Last Hurrah For Pete Rose, American

We could forgive the Herb Tarlek white shoes
and the Rev. Leroy Jenkins jet black hair.
But all the rest of it??

Pete Rose, age 74 and banned from baseball since 1989, was honored on the field at last week's All-Star game in Cincinnati, with the official blessing of Major League Baseball.  It was probably the last bit of blessing he'll ever get from MLB.

If one could separate the Hit King's on-field accomplishments from all the rest of his considerable baggage, Pete would be in the Hall of Fame, no doubt about it.  But Rose comes with more baggage than Samsonite.  He committed baseball's cardinal sin, and is such a puffed-up, serial liar about it that he just can't get out of his own way.  After decades of denying he bet on baseball, he eventually admitted that he had while managing the Reds.  But he swore he never did as a player.  Now comes the news, all these years later, that -- oops! -- yes, he did bet on baseball as a player.  That ought to seal the deal.

"The Outsider" is a great article on Rose by Tom Verducci in the current issue of Sports Illustrated.
A few excerpts, then the link:
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Loved or loathed, Pete Rose is a uniquely American institution, not unlike Mount Rushmore or the Grand Canyon, but more like Branson, Mo., Coney Island, the Cadillac Ranch, the World's Largest Ball of Twine, and yes, Vegas, baby!

Hucksterism, roguishness, commercialism and deceit were part of the Rose playbook.  That's America, too.

"Fuck the other guy.  That's a trait you should take to the grave," he says.  "Take no fucking prisoners."

http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/07/14/outsider-pete-rose-journey