princeton. And so on. Regardless of what Stump wrote, there is ample evidence
that Cobb was a violent man with serious "issues." Accusing Stump of some sort
of vendetta does not make all the other evidence vanish, although apparently
some Cobb fans live in that sort of denial.
And Cobb is just one of several loutish members of the HOF.
Bill Pennington observed in "Hall of Fame Has Always Made Room for Infamy" that
any attempt to draw "an integrity line in the sand is a tenuous stance at a Hall
of Fame with a membership that already includes multiple virulent racists,
drunks, cheats, brawlers, drug users and at least one acknowledged sex addict."
Yes, plus at least one drug runner, since Orlando Cepeda was caught with 150
pounds of marijuana and served nearly a year in prison. And at least three wife
beaters.
But what if the Hall of Fame only draws the line at gambling?
Is gambling
baseball's unforgivable sin? Can that sin be used to treat Pete Rose and
Shoeless Joe Jackson like pariahs? No, because Ty Cobb was accused of conspiring with Tris
Speaker to fix a game in order to get player incentive bonuses. Once
the game had been rigged, they bet on the results. What they did was far worse
than Rose betting on his own team. So if Cobb and Speaker aren't going to be
booted from the HOF, then Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe should be admitted...
THE FIX IS IN: A TIMELINE OF HOW TY COBB AND TRIS SPEAKER FIXED A GAME
by Michael R. Burch
Sept. 25, 1919: According to letters in the possession of Dutch Leonard, a
Detroit pitcher at that time, Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker fixed, then bet on a
late-season game played between the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians on
Sept. 25, 1919. This was just prior to the infamous Black Sox scandal that would
soon rock the baseball world. The proximity of the two events suggests that such
fixes were more than "blue moon" events in 1919. At the time Tris Speaker was
the player-manager of the Cleveland Indians and was in the perfect position to
rig the game. What was the motivation? Money. A third-place finish for the
Tigers would mean a share of the post-season money for the Tigers of around $500
per player. The Indians had just clinched second place and had nothing to play
for. Thus, the fix was on. And once the fix was on, betting on the game would
produce even more money for both sides. According to an article by Dan Holmes on
the subject, Speaker assured Cobb that he "wouldn’t have to worry" about the
outcome of the game. Players involved in the fix included Cobb, Speaker, Leonard
and Smoky Joe Wood. According to Cobb biographer Charles Alexander "the four
agreed that they might as well bet some money on the game. Cobb was to put up
$2,000, Leonard $1,500 and Speaker and Wood $1,000 each. Cobb suggested a park
attendant named Fred West would be a good man to place the bets. But because
Detroit was a 10-7 favorite and because the local bookmakers were unwilling to
handle so much money, West only managed to get down $600 against the bookmakers'
$420 for three betting partners." The Tigers won the game 9-5 in an
"astonishing" one hour and six minutes, as the Indians committed three errors
and Cleveland starter Elmer Myers reportedly "floated" pitches to Detroit
batters.
I have included both letters at the end of this timeline, and they are
VERY DAMNING, since the second letter explains the math of how the
gambling winnings were calculated and divided!
Winter 1919: After the season was over Cobb and Wood wrote letters to Leonard
about the incident, sharing regrets (not remorse as some erroneous reports have
claimed) that they were unable to get their bets down in time and that their
ingenious scam had fizzled.
1921: Ty Cobb becomes the player-manager of the Detroit Tigers, despite being
greatly disliked by many of his teammates. And Dutch Leonard would soon become
one of the disenchanted, if he wasn't before. In the first letter below they
sounded like friends in 1919. But there is the possibility that Leonard felt
Cobb had cheated him out of the real profits from their
scam. Did one of the scammers get scammed?
July 1925: Cobb, now managing the Tigers, left Leonard in a game in which he
surrendered 20 runs to the Philadelphia A's and lost 12-4. Cobb
allegedly laughed at the suggestion that he pull the struggling pitcher.
Philadelphia manager Connie Mack reportedly asked Cobb to take Leonard out,
saying: "You’re killing that boy!" Cobb declined. Leonard lasted just one more
start and was waived. After Cobb had released Leonard he allegedly discouraged
other teams from signing him. Leonard was understandably unhappy and rumors
began to circulate that he was claiming to "have something" on Cobb.
May 1926: Leonard informed Detroit owner Frank Navin in May
of 1926 that he had proof, in the form of two
letters, that Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker had conspired to fix the 1919 game.
Leonard was about to sell the letters to a newspaper, but Navin bought the
letters for $20,000 (a huge sum of money at the time) in order to keep them from
going public. Navin at some point gave the letters to American League president
Ban Johnson.
Oct. 1926: Around this time there were two secret meetings. The first secret
meeting was between baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis and
Cobb, Speaker and Wood. The second secret meeting was between AL directors, and
this one apparently led to the unpublicized resignations of Cobb and Speaker. So
they were not found "guiltless" as some reports now insist.
