Should the Reds Remove Pete Rose’s Statue?

A few years ago the Philadelphia Phillies canceled their previously planned “Wall of Fame” ceremony for Pete Rose; my question today is this: Should the Cincinnati Reds, who a little over three years ago had a ceremony honoring Rose and retiring his jersey, rescind the honor?

I know Pete Rose fans in the past have defended Rose no matter what he’s done, but there must be a breaking point. With the newest allegations about sex with underage girls brought to light, even the most devoted fans should have reached that point. I don’t see how a decent human being could still support this criminal.

The Newest Allegations

The latest criminal allegations that came out a few years ago are far worse than betting on baseball, which should have made it so the Phillies and Reds could not have honored Rose anyway, but Major League Baseball gave in probably due to the outcry of fans. Rose was lucky to get what he did from the MLB, considering the rules of his contract stated that he would be banished if he bet on baseball.

The allegations were made public in sworn testimony a couple of years ago as part of a federal defamation lawsuit Rose filed against John Dowd, the high-profile Washington attorney whose investigation eventually led to Rose’s ouster from Major League Baseball. Here is a copy of the legal documents that Rose filed against Dowd.

Rose’s suit, filed in July 2016 in U.S. District Court in Eastern Pennsylvania, claims that Rose was defamed when Dowd said in a 2015 interview with a Philadelphia radio station that Rose had committed statutory rape of young girls during spring training. According to Dowd, memorabilia dealer Michael Bertolini, who was also Rose’s bookmaker, once told Dowd that he “not only ran bets but ran young girls [to Rose] down at spring training, ages 12 to 14.”

Can it get worse? Why, yes, it can! Rose admitted in March of 2017 to having sex with a girl he thought was 16 years old, the legal age of consent in Ohio in 1975. Rose has also denied having sex anywhere but “in the greater Cincinnati, Ohio, region.”

Remember: Rose was in his 30s and he “thought” the girl in question was 16 – also, he was married with two children of his own at that time.

Statement from the Victim

On Monday came the testimony from a woman identified as Jane Doe. She said that when she was 14 or 15 in 1973, she received a call from the then 32-year-old Rose.
“Sometime after that, Pete Rose and I began meeting at a house in Cincinnati,” she said, according to the filing. “It was at that house where, before my 16th birthday, Pete Rose began a sexual relationship with me. This sexual relationship lasted for several years. Pete Rose also met me in locations outside of Ohio where we had sex.”

I know Rose apologists will scream that this happened over 40 years ago, but remember this Rose himself admitted to the relationship, but he thought she was just 16. I’m sorry, but a grown man in his 30s should be nowhere near a 16-year-old girl. If he is doing so, he’s obviously *not* a grown man: He is a predator! A man in his 30s has only one thing in common with a 16-year-old girl and I think it’s obvious what that would be.

Pete Rose is a child in a man’s body and that has always been obvious; this is just more proof of that fact.

No Wall of Fame for Rose in Philly

The Philadelphia Phillies announced Wednesday that “due to recent events,” Rose will not participate in Alumni Weekend, scheduled for August 10 through 13. The team said Rose supported the cancellation – like he had a choice. As part of the decision, Rose’s plaque will not be added to the Phillies Wall of Fame, and there are no plans to add it in the future.

A Statue in Cincinnati

The Reds recently erected a statue to Rose in front of Great American Ball Park, paying homage to a man who got banned from baseball for betting on the sport. In the Reds’ defense, the only time anyone comes to Reds games is for special events such as the unveiling of the Rose statue. Will Reds management remove the statue? Probably not: They would be afraid of the backlash from Rose’s many delusional supporters.

Pete Rose denied betting on Baseball until 2004 … why did he wait until 2004? In 2004, his autobiographical work My Prison Without Bars was published – and he admitted it to the violation of MLB rules because he was paid for writing the book.

Pete Rose Way

The city of Cincinnati for decades has had a street named Pete Rose Way. Shouldn’t this finally be removed? Rose has done nothing over the last 40 years but embarrass the city of Cincinnati and at some point maybe the city should say enough is enough!

Conclusion
The bigger problem might lie in what else we discovered over the course of this trial. Dowd made numerous accusations that Rose in spring training had many 12- to 14-year-old girls brought to him for sexual purposes.

Maybe the scariest thing is that so many still believe that Rose should be in the Hall of Fame! How can people be so stupid? An even scarier thought is this: How many people who support Pete Rose also think Colin Kaepernick should not be allowed in the NFL because he took a knee to protest something he believed in?

So people hate Kap, but Pete Rose is a hero? Give me a break! Pete Rose violated his contract by betting on baseball and finally admitted doing so after lying for over a decade! He still constantly makes jokes about betting and has admitted for years he still gambles. On top of all this, we now find out that Rose, by his own admission, is a pedophile.

He thought she was 16? That’s pure B.S.: Pete Rose has made a living out of lying and confessing, so now all the sudden he’s telling the truth?

If you think this is the kind of man that deserves a street named after him and a statue in front of a stadium, I think maybe you need to reassess your priorities. Because Rose played “The Game” the “way it should be played” when he was on the field, maybe being a gambling pedophile is OK? I bet if your 16-year-old daughter was revealed as Rose’s sex object, you wouldn’t be so cool with it.

When you look at everything Rose has done, I think the only place that Rose will get in on the first ballot is Hell!

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