Fansided

Five reasons to lift Pete Rose’s Hall of Fame ban

By John Buhler

Jul 14, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Pete Rose is honored prior to the 2015 MLB All Star Game at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 14, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Pete Rose is honored prior to the 2015 MLB All Star Game at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jul 14, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; The Cincinnati Reds franchise four (from left to right) Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Barry Larkin, and Johnny Bench are honored prior to the 2015 MLB All Star Game at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 14, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; The Cincinnati Reds franchise four (from left to right) Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Barry Larkin, and Johnny Bench are honored prior to the 2015 MLB All Star Game at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 2: Greatest Cincinnati Red Ever

Part of the 2015 All-Star Game’s festivities in Cincinnati had each of the 30 MLB franchises vote on who their franchise’s best four players were: the Franchise Four. Since Cincinnati hosted the Midsummer Classic, Pete Rose was one of the Cincinnati Reds’ Franchise Four, joined by catcher Johnny Bench, second baseman Joe Morgan, and shortstop Barry Larkin.

While all four Reds’ greats are revered by the great baseball fans of the Queen City, it’s no secret that the best player to ever play for the Reds was Rose. Even Bench, Morgan, and Larkin, all Cooperstown inductees depicted wearing Cincinnati ball caps would say that say that Rose was by far and away the best player to play in Cincinnati.

Rose played his first 16 big-league seasons with the Reds (1963-78), making 13 of his 17 All-Star Games with Reds, winning the 1973 NL MVP, and the 1975 and 1976 World Series. He then returned to the dugout as a player/manager from 1984-86 before staying on as a full-time manager from 1987 to 1989’s lifetime ban.

Every Major League franchise has their greatest player of all-time in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, with the exception of a few teams. Seattle, Colorado, Washington, Tampa Bay, and Miami don’t yet have Hall of Famers, all expansion teams. Only the pre-expansion Reds don’t have their best player in Cooperstown. That adds to the challenge of not having the all-time hits leader in argument, too.

Next: No. 3: Charlie Hustle is Timeless

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