Apparently, Ban Johnson told Cobb and Speaker they would have to retire. In
exchange, presumably, the story would be kept silent and they could preserve
their dignity and reputations. But Landis and Johnson were not in agreement and
any promises of privacy would soon go up in smoke.
Nov. 2, 1926: Cobb left a letter of resignation at Navin's office on Nov. 2,
1926. The next day he boarded a train for Atlanta, where he informed
the press that he had resigned. Shortly thereafter, on Nov. 29, 1926, Speaker's
resignation was also announced, without explanation. The retirement of two great
players at the same time was surely not a coincidence. How was this not an
admission of guilt?
Dec. 1926: When the press broke the story in December 1926, it created a
scandal. Cobb was once again summoned to the office of commissioner Landis.
However, Leonard declined to appear and testify at this hearing, saying he
feared a physical attack from "that wild man." He also observed that people got
knocked off in Chicago. If the bets in question had been intended to rip off the
Chicago mob, his life might have been in danger. Would the mob make an example
of him? In the absence of Leonard's testimony, Landis found Cobb and Speaker not
guilty, according to some reports. Or did he, since Cobb and Speaker were not
reinstated at that time?
Dec. 21, 1926: Landis released more than 100 pages of testimony documenting
Leonard’s claims. (That's a lot of documentation if nothing untoward happened.)
The release of the letters and Leonard’s charges became a gigantic news story,
almost as big as the Black Sox scandal itself, or perhaps bigger in a way
because of the titanic names involved. Congress got involved. Sports sections
were overwhelmed. Petitions were circulated and protests arranged. There were
furious editorials: some castigating Cobb and Speaker but more attacking Leonard
for impugning their good names. West and Cobb claimed the bet mentioned in the
letters was a horse racing bet. That was patently absurd because the Wood letter
specifically mentioned a bet "on Detroit." Meanwhile Swede Risburg claimed the
White Sox had bribed Detroit players to throw consecutive doubleheaders played
on September 2 and 3 of 1917. And the White Sox had swept all four games: 7-2,
6-5, 7-5, 14-8. The Tigers committed nine errors and the White Sox stole 19
bases during the series, lending plausibility to the charges.
Jan. 16, 1927: Ban Johnson made a lengthy statement to the press in which he had
"a complete and utter meltdown." Johnson said he had to "strap" Cobb "as a
father straps an unruly boy." He called Speaker "cute." And it turned out that
most of what he claimed was nonsense. Johnson retired soon after his meltdown.
And he left Landis in a bit of a bind, to put it mildly.
Early 1927: Cobb hired a lawyer and sent threatening letters to Leonard, Landis
and Johnson. Two days after Johnson resigned, Cobb received a "back-channel
invitation" from Landis to unretire. But it seems telling that neither Cobb nor
Speaker were retained by their teams once their eligibility was restored. In
February, Cobb signed with the Philadelphia A’s. Speaker then signed with the
Senators. What sort of pressure, exactly, did Cobb put on Landis? One
possibility I have heard expressed is that Cobb threatened to expose how
prevalent such "fixes" were at the time. Did Cobb decide to fight the charges by threatening to "go public" about the real extent of the game-rigging at that
time? Did Cobb, in effect, "strong-arm" the commissioner and threaten the
integrity of the game, in order to protect his reputation? Without a witness,
did Landis capitulate?
1928: Speaker joins Cobb in Philadelphia. Cobb retires after the 1928 season at
age 41. Speaker retires after the 1928 season at age 40.
1936: Cobb is elected to the Hall of Fame as the leading vote-getter of the
first class, with more votes than Babe Ruth, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson
and Honus Wagner.
1937: Speaker is elected to the Hall of Fame in the second class (ironically,
along with Ban Johnson).
2022: Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson remain pariahs and eternal outcasts, as
far as the Hall of Fame is concerned. Why?
Throwing a game, betting on it when the results were known, then intimidating the
authorities into silence was far worse than anything
Pete Rose ever did. I do not claim to know if the intimidation actually
happened, or, if so, exactly how it was accomplished, but in any case the
resignations of Cobb and Speaker seem to be clear admissions of their guilt.
Thus the first two charges were confirmed by the culprits. And Shoeless Joe
Jackson didn't mastermind the Black Sox game-rigging, while Cobb and Speaker
were the masterminds of their game-rigging. It remains questionable if Shoeless
Joe participated in the Black Sox fix, since he played exceptionally well in the
1919 World Series. But in any case, it makes no sense to persecute him to the
grave and beyond, when Cobb and Speaker admitted their guilt with their
resignations. And Pete Rose is the least of the four, in terms of damage to the
game, since there's no evidence he did anything worse than bet on his own team
to win.
These are the two letters Dutch Leonard turned over to Frank Navin in return for
$20,000:
The Ty Cobb letter:
Augusta Ga., October 23, 1919
Dear Dutch,
Well, old boy, guess you are out in California by this time and enjoying life.
I arrived home and found Mrs. Cobb only fair, but the baby girl was fine, and at
this time Mrs. Cobb is very well, but I have been very busy getting acquainted
with my family and have not tried to do any correspondence, hence my delay.
