quote:Originally posted by Hopperhop:quote:Third, your "Say for instance that..." is purely hypothetical and unsupported by fact which I would like to stick to. Once agian, Rose was never accused of throwing anything. Let's keep the opinions on point whether we agree on them or not.
OK, as long as you just want to stick to the facts. Pete Rose signed a paper agreeing to his permanent ineligibility from the game of baseball.
If he did this, why should he be allowed into baseball's Hall of Fame?
Hop...fair question. The document Rose signed was basically a negotiated settlement between himself, Bart Giamatti, and Major League Baseball.
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/p_rosea.shtml
As you can see, both sides made concessions which is common for these types of agreements. In short, I don't believe that either side wished to drag this through formal proceedings and, instead, arrived at a mutually acceptable resolution. With that said, and to answer your question, I'll first highlight a few of the more pertinent provisions:
"Peter Edward Rose will conclude these proceedings before the Commissioner without a hearing and the Commissioner will not make any formal findings or determinations on any matter including without limitation the allegation that Peter Edward Rose bet on any Major League Baseball game."
-In a court of law, we refer to this as a "stipulation of facts" which is not an admission of guilt but a method of resolving a matter in a compromised manner. In fact, this was more clearly spelled out in a subsequent provision:
"c. Nothing in this agreement shall be deemed either an admission or a denial by Peter Edward Rose of the allegation that he bet on any Major League Baseball game."
Thus, on the face of this document which Rose signed, there is nothing to remotely indicate that he was signing away his future HOF consideration. I have to believe that Rose was under that impression as well and, as such, I place little or no relevance in his signature as it pertains to a HOF induction.