Ohio proposal would back Pete Rose reinstatement

By Marc Kovac | May 27, 2015 at 12:08a.m.

COLUMBUS

The Ohio Senate launched deliberations on a resolution urging Major League Baseball to reinstate Pete Rose and allow his consideration for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Comparable bipartisan resolutions have been offered in both chambers of the legislature, in advance of this year’s All-Star Game, set for July in Cincinnati, Rose’s hometown.

“Pete Rose is unquestionably a great American athlete,” Sen. Cecil Thomas, D-Cincinnati, primary sponsor of the measure, told the Senate’s State and Local Government Committee, where the resolution had it initial hearing Tuesday. “The way he played the game of baseball reflects many of the values we want to impart on our children, especially maximum effort, hard work and perseverance.

“His headlong dives and all-out sprints to every base, even when he was walked, have been held as an example to young people since I was playing youth baseball.”

Senate Concurrent Resolution 4 and its companion resolution in the House are symbolic measures, with no teeth to force action.

Instead, they would officially state lawmakers’ position on Rose reinstatement, with copies to be forwarded to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Thomas said Rose deserves reinstatement, citing his all-star career, including retiring with a record 4,256 hits, among many other accomplishments.

Rose accepted a permanent place on MLB’s ineligible list in 1989 following allegations and evidence that he bet on baseball games while manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Thomas’ resolution notes that, “The investigation did not produce any evidence that Rose gambled against the Reds while he was the manager of the team.”

Rose has since unsuccessfully sought reinstatement, including an application earlier this year.

“It is time that Peter Edward Rose is welcomed back into baseball with open arms at this summer’s All-Star Game in his great hometown of Cincinnati,” Thomas said. “Furthermore, ‘Charlie Hustle’ is more than deserving of induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.”