Wood and myself were considerably disappointed in our business proposition, as
we had $2,000 to put into it, and the other side quoted us $1,400, and when we
finally secured that much money it was about 2 o’clock and they refused to deal
with us, as they had men in Chicago to take up the matter with and they had no
time, so we completely fell down and of course we felt badly over it.
Everything was open to Wood and he can tell you about it when we get together.
It was quite a responsibility and I don’t care for it again, I can assure you.
Well, I hope you found everything in fine shape at home and all your troubles
will be little ones. I have made this year’s share of world series in cotton and
expect to make more.
I thought the White Sox should have won but I am satisfied they were too
overconfident. Well old scout, drop me a line when you can. We have had some
dandy fishing since I arrived home.
With kindest regards to Mrs. Leonard, I remain,
Sincerely, TY
A couple of brief explanations, provided by Joe Posnanski: "The $2,000 and
$1,400 figures were — according to Leonard and backed up by various research —
the 7-10 odds they could get on the Indians-Tigers games in question. The
details about "men in Chicago" almost certainly refers the money men behind the
bookies. What Cobb was saying — and what Wood’s letter confirmed — is that the
bookies simply did not have time to get the Chicago mob to to take such an
enormous bet. One other fascinating bit in the letter is the part about the
White Sox — soon to be known as the Black Sox — and their losing of the 1919
World Series. Cobb would admit to laying two baseball bets in his entire life,
on Chicago in Games 1 and 2 of the 1919 World Series. He says he lost $150 and
never again bet on a baseball game." Let it also be noted that in his letter
Cobb admitted (1) betting twice on the 1919 World Series and (2) a clear effort
to bet a huge sum of money for that time on a game he was playing in. If he
wasn't a betting man, why would he have bet so much money on that game, unless
he knew he had a sure winner?
The Smoky Joe Wood letter is more specific:
Cleveland, Ohio, Friday.
Dear Friend Dutch,
Enclosed please find certified check for sixteen hundred and thirty dollars
($1,630.00).
The only bet West could get down was $600 against $400 (10 to 7). Cobb did not
get up a cent. He told us that and I believed him. Could have put up some at 5
to 2 on Detroit but did not as that would make us put up $1,000 to win $400.
We won the $420. I gave West $30, leaving $390 or $130 for each of us. Would not
have cashed your check at all, but West thought he could get it up at 10 to 7,
and I was going to put it all up at those odds. We would have won $1,750 for the
$2,500 if we could have placed it.
If we ever have another chance like this we will know enough to try to get down
early.
Let me hear from you, Dutch. With all good wishes to Mrs. Leonard and yourself,
I am,
JOE WOOD
Comments provided by Joe Posnanski: "OK, a couple more points of clarification.
It seems that Leonard had put up a $1,500 stake — that’s why he got a $1,630
check (his $1,500 plus his $130 in winnings). Joe Wood tried to get the whole
amount down at those 7-10 odds but West (Fred West, a Detroit clubhouse
attendant who Cobb had suggested for the job) could only get the bookies to take
$600. That bet won $420 and, after paying off West, it left $130 for three
people. Wood was one. Leonard was two. There was no mention of who the third
person was and it remains a mystery. Leonard filled the void in his charge: He
said the third person was Tris Speaker. But you will notice that Speaker’s name
was not mentioned in either letter. There was, in fact, no evidence connecting
Speaker to any of this except for the word of Dutch Leonard."
OTHER HALL-OF-FAME GAMBLERS
Rogers Hornsby was sued by his bookie for not paying
nearly $100,000 in losses, and was traded several times because of his
out-of-control gambling.
Dizzy Dean, another heavy
gambler, was an unindicted co-conspirator in a Detroit mob gambling
case involving the notorious game-fixer Donald "Dice" Dawson.
John McGraw was arrested for public gambling in 1904; his bookie was Arnold
Rothstein of Black Sox infamy.
The perpetually broke Rube Waddell was accused of taking a $17,000 bribe to sit
out the 1905 World Series. (That was more than his salary.)
Mickey Mantle was banned from baseball in 1983 for his association with
gambling as a casino greeter, but he remains in the Hall of Fame.
Leo Durocher was accused of "slimy underhand transactions" with gamblers.
Durocher's shady friends included Meyer Boston, Memphis Engelberg, Sleepout
Louie, Cigar Charlie and the Dancer. Bookies roamed Durocher's clubhouse; the
Dodgers' locker room was described as an "open sewer."
Other "Morality" Issues
And there are, of course, worse things than gambling ...
Cap Anson has been described as a "relentless" racist who refused to take
the field against black players and helped perpetuate the color barrier.
Baseball historian John Thorn said: "Cap Anson helped make sure baseball’s color
line was established in the 1880s. He was relentless in that cause."
Cap Anson,
Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby and Tris Speaker have been accused of belonging to the KKK.
