KC Kingdom Editorial: Should MLB Lift Ban on Pete Rose

The Golden Rule

To you and me, the ‘Golden Rule’ is to treat others how you want to be treated. In MLB, there is an entirely different ‘Golden Rule’. That rule, which is posted in every clubhouse of every MLB stadium, prohibits gambling of any sort with regard to MLB games, if you are involved in said MLB game in any capacity.

To be more exact, it’s referred to as Rule 21, and states: Any player, umpire, or club or league official or employee, who shall
bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which
the bettor has a duty to perform shall be declared permanently ineligible.

Rose, as we well know, broke that rule. He bet on games he played in, and bet on games he also managed.

Then Commissioner of Major League Baseball, A. Bartlett Giamatti, permanently banned Pete Rose from baseball on August 24th, 1989. Giamatti died a week later from a heart attack (here’s the report, conducted by John M. Dowd, that eventually sunk Pete Rose)

Next: The Golden Rule Continued