Been practicing this speech, haven’t you?

No, it was good; I liked it.

As I said on your NBC site, Craig, I don’t believe that keeping Rose out of the Hall is “whitewashing history.”  Rather, it is continually dragging that history back into the limelight.  While that can be unpleasant, it certainly does more to remind us of Rose’s accomplishments and failings than inducting him with an asterisk will ever do.  Once that happens, the debate ends.  The only thing that changes, if he is inducted, is that the conversation (a conversation worth having) stops and he can charge more for an autograph.  As he is now, Rose serves as a strong reminder to players about the consequences of betting on games.  Why change that?

I have long been a proponent of allowing Rose back far enough to allow him into the HOF, however, given all the chemical developments of the past decade or so, I would have to rescind my STRONG support and take a 180 turn.  My argument was always that his performance as a player should not be overshadowed by his performance as a manager (even though he was a player/manager for a short period).  His betting on his own team’s games would seem to have had no effect on his hits total, but, how do we REALLY know when he started betting on Reds games, or Expos or Phillies games, for that matter?  Nope, he broke one of the Cardinal rules of the game, posted on every clubhouse wall since 1920, and he knew what the consequences were.  I hereby declare myself off the fence, and on the side of no Rose in the Hall…..

From Lord Hee Haw’s latest column:

One AL scout said he’d offer Chamberlain, but not Hughes. “I think Hughes is going to be good, but Joba I wonder about. He hasn’t learned his lesson from showboating yet. In fact, he’s gotten worse. He’s extremely talented, but I just wonder whether he’ll break down.”

Can anyone tell me wtf this has to do with pitching?  Why don’t reporters actually report and ask these “scouts” what they mean by these idiotic statements?

Regarding Rose and the HoF, iirc isn’t his election up to the Veteran’s Committee now?  I wonder if they’ll even elect him if given the opportunity.

Okay so it’s “Ocean’s Eleven” day in Shysterville, am I the eighth caller?
BTW, Doc is coming and Chamberlain can check out any time he wants, and can actually leave.

@Richard - Welcome back from the dark side.

@MJ - Rose is on the permanently ineligible list, so he can’t be voted in by anyone, and I hope it stays that way.

@Greg,

MJ’s point is that, in the event of reinstatement, it would be up to the Veterans Committee, not the writers, to put Rose in.

Personally, I think it’s a bit silly that the guy with the most hits and the guy with the most home runs aren’t/won’t be in the Hall of Fame. But to be honest, I think people get way too worked up about it. See, I have a HOF in my head and I get to put whoever I want in it.

Love the Ocean’s quotes…keep up the good work Shyst.

@Greg Thanks for the kind welcome, but I was never a Yankees fan..