"Rogers Hornsby and Tris Speaker, fellow stars from the old Confederate states,
told me they were members of the Ku Klux Klan," wrote Fred Lieb in his
memoir Baseball As I Have Known It. "I do not know whether Cobb was a
Klansman, but I suspect he was."
Charles Comiskey "outed" a black player, Charlie Grant, who had been posing as a
Cherokee.
Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis made sure the color barrier stayed intact during
his long tenure as the Major League Baseball Commissioner from 1921 to 1944. Jay
Jaffe noted that Landis wrote MLB's morals clause but was "a man so brimming
with integrity, sportsmanship and character that he spent his 24-year tenure
upholding the game’s color line."
Tom Yawkey was a notorious racist whose Boston Red Sox were the last MLB team to
integrate, in 1959.
George Weiss, a Yankees general manager, was also slow to integrate his team,
dragging it out until 1955.
Juan Marichal clubbed John Roseboro over the head with a bat, opening a
gash that required 14 stitches.
Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Paul Waner, Grover Cleveland "Pete" Alexander and Hack Wilson
were notorious drinkers accused of playing under the influence of alcohol.
(Casey Stengel called Waner "graceful" because he could slide without breaking
the liquor bottle in his hip pocket.)
Tim "Rock" Raines lived up to his nickname
by stashing a cocaine rock in his uniform. (He would slide headfirst to avoid
breaking it.)
Ferguson Jenkins was arrested by customs officials for having
cocaine in his luggage.
Orlando Cepeda served ten months in prison for smuggling 150
pounds of marijuana. He was a drug runner. No one smokes 150 pounds of
marijuana.
Paul Molitor has been linked to recreational drug use.
Kirby Puckett, Roberto
Alomar and Rogers Hornsby were accused of domestic abuse.
Rogers Hornsby was accused of
womanizing, abusing three wives, and multiple cases of reckless driving,
including running over an elderly man!
Early Wynn, Don Drysdale, Bob Gibson and Pedro Martinez were notorious and
feared headhunters. Wynn confessed that he would throw at his own grandmother,
while Drysdale said that he would throw a second knockdown pitch to make sure
the batter knew the first one was not accidental.
Gaylord Perry doctored baseballs with spit, mud, sweat, Vaseline and K-Y Jelly, which
he admitted in his autobiography Me and the Spitter.
Don Sutton was nicknamed "Black and Decker" for his use of sandpaper and other
illegal items.
Whitey Ford used his wedding ring to cut baseballs and also employed baby oil,
turpentine and resin.
George Brett famously cheated with pine tar, then had a tantrum when he was
caught.
Wade Boggs admitted being a sex addict to Barbara Walters, on national
television.
How many steroid users will end up in the Hall of Fame? How many amphetamine users already
belong, since
Hank Aaron, Johnny Bench, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Mike Schmidt, Willie
Stargell
and Frank Thomas have been linked to "greenies"?
What did Pete Rose do to warrant
eternal damnation, really? He bet on his own team, is that so terrible? Why not let him be where he belongs, with other
stars who were judged strictly by their performance on the field!
How Did Pete Rose Finish with Nearly as Many Total Bases as Babe Ruth?
Mickey Mantle once mocked Pete Rose for hitting so many singles. But Rose
laughed last, finishing with 1,241 more total bases than the Mick.
Rose also finished with more than 1,000 more total bases than immortal sluggers like
Rogers Hornsby, Al Simmons, Joe DiMaggio, Ernie Banks, Sammy Sosa, Mike Schmidt,
Willie McCovey, Willie Stargell and Harmon Killebrew. As a matter of fact, Rose finished with
nearly as many total bases as the Sultan of Swat himself, Babe Ruth! How did he
do it?
Well, first, Rose didn't just hit singles. He holds the NL record for
doubles (746) and the MLB record for total bases by a switch-hitter (5,752),
easily besting Mantle. Rose had 11 seasons with 270 or more total bases; Mantle
had 10 such seasons. But while Mantle had his last superior season at age 32,
the highly durable Rose excelled for another decade. From age 35 to 45, when most players are over the
hill or out to farm, Rose had 1,712 hits and 2,202 total bases. Either or both
of those numbers exceed the entire careers of celebrated
players like Hank Greenberg, Bob Meusel, Mickey Cochrane, Lefty O'Doul, Jackie
Robinson, Joe Gordon, Elston Howard, Gavvy Cravath, Marty Marion, Hack Wilson, Charlie Keller, Ralph Kiner,
Red Rolfe, Frank Thomas, Mark McGwire, Pedro Guerrero, Kirk Gibson, Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers and Frank Chance. Want to hear a
truly crazy stat? Rose nearly out-hit the famous Hall-of-Fame double-play combination of Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance by himself!
So please give the
man his due: in the most competitive of games, stats-wise, Rose is the all-time
leader in seven major categories. He was the leader of the arguably greatest
team of all time: the 1975-1976 Cincinnati Reds. He then led the Philadelphia
Phillies to their first World Series title at age 39. He really was "Charlie
Hustle" and he was still a productive player at age 44, as the stats prove.
