Surprise: Pete Rose Thinks Steroids Are Worse Than Gambling

Because we haven't heard from him in a while, Pete Rose would like to weigh in on baseball's steroid crisis. I'm sure his comments won't at all be self-serving. Let's see....

See if you can cut through this wall of logic. Rose was on the Dan Patrick Show today and he explained why he thinks steroids are despicable. They affect records and records are sacred. (He's the hit king, so he should know.) They're illegal (he knows about that too) and they destroy the integrity of the game. (Yes, he actually used the word "integrity.") Most importantly, none of those things would apply to a manager who might have placed a friendly wager on his own team. I mean, how could a manager possibly have an influence on "the direct outcome" of a baseball game?

So that means he doesn't think Alex Rodriguez—an admitted PED user—should be allowed in the Hall of Fame, right? Whoa, whoa, whoa ... let's not be hasty here! He did still hit all those home runs. And you can't take away Barry Bonds' "sacred" home run record, just because he might have done something not good to get there. Rose says he would back A-Rod's candidacy for the Hall of Fame, even if he did do something far, far worse than betting on baseball.

Doesn't every man deserves a second chance?

Pete Rose Talks Roids, A-Rod Pitch Tipping, and Hit Streaks to Dan Patrick [Sports Radio Interviews] Pete Rose: A-Rod shouldn't get cheated out of Hall of Fame [New York Daily News] Pete Rose says Alex Rodriguez deserves to be in Hall of Fame [ESPN]