“I’ve got some imperfections
But how can you collect them all
And throw them in my face?”
“Right Here” - Staind

The first single from Staind’s fifth studio album, “Right Here” became the group’s third No. 1 song on mainstream rock charts after it was released in June 2005.

Staind began their music journey as a dark metal band, evolving through changes in the members and with their own musical tastes, finding their niche in music in the late-1990s and early-2000s, when “alternative metal” became widely popular on rock stations.

Lead vocalist Aaron Lewis penned the lyrics for the song, stating that they examine a person in a toxic relationship where each member holds onto the bad that the other has done to use in future disagreements rather than processing and moving forward.

I’ve been hesitant to write about the recent decision to remove any person who has passed away from the Hall of Fame ineligible list by Major League Baseball. While the focus of this has been on Pete Rose, it does affect a number of other players as well.

The decision has ramifications for future Hall of Fame voting, though not the active voting that goes on every winter. Rose is not eligible for that as too many years have passed since his retirement. The current way the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame handles admission of players who were not voted in by writers is through three “era” committees. A few years back, the eras were changed to realize changes in the game after expansion and movement of franchises.

While the Contemporary Baseball Era ballot (covering from 1980 to present) is assembling this year and while Rose did play in the 1980s, the majority of his Hall of Fame candidacy would be from his play before 1980, so he is part of the Classic Baseball Era ballot, and the next time that group meets to vote is in December 2027 for inclusion in the 2028 Hall of Fame class.

As one of the co-directors of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, this has a direct influence on our members. The IBWAA Hall of Fame is very similar to the MLB HOF in Cooperstown, but our votes are independent of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, as seen by this past year’s ballot, which voted in Andruw Jones, who just missed on the BBWAA ballot, and Joe Mauer, who had been elected by the BBWAA the previous year but did not get enough votes from the IBWAA. In 2018, the IBWAA voted in Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds (barely), so that discussion is not in our membership the same way it is with the Hall of Fame.
Rose will be a different beast. The organization has held one “veteran’s committee” ballot in its 15-year history, electing former players’ union leader Marvin Miller in 2016. Already, I’ve received emails asking for us to consider holding another with these now-eligible players as part of the process.

Here’s where I struggle…

Pete Rose is the all-time hit leader. No one can take that away. He won multiple World Series championships. Information, memorabilia, and photographs of Pete Rose are throughout the museum at Cooperstown. He’s in the Hall of Fame - except for one room, the plaque room.

In talking with a longtime baseball writer, one thing he liked about the BBWAA’s five-year wait before a guy can be on a Hall of Fame ballot is that often in that five-year period after retirement, a lot of truth comes out about the player that can either aid or hinder his candidacy.

Others find that same rule absurd, saying that it allows for voters to consider issues other than just the game in voting for a player. In all reality, that’s not the worst thing.

Rose gambled on baseball while a player and while a manager active in the game. He claims that it was always for his team to win, but significant evidence has shown that not to be true, though even when betting to lose, there has never been evidence that he changed his managerial style or playing style on those particular days to influence the outcome.

That’s on the field. Off the field, Rose should never come near the Hall of Fame. He had multiple sexual encounters with underage girls, some as young as 14, and carried on a years-long affair with a young woman who was below the age of consent in her state (16) when they met. That doesn’t even include the multiple rape allegations that surfaced over the years.

Are there people with similar horrendous backgrounds currently in the Hall of Fame? Yes, unfortunately, though some of them no longer receive any acknowledgment in the museum of the Hall of Fame, nor are they invited to participate in Hall of Fame activities each year.

Recently, I had the parenting “pleasure” of having to enforce a consequence with one of my daughters. It cost her being able to do something she had been looking forward to doing, but her actions and behaviors did not merit a “reward” on that day. Any parent will tell you that it’s not a pleasant thing to incur the wrath of a preteen scorned, but as she calmed and was able to talk about it, we discussed how actions have consequences.

“I know, you always remind us, ‘You made a choice,’” she said with an eye roll so dramatic that I was worried there could be a possible detachment involved.

And that’s just it. Rose made a choice. He was not able to reap one of the potential rewards of a standout career because he made some terrible choices while in uniform, and his choices off the field could be considered by voters in future committee votes as well.

His numbers are still honored and recognized in the museum in Cooperstown, where multiple other players with similar off-field profiles have had their information pulled.

Is that holding on too long and punishing past behaviors, or withholding rewards due to those behaviors?

It’s a fine line, and I pray daily as a father, husband, son, brother, and friend for the wisdom to know the difference.