This comment by Joe Morgan explains the mystery of Pete Rose's
outlandish production: "Pete played the game, always, for keeps. Every game was
the seventh game of the World Series. He had this unbelievable capacity to roar
through 162 games as if they were each that one single game." And this is
why no one who knows Rose thinks he threw games. It wasn't in his nature to do
anything but try to win every game with every ounce of his being. Yes, he had a
gambling problem—a sickness, an addiction. Yes, he broke
the rules. But there is no evidence and no reason to believe that he wasn't
always trying to win, and was betting on his team, never against it.
Pete Rose's Consistent Greatness
Pete Rose was consistently great for more than 20 years. For evidence, let's
consider how many times he finished in the top ten in the following categories:
Plate Appearances (19 seasons), #1 all-time
Times on Base (18 seasons), #1 all-time
At-Bats (18 seasons), #1 all-time
Hits (17 seasons), #1 all-time
Singles (17 seasons), #1 all-time
Doubles (15 seasons), #3 all-time
Runs (15 seasons), #4 all-time
Batting Average (13 seasons), #8 all-time in a tie with baseball immortals Rod
Carew, Roberto Clemente, Rogers Hornsby, Wee Willie Keeler, Nap Lajoie and Ted
Williams
Pete Rose is #4 all-time in postseason WPA (Win
Probability Added) and cWPA (Championship Win Probability Added).
Pete Rose is #10 all-time in runs created, ahead of Rickey Henderson, Tris
Speaker, Carl Yastrzemski, Jimmie Foxx, Frank Robinson, Mel Ott, Mickey Mantle
and Rogers Hornsby.
Pete Rose is #29 all-time in offensive WAR, ahead of Dan Brouthers, Manny
Ramirez, Wade Boggs, Rod Carew, Gary Sheffield, Frank Thomas, Sam Crawford,
Charlie Gehringer, Reggie Jackson, Harry Heilmann and Paul Molitor.
Pete Rose is #33 all-time in WPA (Win Probability Added), just behind baseball
immortals Joe DiMaggio and Mike Schmidt and ahead of Tris Speaker, Roberto
Clemente, Al Simmons, Paul Waner, Reggie Jackson and George Brett.
Pete Rose's Career WAR is Undervalued
Pete Rose has 79.7 career WAR, which is more than the career WAR of Joe
DiMaggio, Brooks Robinson, Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Reggie Jackson, Ozzie
Smith, Frank Thomas, Jim Thome, Paul Waner, and other baseball immortals. But I
believe Rose's WAR would be much higher if he hadn't been so unselfish about
playing wherever his team needed him most. According to dWAR, his best position
was left field. In 1973-1974 when Rose played left field exclusively, he had 1.4
and 1.5 dWAR, respectively. But when he played other positions, his dWAR
suffered and he ended up with career dWAR of -13.2 (negative). It stands to
reason that if Rose had been able to play his best defensive position for most
of his career, his career WAR would have been around 20 points higher.
That would make him a top 20 position player, somewhere close to his teammate
Joe Morgan and players like Albert Pujols, Mike Schmidt, Frank Robinson, Nap
Lajoie and Mel Ott.
But even with all his position changes, Pete Rose was a very capable defender.
He led the NL in fielding percentage at four positions: 1B (.997 in 1980), RF
(.997 in 1970), LF (.994 in 1972 and .997 in 1974), and 3B (.969 in 1976). He
was also second in fielding percentage at 2B (.979 in 1964). Leading the league
in fielding percentage at four positions, and nearly at five, is pretty
remarkable. In the all-time defensive rankings, Rose has the seventh-highest
fielding percentage for a right fielder, and the eleventh-highest fielding
percentage for a left fielder. For three years, 1972-1973-1974, Rose led all NL
left fielders in putouts, assists, range factor and zone runs. In 1968, Rose led
all NL right fielders in assists, and in 1971 he led all NL right fielders in
putouts. In 1965 he led all NL second basemen in putouts. In 1980 he led all NL
first basemen in assists.
Credentials
One way to judge the value of a player is by how many times he makes an all-star
team, how many Gold Gloves he wins, and how many times he places in the MVP
voting. In the following table I "add up" such awards to determine each
of the Great Eight's
"star rating," giving two points for each all-star selection and each finish in
the top 25 in the MVP voting. I have awarded ten extra points for winning the
MVP and five for finishing in the top ten. To balance offense and defense, I
have given two points for each Golden Glove (GG) and one point for every
superior offensive season (SOS) with either a 100+ OPS or
more than 162 total bases (an average of a base per game). On this scale,
0 is average, 1-25 is above average, 26-50 is a star, 50-100 is a superstar, and
anything over 100 is a baseball immortal.
