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Is It a Whole New Ballgame for Pete Rose?

Aired January 06, 2004 - 11:25   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Is it a whole new ballgame for Pete Rose today? Does his admission that he did bet on baseball improve his chances for reinstatement and the Hall of Fame? That's a big question. Well, you heard the unforgiving Fay Vincent, the former baseball commissioner. The next move does belong to the current commissioner, if and when Bud Selig makes the decision, anybody's he guess. This has been before him for about six or seven years.
Mel Antonin is a baseball writer for "USA Today." He's with us from Arlington, Virginia this morning.

Mel, good morning.

MEL ANTONIN, BASEBALL WRITER: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: I don't know how many years you and I have been talking baseball here, but who would eve thought that we would come to the day when Pete Rose comes forward and says, oh yeah, by the way, I did bet on baseball while I was manager of the Cincinnati Reds.

ANTONIN: Yes, I agree. That's a good statement. It's a little surreal. For 14 years, we've been debating issues and facts that, you know, that haven't changed, and now, boy, it's really changed. It's a whole new twist with Pete Rose's admission.

KAGAN: There is a new twist in the admission, but he isn't exactly that forgiving. It seems to be pointing a lot of fingers, including right back at Major League Baseball.

I want to put up this quote, this is from his book that's coming out where he says, "I should have had the opportunity to get help, but baseball had no fancy rehab for gamblers like they do for drug addicts. If I admitted my guilt, it would have been the same as putting my head on the chopping block, lifetime ban, death penalty. Right or wrong, the punishment didn't fit the crime, so I denied the crime."

This basically says like, well, yes, I did it, but it wasn't my fault.

ANTONIN: That's right, there's a lot of people now across America are questioning whether Pete Rose is sincere. He he's saying he bet on baseball games, but he wasn't corrupt. That doesn't make any sense. I think what baseball wants to hear, and baseball Hall of Famers want to hear, is Pete taking responsibility, Pete making restitution, and Pete feeling remorse for what he did. It seems like the more he talks, the more he puts his foot in his mouth, and people are starting to question his sincerity, all over baseball.

KAGAN: Well, and two things he wants -- the big thing he wants, of course, is reinstatement into Major League Baseball, and that's pending before Bud Selig for a number of years. He wants into the Hall of Fame, and he wants perhaps to manage again. To get into the Hall of Fame, there's two ways he can do that, and one, with the baseball writers, has a very important date.

ANTONIN: That's right. Well, if Pete does get reinstated, if Bud Selig says that he can come back to baseball, he'll be eligible for the Hall of Fame for the next two years. He could go into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in the class of 2005 and 2006, depending on how the baseball writers feel. Now there's a lot of baseball writers. There's about 450 that vote. They have strong opinions both ways, one way or the other, so it's really hard to say.

KAGAN: Do you have one of the votes?

ANTONIN: I have one of the votes. And if Pete Rose were reinstated and I believed that he was sincere in changing his lifestyle, I would vote for him in a minute.

KAGAN: You would. But the Pete Rose that you see today, would you vote for this Pete Rose?

ANTONIN: I'm not sure I would. I would say no at this point, but I would be open to change my mind after I hear some more interviews, and read some more statements and do a little bit of research. Right now, he hasn't shown enough remorse for me. And so I think that's how a lot of baseball writers who vote feel.

If the baseball writers turn him down, Daryn, then it goes to the Veteran's Committee. And the Veteran's Committee is made up of Hall of Fame baseball players, Hall of Fame newspaper reporters and Hall of Fame broadcasters. And he has to get 75 percent of those people. That committee votes and meets every two years to determine who should be in the Hall of Fame and who isn't. When they met in 2003, Daryn, they didn't select anybody to make the Hall of Fame.

KAGAN: It's harder to get in that way, isn't it, than through the writers.

ANTONIN: I think it is. I think there's more sympathy among the writers that vote than there are among the Hall of Fame players. There's a lot of animosity toward Pete Rose among the Hall of Fame players that would vote. So I think it would be easier to get in with the writers than it is in the Veteran's Committee, but it's going to be difficult with either group.

KAGAN: Just real quickly, what about the public. Where do you think the public is playing at this point? He has had a lot of public support in the past.

ANTONIN: I think the public is forgiving. I think the public loves Pete Rose and what he stands for, and how he loves baseball. So if I had to guess, I think that the public is supporting. I'm going by how he was -- the fan reaction in Atlanta in the 1999 World Series, and then again in 2000 in San Francisco. He got overwhelming response when he was introduced at those World Series. So my guess is the public is probably on his side.

KAGAN: You know who is probably saying I told you so, Jim Gray, the reporter who interviewed him at that World Series game, and practically lost his career over that, because the public outcry was just so strong.

ANTONIN: Jim Gray was doing a fantastic journalism job. Everybody has done a good job talking and trying to find out the facts on whether Pete Rose is lying or not, you know, explain the fine print on the betting slip. There's a lot of unanswered questions until Pete came up with this admission. So yes, Jim Gray was treated unfairly. He was doing a great journalism job that year, and he didn't deserve the treatment he got.

KAGAN: That he was, the book is coming out Thursday, but if you want to read more, just check out "USA Today." Mel's piece is there in the sports section.

