OTL indicates Rose bet as a player

[somerfrost]

Forgive me but the cynic in me raises it's ugly head here, I respect OTL for their reporting history but why, after 30 years does this come out now? Could it have anything to due with the upcoming meeting between Rose and the Commish? I have to say that there are folks who will apparently do anything to keep Rose out of the Hall. Sorry but Baseball has a long history of lying and downright fraud, and the Hall is littered with characters having far worse warts than Rose...blatant racists, bullies, drunks, you name it but when it comes to Rose, baseball suddenly becomes sanctimonious and acts repulsed that he actually bet on baseball. Baseball is the one sport that literally sanctions cheating...stealing signs, spit balls, corked bats etc. have always been illegal but at the same time accepted as part of the game. It's ok to drill a player with a 98mph fastball but the man who represented hustle and hard work is demonized for a gambling addiction. When average hitters started setting home run records, baseball stuck their collective heads in the sand and had to be forced to examine PED use, and while many obviously were using a few were singled out and so great players like Bonds and A-Rod will probably never see the Hall. It's all smoke and mirrors and the Hall will always be a joke to me without Pete Rose.