(#1)
Pete Rose: 1 MVP award, 15 MVP nominations with seven top tens, 17 all-star
games, 2 GG, 21 SOS = 134 (immortal)
(#2)
Johnny Bench: 2 MVP awards, 10 MVP nominations with five top tens, 14 all-star
games, 10 GG, 15 SOS = 128 (immortal)
(#3)
Joe Morgan: 2 MVP awards, 7 MVP nominations with five top tens, 10 all-star
games, 5 GG, 19 SOS = 108 (immortal)
(#4a)
Tony Pérez: 7 MVP nominations finishing as high as third with three top tens, 7
all-star games, 17 SOS = 60 (superstar)
(#4b)
George Foster: 1 MVP award, 5 MVP nominations finishing 1-2-3-6-12, 5 all-star
games, 13 SOS = 58 (superstar)
(#4c)
Dave Concepción: 3 MVP nominations finishing as high as fourth with two top
tens, 9 all-star games, 5 GG, 13 SOS = 57 (superstar)
(#7)
Ken Griffey: 2 MVP nominations finishing as high as eighth, 3 all-star games, 16
SOS = 31 (star)
(#8)
Cesar Gerónimo: 1 MVP nomination finishing 25th, 4 GG, 6 SOS = 16 (well
above average)
Pete Rose leads all HOF third basemen in games, plate appearances, at-bats, hits, singles,
doubles, runs, times on base and total bases, and ranks fifth in WAR (79.1) and
JAWS (69.1). If we put him in left field or right field, he still leads the pack
in games, plate appearances, at-bats, hits, singles and times on base, and ranks
in the top ten in the other categories.
More Reasons
Let me also point out that in addition to starring on two World Series winning
teams with the Red in 1975-1976, Pete Rose changed positions yet again, to first
base, then led the 1980 Philadelphia Phillies to the team's first-ever World
Series victory, after a century of futility. Playing at age 39, the
indestructible, indefatigable Rose led the Phillies in games (162), plate
appearances (739) and hits (185). He also led the NL in doubles (42) and HBPs
(6), scored 95 runs, and made the all-star team. In 1981, at age 40, he batted
.325, led the NL in hits, won a silver slugger award, made the all-star team and
finished tenth in the MVP voting. In 1982, at age 42, he again played every game
(162), scored 80 runs, stole 8 bases, and made the all-star team. In 1984 at age
43, rejuvenated by his return to the Reds as a player-manager, in 26 games he
hit .365 with an OPS of .888. In 1985, at freaking age 44, he had 107 hits and
86 walks for an OBP of .395, stole 8 bases while only being caught once, and
made the all-star team. In 1986 at you-gotta-be-kidding-me age 45, he was still
good for better than a base per game, with 52 hits and 30 walks in 72 games, and
stole three bases without being caught. Hank Aaron got 262 hits in his forties.
Rose had 806 hits in his forties. Hell, Rose scored
more runs, 366, in his forties than Aaron had hits. Double hell, Rose even had
more RBIs, 271, than Aaron had hits!
Come on folks, Pete Rose was a baseball freak, a hitting machine, a human
dynamo―"Charlie Hustle!" We have all gambled and done silly and stupid things,
but none of us ever got 806 hits in our forties against the best pitchers in the
world! Bean counters and moralists should have no say in who is eligible for the
Baseball Hall of Fame, and especially not when Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Rogers
Hornsby, Cap Anson, Mickey Mantle and other rouges are enshrined there.
MR. CLUTCH
Per Fangraphs, Pete Rose’s clutch rating of 9.07 is the highest for three
decades, from 1960-1990.
Pete Rose was also clutch in the postseason. He reached the playoffs eight times
and the World series six times, winning three championships with two different
teams, the Reds and the Phillies. Rose had a .321 career batting average in the
postseason, well above his regular-season .303 average, hitting .300 in nine
different series and over .350 in seven of them. This is how Rose raised his
performance in the postseason:
Regular Season: .303 / .375 / .409 / .784
Postseason..….: .321 / .388 / .440 / .828
Pete Rose is #4 all-time in postseason WPA (Win Probability Added), ahead of
Albert Pujols despite Pujols have 60 more postseason at-bats. Rose is also #4 in
cWPA (Championship Win Probability Added), well ahead of “Mr. October” Reggie
Jackson and David Ortiz, despite both of them having more postseason at-bats.
In his World Series MVP effort in 1975, Rose hit .370, had a .485 OBP, and
contributed a critical game-tying single late in the decisive Game Seven. In the
biggest game of his career, Rose was 2-4 with a walk and that all-important RBI.
According to a report by Baseball Prospectus, Rose remained one of MLB’s best
clutch hitters even when well past his prime. Rose ranked in the top 5% of
clutch hitters in 1980, 1982 and 1983 when he was 39, 41 and 42, respectively.
In 1985, when Rose was 44, he was on base 193 times in just 119 games, with a
.395 OBP that was eighth in the NL, and he was 8-1 on steals for an 88.9%
success rate. In his last two seasons, concluding at age 45, Rose was 11-1 on
steals for a 91.7% success rate.
And just in case you're not yet convinced, please consider these facts:
• Pete Rose has more than a thousand total bases more than great sluggers like
Rogers Hornsby, Mickey Mantle, Sammy Sosa, Cap Anson, Al Simmons, and teammates
Tony Pérez and Mike Schmidt.
