Pathetic charlatan that he is, Pete Rose needs no sympathy from anyone after baseball commissioner Rob Manfred slammed shut the reinstatement window in his face Monday.
He got what he deserved but let’s not pretend that the people who oversee baseball, those who play it and those who write and report on it, have a firmer grasp on the meaning of morality than Rose has on the meaning of honesty, contrition and personal responsibility.
The area that is the overlap between sports and gambling has never been a richer, deeper hue of gray. The idea of baseball making an example out of Rose is almost quaint, now that teams and leagues are in business with the oddsmakers.