Mel Antonin, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired January 6, 2004 - 11:25   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Is it a whole new ballgame for Pete Rose today? Does his admission that he did bet on baseball improve his chances for reinstatement and the Hall of Fame? That's a big question. Well, you heard the unforgiving Fay Vincent, the former baseball commissioner. The next move does belong to the current commissioner, if and when Bud Selig makes the decision, anybody's he guess. This has been before him for about six or seven years.
Mel Antonin is a baseball writer for "USA Today." He's with us from Arlington, Virginia this morning.

Mel, good morning.

MEL ANTONIN, BASEBALL WRITER: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: I don't know how many years you and I have been talking baseball here, but who would eve thought that we would come to the day when Pete Rose comes forward and says, oh yeah, by the way, I did bet on baseball while I was manager of the Cincinnati Reds.

ANTONIN: Yes, I agree. That's a good statement. It's a little surreal. For 14 years, we've been debating issues and facts that, you know, that haven't changed, and now, boy, it's really changed. It's a whole new twist with Pete Rose's admission.

KAGAN: There is a new twist in the admission, but he isn't exactly that forgiving. It seems to be pointing a lot of fingers, including right back at Major League Baseball.

I want to put up this quote, this is from his book that's coming out where he says, "I should have had the opportunity to get help, but baseball had no fancy rehab for gamblers like they do for drug addicts. If I admitted my guilt, it would have been the same as putting my head on the chopping block, lifetime ban, death penalty. Right or wrong, the punishment didn't fit the crime, so I denied the crime."

This basically says like, well, yes, I did it, but it wasn't my fault.

ANTONIN: That's right, there's a lot of people now across America are questioning whether Pete Rose is sincere. He he's saying he bet on baseball games, but he wasn't corrupt. That doesn't make any sense. I think what baseball wants to hear, and baseball Hall of Famers want to hear, is Pete taking responsibility, Pete making restitution, and Pete feeling remorse for what he did. It seems like the more he talks, the more he puts his foot in his mouth, and people are starting to question his sincerity, all over baseball.

KAGAN: Well, and two things he wants -- the big thing he wants, of course, is reinstatement into Major League Baseball, and that's pending before Bud Selig for a number of years. He wants into the Hall of Fame, and he wants perhaps to manage again. To get into the Hall of Fame, there's two ways he can do that, and one, with the baseball writers, has a very important date.

ANTONIN: That's right. Well, if Pete does get reinstated, if Bud Selig says that he can come back to baseball, he'll be eligible for the Hall of Fame for the next two years. He could go into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in the class of 2005 and 2006, depending on how the baseball writers feel. Now there's a lot of baseball writers. There's about 450 that vote. They have strong opinions both ways, one way or the other, so it's really hard to say.

KAGAN: Do you have one of the votes?

ANTONIN: I have one of the votes. And if Pete Rose were reinstated and I believed that he was sincere in changing his lifestyle, I would vote for him in a minute.

KAGAN: You would. But the Pete Rose that you see today, would you vote for this Pete Rose?

ANTONIN: I'm not sure I would. I would say no at this point, but I would be open to change my mind after I hear some more interviews, and read some more statements and do a little bit of research. Right now, he hasn't shown enough remorse for me. And so I think that's how a lot of baseball writers who vote feel.

If the baseball writers turn him down, Daryn, then it goes to the Veteran's Committee. And the Veteran's Committee is made up of Hall of Fame baseball players, Hall of Fame newspaper reporters and Hall of Fame broadcasters. And he has to get 75 percent of those people. That committee votes and meets every two years to determine who should be in the Hall of Fame and who isn't. When they met in 2003, Daryn, they didn't select anybody to make the Hall of Fame.

KAGAN: It's harder to get in that way, isn't it, than through the writers.

ANTONIN: I think it is. I think there's more sympathy among the writers that vote than there are among the Hall of Fame players. There's a lot of animosity toward Pete Rose among the Hall of Fame players that would vote. So I think it would be easier to get in with the writers than it is in the Veteran's Committee, but it's going to be difficult with either group.

KAGAN: Just real quickly, what about the public. Where do you think the public is playing at this point? He has had a lot of public support in the past.

ANTONIN: I think the public is forgiving. I think the public loves Pete Rose and what he stands for, and how he loves baseball. So if I had to guess, I think that the public is supporting. I'm going by how he was -- the fan reaction in Atlanta in the 1999 World Series, and then again in 2000 in San Francisco. He got overwhelming response when he was introduced at those World Series. So my guess is the public is probably on his side.

KAGAN: You know who is probably saying I told you so, Jim Gray, the reporter who interviewed him at that World Series game, and practically lost his career over that, because the public outcry was just so strong.

ANTONIN: Jim Gray was doing a fantastic journalism job. Everybody has done a good job talking and trying to find out the facts on whether Pete Rose is lying or not, you know, explain the fine print on the betting slip. There's a lot of unanswered questions until Pete came up with this admission. So yes, Jim Gray was treated unfairly. He was doing a great journalism job that year, and he didn't deserve the treatment he got.

KAGAN: That he was, the book is coming out Thursday, but if you want to read more, just check out "USA Today." Mel's piece is there in the sports section.

Mel Antonin, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com