• Pete Rose had more than a thousand runs more than Steve Garvey, Ron Santo, Keith
Hernandez, Kirby Puckett, Orlando Cepeda, Bill Terry, Johnny Mize, and teammates
Johnny Bench and Ken Griffey Sr.
• Pete Rose has more than a thousand hits more than George Brett, Tony Gwynn, Rod
Carew, Paul Waner, Nap Lajoie, Rogers Hornsby, Al Simmons, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig
and Ted Williams.
• In fact, Pete Rose has more than a thousand hits more than all but twelve
players in baseball history!
• Pete Rose had more than two thousand hits more than hall-of-famers Joe DiMaggio,
Bill Terry, Duke Snider, Chuck Klein, and many others.
• In fact, Pete Rose had nearly two thousand more hits than the average
hall-of-famer (4,256 to 2,402).
• Pete Rose nearly outhit the celebrated hall-of-fame infield trio of
Tinkers-to-Evers-to-Chance by himself (4,256 to 4,623).
• Pete Rose has more than two thousand more plate appearances than all but two
players in baseball history.
• Pete Rose more than doubled the career hits of great hitters like Mike Piazza,
Duke Snider, Dale Murphy, Felipe Alou and Johnny Mize; they would have to clone
themselves and play another career to catch him!
• Pete Rose nearly doubled the doubles of the average hall-of-famer (746 to 411).
• Pete Rose out-doubled Tinkers-to-Evers-to-Chance by himself (746 to 679).
• Pete Rose doubled the doubles of Jim Rice, Bill Terry, Pie Traynor, Nellie Fox,
and many other hall-of-famers.
• Pete Rose hit more home runs than the hall-of-famer
table-setters most like himself: Lou Brock, Tony Gwynn, Rod Carew and Wade
Boggs.
• Pete Rose, due to his ability to draw walks, had a higher
OBP (.375) than similar high batting average hall-of-famers like Edd Roush
(.323), Sam Rice (.322), Pie Traynor (.320), Kirby Puckett (.318), Roberto
Clemente (.317), Zach Wheat (.317), Frankie Frisch (.316), Lloyd Waner (.316),
Paul Molitor (.306), George Brett (.305) and Tony Oliva (.304).
• Most hall-of-famers are sissies compared to Pete Rose: he had nearly seven
thousand more plate appearances than the average inductee (15,890 to 9,026)!
• Pete Rose played in nearly as many winning games as the average hall-of-famer
played total games (1,972 to 2,140)!
• Pete Rose is the all-time leader in games played, winning games played, plate
appearances, at-bats, hits, singles, and total times on base.
• Pete Rose, while often called a "singles hitter," is also the all-time leader in
extra-base hits (1,041) and total bases (5,752) by a switch hitter: more than
Mickey Mantle, Eddie Murray and Chipper Jones.
• Pete Rose was an all-star seventeen times at five different positions. He is the
only player to log 500 games at five different positions. Most players do well
to master one position.
• Pete Rose played seven different positions altogether: 1B, 2B, 3B, RF, CF, LF
and playing-manager with the Reds at the end of his career.
• Pete Rose was the NL rookie of the year, once an all-star starter, and twice a
top-ten MVP candidate at second base (1963-1966).
• Pete Rose was an all-star and a top-ten MVP candidate at left field (1967).
• Pete Rose was twice a gold glove winner and four times an all-star as a
right fielder, although at the time (1968-1971) he also played some center
field.
• Pete Rose was three times an all-star and won the NL MVP award as a left fielder
(1972-1974).
• Pete Rose was four times an all-star and a top MVP candidate as a third baseman
(1975-1978).
• Pete Rose was four times an all-star and an MVP candidate as a first baseman for
the Philadelphia Phillies (1979-1983).
• Pete Rose alternated between first base and left field for the Montreal Expos
(1984).
• Pete Rose acquired a new position (playing manager) for the Reds, and played in
his seventeenth and final all-star game as a first baseman (1984-1986).
There are currently 172 position players in the HOF, not including players who
were elected as managers. Pete Rose has a higher career WAR (79.1) than all but
34 other position players. So he has higher career WAR than 80% of the greatest
hitters ever to play the game. And of course he leads them ALL in games, plate
appearances, at-bats and hits. Rose has higher career WAR than legends of the
game like Joe DiMaggio, Brooks Robinson, Robin Yount, Ozzie Smith, Paul Molitor,
Johnny Bench, Reggie Jackson, Tony Gwynn, Al Simmons, Ryne Sandberg, Ernie
Banks, et al. It is absolutely insane for beancounters to keep Pete Rose out of
the Hall of Fame. Let him in!
The Great Leadoff Debate
Few baseball fans would argue that Johnny Bench was one of the greatest catchers
of all time. Few would contest that Joe Morgan was one of the best second
basemen of all time. And it's hard to argue with Tony Pérez's 1,652 RBI,
Concepción gold gloves and superior offensive stats for a shortstop of his era,
or the reason that George Foster was called the "Destroyer." But for some odd
reason, many baseball fans are all-too-ready to radically undervalue Pete Rose.
