Pete Rose was laughing as he counted his winnings when sports writers caught up with him in Las Vegas as he collected fistfuls of bills from forlorn-looking bettors.
“I knew it. I knew it. I knew it,” baseball’s all-time hits leader (among his various records and achievements) cackled when the Hall of Fame voting was announced on big-screen casino TVs and pitcher Curt Schilling failed once again to be enshrined.
“All these guys said he was a shoo-in this year. I told them to put their money where their mouth is. I mean, do I know how to bet on a sure thing or what?” Rose said. “If something as petty as gambling kept me out of Cooperstown, do you think they were going to vote in a guy who sounded like he was in favor of lynching journalists and wrote nasty things about transsexuals and, oh, did I mention he supported the rioters at the Capitol?”
Schilling, needing votes from 75 percent of the Baseball Writers Association of America, fell 16 votes short, receiving 71.1 percent in his next-to-last year of eligibility on the BBWAA ballot. He said he’d ask that his name be removed, that he’d prefer to wait a few years, when the veterans committee will consider his eligibility.
Slugger Barry Bonds and pitcher Roger Clemens, like Schilling, were in their next-to-last shot at BBWAA election. Bonds received 61.8 percent of needed votes (53 shy), and Clemens 61.6 percent (54 shy). But Bonds and Clemens have been dogged by reports of their using performance-enhancing drugs.
“Hey,” Rose said when Bonds and Clemens came up in the conversation, “anyone want to bet they’ll get in next year, their last chance? I’ll give you whatever odds you want. Not going to happen. And no way the vets committee will look kindly on them and their PEDs, so they might as well not even ask.
“One other thing,” Rose added. “Y’know who else is a candidate next year? Alex (Rodriguez). Ha! Want to bet on him, too? Boy, talk about a druggie trifecta. Step right up, gentlemen.”
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