Footwear Insight - Business Report Quarterly

4 Footwear Insight Business Report Quarterly ~ Q3 October 7 2024 Bob McGee, Editor with Pete Rose footwearinsight.com LETTER FROM THE EDITOR WHY NOT? THE CASE IS CLOSED T he world of professional baseball lost one of its giants, a flawed titan of swing if you will, as Q3 closed on Sep. 30. e news of Pete Rose's death at age 83 from heart issues, sparked my memory of meeting Charlie Hustle for the first and only time in a small conference room off a Las Vegas casino floor in 2016. Surrounded by a small entourage, Rose greeted me warmly before signing a photo and baseball for me. Cost: $59.95. He was cordial but also seemed profoundly sad. I have kept that photo of Rose and myself on my Facebook homepage ever since. Banned for life from baseball in August 1989 for gambling on the game, Rose was part of a 2002 advertising campaign from Pony dubbed, "Why Not?" to support him in a bid to be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. e MLB all-time hits leader with 4,256 and 1975 World Series MVP against my beloved Red Sox made two attempts at re-instatement in 1997 and 2015. It never happened. A year later in 2016, he appealed directly to Cooperstown to restore his eligibility, arguing the lifetime ban he agreed to was not intended to keep him from the Hall. Again, it never happened. Now, given the prevalence of betting around professional sports, I contend Rose should get another opportunity to achieve Hall member status. But published reports suggest Rose will never get that opportunity, even posthumously. e Baseball Hall of Fame's board of directors adopted a rule in 1991 that states that any player on a permanently ineligible list cannot be considered for election. Like myself, longtime sports broadcaster Bob Costas thinks a Hall exception for Rose's induction should be made. "…My position, the position of millions of others is…he broke the cardinal rule, and he should be banned from baseball under that rule for life. But somebody who has got those 4,256 base hits and three batting championships. Put him in the Hall of Fame, but put it at the bottom of his plaque, 'banned from baseball 1989, for life.' It's part of the record, but he should be in as a player." Q3

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