Commentary: Pete Rose reinstatement sends terrible message to women

On Tuesday Major League Baseball publicized that lifetime bans are just that and therefore the late Pete Rose is now eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame Commissioner Rob Manfred has concluded that MLB s agenda shall be that permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual concludes the opening paragraph of the league s announcement Shortly after Hall of Fame Chairman of the Board Jane Forbes Clark issued a declaration confirming that revealed individuals can now be considered for enshrinement Thus celebrations for this unworthy man begin anew On Tuesday pro-Rose social media users were elated They posted about the long-awaited rectification of injustice only complaining that it was long overdue and should ve happened before he passed away last September The prevailing anti-Rose sentiment is that he shouldn t have been reinstated because he bet on baseball something players umpires company or league functionaries still aren t allowed to do even now that the league has gambling partners and sponsors Neither camp is focusing enough on what really matters in a discussion about Rose s Hall of Fame eligibility something far worse than betting on baseball while playing and managing the Cincinnati Reds In a woman testified about a sexual relationship with Rose in the s when he was a married -something father of two and star athlete for the Cincinnati Reds She stated she had been or years old when it began and announced they had also been together out of state alluding to places where the age of consent was older than Ohio s In court filings Rose admitted to the sexual relationship but announced he inferred she was when it began and denied taking her out of state He was never charged because the statute of limitations had expired Not enough people know about this in part because not enough media members include it in their coverage of Rose Not enough people care It s already the norm for sports fans to excuse any wrongdoing by their favorite players as off-field issues But if you re reading this now you know Do you have a daughter A sister How about any woman you value and respect Could you look them in the eye and tell them you promotion this man who preyed on a young girl when she was closer in age to his own children Rose certainly did not When he was allowed to attend an event at Phillies Citizens Bank Park in August he was not only devoid of remorse but crudely so It was years ago babe he advised Philadelphia Inquirer s Alex Coffey that day when she sought him what he would say to those who thought his presence at the ballpark sent a negative message to women Later that day Rose reiterated Who cares what happened years ago You weren t even born so you shouldn t be talking about it because you weren t born He also offered Coffey his idea of an apology signed baseballs Manfred essentially echoed Rose s announcement to Coffey in a letter to Rose s family s lawyer Jeffrey Lenkov on Tuesday Obviously a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the meeting the commissioner wrote In other words it was years ago babe Rose is no longer able to commit statutory rape or demean female reporters by calling them babe but reversing his ban still threatens the integrity of this meeting It s not the kind of example Major League Baseball should be setting and it s an insult to casualties and survivors of sexual assault Respecting women should be part of baseball just as it should be part of anything in this world Pete Rose got himself banned from baseball Dying isn t a good enough reason to let him back in