Was he one of the two best leadoff men of all time, or does he belong further
down the list? I think it is child's play to prove that Rose is either the best
or second-best leadoff man of all time. First, let's ask: "What is the main goal
of hitting leadoff?" Isn't the goal to get on base and score or help create
runs? Yes, stealing bases is a factor, but would you rather have a leadoff
hitter who steals bases, or one who scores runs in bunches? I think any baseball
coach or manager would chose getting on base and producing runs over steals. So
let's examine the evidence from those angles:
Hits: Pete Rose #1, Craig Biggio #22, Rickey Henderson #23, Ichiro Suzuki #25,
Lou Brock #26, Omar Vizquel #42, Johnny Damon #54, Max Carey #71, Tim Raines
#80, Kenny Lofton #120, Billy Hamilton #198
Times on Base: Pete Rose #1, Rickey Henderson #4, Craig Biggio #19, Tim Raines
#48, Omar Vizquel #50, Lou Brock #60, Johnny Damon #62, Max Carey #69, Ichiro
Suzuki #76, Billy Hamilton #111, Kenny Lofton #120
Total Bases: Pete Rose #8 (just 41 less than Babe Ruth!), Craig Biggio #36,
Rickey Henderson #45, Johnny Damon #72, Lou Brock #69, Ichiro Suzuki #100, Tim
Raines #121, Omar Vizquel #129, Max Carey #151
Runs: Rickey Henderson #1, Pete Rose #6, Craig Biggio #15, Billy Hamilton #27,
Johnny Damon #32, Lou Brock #47, Tim Raines #54, Max Carey #57, Kenny Lofton
#63, Omar Vizquel #81, Ichiro Suzuki #96
Runs Created: Pete Rose #10, Rickey Henderson #11, Craig Biggio #34, Tim Raines
#61, Johnny Damon #73, Lou Brock #85, Ichiro Suzuki #91, Kenny Lofton #116, Max
Carey #136, Omar Vizquel #144, Billy Hamilton #192
WAR: Rickey Henderson 110.8, Pete Rose 79.1, Lou Brock 45.2, Tim Raines 69.1,
Kenny Lofton 68.2, Craig Biggio 65.1, Billy Hamilton 63.3, Ichiro Suzuki 59.0,
Johnny Damon 56.0, Max Carey 54.2, Omar Vizquel 45.3, Lou Brock 45.2
Other leadoff hitters I considered, but who didn't break the top 100 in runs,
include Brady Anderson, Luis Aparicio, Richie Ashburn, Bobby Bonds, Brett
Butler, Bert Campaneris, Vince Coleman, Earle Combs, Dom DiMaggio, Stan Hack,
Harry Hooper, Chuck Knoblauch, Davey Lopes, Pee Wee Reese, Lloyd Waner, Devon
White, Maury Wills, Willie Wilson and Eddie Yost. I also didn't consider players
who spent a lot of time hitting in other positions, such as Wade Boggs, Paul
Molitor and Lou Whitaker. Pete Rose had nearly 3,000 hits batting leadoff, so I
am comparing him to other players who were primarily leadoff hitters.
What these numbers tell us is that there is a considerable gap among leadoff
hitters, after Pete Rose and Rickey Henderson. Rose leads all leadoff hitters in
four categories. Henderson leads in runs and WAR. If you want to claim that
Henderson was the best leadoff man of all time, you have a decent argument,
although Rose leads Henderson by wide margins in hits and total bases. But I
don't think there is much of an argument to choose anyone other than Rose for
the other top slot.
The "eye test" gives me the following ranking: Rose #1, Henderson #2, Biggio #3, Brock #4, Damon #5, Raines #6, Suzuki #7, Carey #8, Vizquel #9,
Lofton #10, Hamilton #11 (BTW, this tends to support Bill James, who has ranked
Biggio much higher than many other baseball gurus)
If we included Boggs and Molitor, they would both be in the top five, but I
don't think they would jump over Rose and Henderson.
I think the 1976 Reds were remarkable because in my
opinion they had the best leadoff hitter of all time playing
third, the best catcher of all time, and the best second baseman of all time. If
they were not the best, they were certainly among the very best. And that is
more remarkable than having power hitters at power positions like first base and
the outfield. Toss in Pérez and Concepción and you easily have the best infield
of all time. Then look at the stats of the outfielders, who were easily the best
outfield in all MLB in 1976. This is just more evidence that the 1976 Reds stand
alone as the best team of position players, from top to bottom, in the history of baseball.
Related Pages: All-Time Cincinnati Reds Baseball Team,
The Greatest Baseball Infields of All Time,
Cincinnati Reds Trivia,
Is Mike Trout the GOAT?,
Best Baseball Nicknames,
Weird Baseball Facts and Trivia,
Baseball Hall of Fame: The Best Candidates,
Why Pete Rose Should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame
The HyperTexts