Dunlap: This Isn't Pete Rose's Fault
If nothing else, Pete Rose is an opportunist.
And if nothing else, new baseball commissioner Rob Manfred allowed Major League Baseball to act in a hypocritical manner.
When those two things came to a collision, we got what we got on Tuesday night in Cincinnati during the All Star Game pregame festivities.
And what was that?
Some thought it was downright absurd.
Some thought it was something that should have happened.
Anyone who watched the situation unfold had to admit it was at least a tiny bit uncomfortable.
Rose, who was handed a lifetime ban from baseball (I'm not going to go over the particulars, look them up for yourself) was given special dispensation for one night by Manfred to allow the all-time Hits King a chance to join teammates Johnny Bench, Barry Larkin and Joe Morgan on the field for a presentation of the Reds' Franchise Four --- a group voted on by the fans that represented the finest in Cincinnati history.
Rose was seemingly on our television all day in the run up to this.
Rose was seemingly on our television all night and Wednesday in highlight segments following the game.
All this, Major League Baseball couldn't control much. When the All Star Game came traipsing into The Queen City, Pete Rose was going to be some sort of a story; a big story.
But you know what Major League Baseball could have controlled? Pete Rose going onto the field. And they caved, they cowered, they shrunk and trembled underneath the opportunity to get full exposure --- and realize optimal ad revenue --- by permitting Rose a get-of-of-jail-free card (for just one day) and permitting him onto that field.
Do I agree that Pete Rose deserves a lifetime ban from Major League Baseball? Actually, that's neither here nor there; that doesn't factor into any of this.
What the main point of all of this is, however, is that there are no degrees of a suspension and Major League Baseball needs to figure out what the hell it is doing with Pete Rose. They need to either fully include him or fully exclude him from their family.
If not, this all stinks to the heavens with hypocrisy. You simply cannot have an a la carte system of including Pete Rose in certain things, deciding in this case that, "well, hey, it's his hometown so let's bend and permit him on the field."
That's a bad way to do be a leader and, to be frank Mr. Manfred, the coward's way out.
When Pete Rose received that special exemption on Tuesday night allowing him to be included in the festivities, what did Manfred think? That Rose was going to say, "no thanks."
Of course Rose was going to accept such an invitation and when he did, and then subsequently showed up, he made Major League Baseball look not just foolish, but also as if they whorishly prostituted Rose for the sake of television ratings.
In short, it seems like for as long as we can remember Rose has been the ultimate villain to Major League Baseball, for a small span of time on Tuesday he got invited to the grand party and then, as soon as the party was over, he goes back to being the ultimate villain.
That smacks of a self-serving agenda by Major League Baseball, using Rose as a pawn.
Moving forward, there shouldn't be any more flip-flopping or indecision from Manfred or anyone else in power at the league office. Decisions --- albeit old ones --- need to be made and stuck with, or vetoed once and for all.
Rose needs to be fully in or out.
A gray area like allowing him in for one night makes Major League Baseball look positively foolish.
Colin Dunlap is a featured columnist at CBSPittsburgh.com. He can also be heard weekdays from 5:40 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sports Radio 93-7 "The Fan." You can e-mail him at colin.dunlap@cbsradio.com. Check out his bio here.