Last week I read a column by Cory Franklin entitled The Nosferatu of Baseball.  I almost skipped the piece because of the word Nosferatu. Not only can I not pronounce it, I had no idea what the word meant. Since it was about Major League baseball, I had to read further.

First I had to look up the word Nosferatu. It was used in Bram Stokers Dracula novel and means vampire. Have to wonder why Franklin could not have just used the word vampire and saved me from having to look it up. I still can’t pronounce it.

Franklin opinionated on the late Pete Rose, who was banned from baseball for life for betting on his team winning games. Now, a year after his death President Trump has brought the issue up that he will posthumously pardon Rose for his prison time for tax evasion and then he took a nasty shot at the gatekeepers of the Baseball Hall of Fame to elect Rose into the Hall.

Okay, Franklin made a fair argument as to why Rose should not be in the HOF. He was wrong, but he made a compelling argument. Having read the column twice, I still have no idea why he compared Rose to a vampire.

Franklin noted there are racists, alcoholics, drug users, tax cheats, and philanderers in the HOF. Evidently, none of these offenses are as egregious as betting on winning a game and therefore Franklin buttressed an erroneous contention that Rose’s sin was greater so he does not belong in the HOF.  

His second argument is that the HOF cites criteria for selection as based on the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, and team contributions. I suppose Franklin is hanging his fedora on the word “integrity” to buttress this part of his opinion, but that premise is wrong considering other members enshrined in the HOF. The meaning of the word ‘integrity’ also says nothing about any specific flaws people in the HOF had.  

The fact is, if “player integrity” was truly a major stanchion of qualifications to the HOF, then all those other guys that were racist, alcoholics, drug users, tax cheats and/or philanders should be removed too. That list would include Babe Ruth by the way.  

Further, I would bet an investigation into the integrity of some of the past voters of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America would show that some of those gatekeepers for induction into the HOF were every bit as guilty of some of the crimes they are using to keep certain players out of the HOF. Or do you suppose media conglomerates only send their truly honest reporters to cover sports and put the dishonest ones to cover politics?

I contend much of the voting is no more than a popularity contest. There were actually eleven sports writers who did not vote for Babe Ruth in the first vote in 1936. Perhaps they withheld their vote due to racism, as there were rumors at the time inaccurately accusing Ruth of having Black lineage. Or maybe it was just disgruntled Boston Red Sox writers still butthurt that the Sox traded the Babe to the Yankees.

Perhaps the “integrity” label should be removed from being a stanchion of eligibility as it gives writers an excuse to ignore players they don’t like. A Hall of Fame player should be elected based on being among the greatest players to have ever played the game, which was the intent when the HOF was created.

There is no denying the statistics of Pete’s career. He is the major leagues all-time hit leader (4,256) and games played (3,562). With a career .303 batting average, Rose had three World Series championships, three batting titles, one Most Valuable Player award, two Gold Glove awards, a World Series MVP, and a Rookie of the Year winner. He made the All-Star team 17 times at five different positions. He was considered the leader of the Cincinnati Reds ‘Big Red Machine,’ one of the greatest teams in MLB history.

Compare Rose’s statistics to someone like the light-hitting Bill Mazeroski, who is in the HOF with a paltry .260 batting average. He’s there primarily because of his defensive play and that he hit a home run that won the 1960 World Series. On second thought, compare Rose against anybody in the HOF and Pete will win most of those comparisons.

We live in an age where people are being pardoned regularly. Pete Rose was one of the greatest players to EVER play in major league baseball. His omission into the HOF cheapens the accomplishments of other players who made it.

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