Pete Rose believes what the Houston Astros did and was ultimately punished for with illegal sign-stealing was worse for baseball than what he did more than 30 years ago when he gambled on the sport.
“I bet on my own team to win,” Rose told Randy Miller of NJ.com. “That’s what I did in a nutshell. I was wrong, but I didn’t taint the game. I didn’t try to steal any games. I never voted against my team. I bet on my team every night because that’s the confidence that I had in my players. And I was wrong.
“But this (Astros’ situation) is a little different. It’s a lot different, actually, and I think that’s why the commissioner came down so hard.”
On Monday — Major League Baseball finally levied their punishments to the franchise by suspending Astros manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow for one year. The Astros decided to go a step further when owner Jim Crane fired them both for their actions.
Rose applauded the strict punishment but he also questioned why none of the players received any discipline.
“So they fire the GM, they fire the manager, and (MLB) probably is going to get (Red Sox manager) Alex Cora, who was the (Astros) bench coach at the time,” Rose explained. “But what about the players who were behind this and taking the knowledge? Should they get off scot-free?
“Don’t you have to do something to the players who were accepting the stolen signs? Nothing’s been done. Is that fair?”
“Most players don’t give a damn about what happens to an organization as long as it doesn’t happen to them,” Rose added. “If I’m a player and every time I bat I’m getting the signs from the dugout, I’m just as guilty as the guy who is giving me the signs.”
Rose also called out New York Mets manager Carlos Beltran, who won a World Series with the Astros in 2017.
“What’s going to happen to Beltran?” Rose said. “Can he manage the Mets now? He was a ringleader, right?”
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Rose was permanently placed on baseball’s ineligible list in 1989 for gambling on the sport, with the Baseball Hall of Fame voting to ban players on the permanently ineligible list from induction in 1991.
