Posted by Dave Rouleau on Monday, July 27, 2009 at 10:33 am

Sitting at the desk of my hotel room at the Radisson in New York, I was finally reading Bill James’ take on the steroid issue, a debate he has avoided for the past few years.  As always, he produced a witty and thorough explanation on a complicated subject, stating in this case that the steroid era will ultimately end up being an after-thought in 2040-2050, as history will once again dispel the notion that this was cheating (one of five arguments he presents).  You may read the entire document here.

Out of the corner of my eye, on the plasma screen, I see images of Pete Rose hitting singles, running the bases, and all that at Fox Channel 5 in New York.  At the bottom of the screen, the news is titled: “Selig considering lift on Rose lifetime ban?”

I have no idea where they got their info, but after a brief search of the web, I can’t see any other news organization that has picked up the tip.  In fact, I did not even get a chance to hear the news item, since I had the sound on mute (listening to Fox, by chance, will do that after a while).

My reading and that news were mixing very well together, since I got the pdf document (linked above) from Baseball Crank, which presented excerpts of the Bill James text and offered his take based on the analysis.

Anyway, read the whole thing, as the excerpts cannot do it justice. My own view remains that, aside from the extreme Joe Jackson case of people trying to lose ballgames or conspiring with those who do, the Hall should not judge people who got away with things that were fairly widespread to win baseball games – the Hall has always honored the true ethos of professional sports, which is that it ain’t cheating if you don’t get caught, and it’s 70-odd years too late to change that. And, more fundamentally, the Hall isn’t for the players as much as it is for the fans, and a Hall without the likes of Bonds and Clemens (and Pete Rose) ceases to be a Hall worth taking seriously. Put them in, and let the arguments themselves be immortal.

I like the way he put it, but in the case of Pete Rose, his betting (according to this argument) would negate his performance on the field.

As far as I’m concerned, Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame as much as anyone currently inducted, for he was a great baseball player and that’s what he should be judged on.  No ifs or buts.

The timing of this news (one day after Henderson, Rice and Gordon were officially admitted) cannot be a coincidence and that’s why I can’t wait to see if there will be an action on the part of the commissioner.

It’s pretty obvious that this was leaked out in order to create another debate on the issue, especially with some steroid users getting standing ovations after serving 50-game suspensions…