MIAMI, FL – As I watched Jason Pierre-Paul slog through last night’s shocking victory by the New York Football Giants – and contemplating the Pete Rose decision – it occurred to me that-he kind of sucks now… JPP, not Rose. Everyone is quick to talk about how he’s “disrupted things, created havoc and opened up opportunities for teammates,” like unheralded Robert Ayers” to get more cracks at the QB. Hogwash!
After blowing up his hand last Summer, and then pouting and hiding from Giants’ brass for 3 months, no one knew what a one-handed long ago dominant DE could bring. Wonder no more. JPP signed an incentive-laden deal in September that would reward him financially for certain achievements reached. At the end of the year though, JPP will owe the team money. He has the same number of sacks I do.
Yeah, I know at 6-7 the G-Men remain alive in the deluged (watered-down doesn’t do it enough justice) NFC East. Next Sunday the resurgent Jints – yes, resurgent because one win in a row in this division constitutes resurgence – get the undefeated Carolina Panthers. 
So… yeah.
In a somewhat surprising announcement yesterday MLB Commissioner Rob (Man-tooth) Manfred denied Pete Rose‘s appeal to be reinstated from his lifelong ban from Baseball. Rather than relying exclusively on the original Dowd report from 26 years ago, Manfred had his henchmen give Rose’s current lifestyle a thorough investigation. (Word has it that former Met Daniel Murphy was on that committee).
The new report found that Rose still bets on baseball and the ponies (though he does so legally) and generally is still a “scoundrel.” I’ve long been opposed to Rose being reinstated. There is no way he bet ONLY on the Reds to win. I don’t believe that Rose ever stopped short of crossing some line of Morality that switched on when he had a chance to bet AGAINST the Reds. A degenerate gambler is a degenerate gambler.
Research done recently by FSA confirms what baseball historians have known foreve: MLB players routinely “threw” games at least as recently as the 1940s and 50s.
Before mega bucks became the norm for every player, temptation was not just appealing but readily available. Shady “money-men” like Arnold Rothstein dominated the on-field action of the day. While the 1919 Black Sox are the most well known example of a team tanking intentionally, the World Series outcomes may well have been “fixed” for years.
So should Rose’s situation be given additional examination given the sordid past that has been part of the fabric of MLB for more than a century? Perhaps. It is starting to appear that Manfred and his men are being overly “selective” in scrutinizing Rose’s past and particularly his present. If Rose was a Wilpon…would he continue to be excluded? Manfred needs to be transparent and explain why Rose has become “worse” than any other. At this point, it’s become personal.
